Texas A&M
Big 12 Championships
Texas A&M women win third Big 12 Outdoor, sixth consecutive title
May 18, 2009 | Track and Field
May 18, 2009
LUBBOCK - A close team race had the Texas A&M women scrambling for each point they could grab on the final day of the Big 12 Championships. Major point production in the sprints, jumps and throws enabled the Aggies to score 126.5 points ahead of host Texas Tech (111) and Nebraska (109.5).
The victory for the A&M women is its third straight Big 12 Outdoor title and sixth consecutive overall when including the past three Big 12 Indoor crowns the Aggies have won. Texas A&M becomes the first Big 12 women's team to sweep both Big 12 titles over three seasons.
Gerald Phiri repeated his triple victory at the conference meet in winning the 100 and 200 while running the second leg of the Aggies victorious 4 x 100 relay. Last season he became the first male sprinter to achieve the feat in the Big 12 and now he becomes the first sprinter to accomplish the endeavor twice.
In earning Big 12 men's high point performer for the second consecutive year, Phiri totaled 22.5 points as he recorded winning times of 10.35 (into a -2.0 wind), 20.72 and was part of a sprint relay that clocked 38.86, just 0.01 off the meet record the Aggies established last year.
Texas A&M totaled 126 points in placing second to Nebraska's 148 while Texas finished third with 83.5 points.
Also for the second consecutive year the A&M men and women both secured the deciding points in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown in the final event contested between in the Aggies and the Longhorns.
Two points earned in the conference meet create a tie of 9.5 to 9.5 for the 2009 season. By virtue of winning last year's series Texas A&M gets to keep the trophy in College Station for another year.
Coverage of the Big 12 Championships will air on Thursday on Fox Sports Net stations. Check local listings for the time and channel.
The Aggie women sprinters totaled 46 points in the 100, 200, 400 and 100 hurdles. Then 13 points were added from winning the 4 x 100 (42.97) and placing sixth in the 4 x 400.
Texas A&M claimed the lead for good after Porscha Lucas won the 200 (22.92) while Dominique Duncan finished sixth (23.66) and Gabby Mayo placed eighth (23.83) for 14 points. There were just two events remaining at that stage of the meet.
On the men's side the A&M sprinters totaled 52 points in the 100, 200, 400 and 110 hurdles, while adding another 18 from the two relay events.
Running on the 4 x 100 relay were Chris Dykes and Justin Oliver. Their winning time of 38.86 bettered a field that included Baylor (39.56), Nebraska (39.80), Texas Tech (39.93) and Texas (40.48).
Individual champions on the third day of the conference meet for the Aggie women included Yasmine Regis in the triple jump (44-0) and Laura Asimakis (157-11) in the javelin.
Runner-up efforts included Lucas in the 100 (11.31), Ashika Charan in the triple jump (42-5.25), and Emalie Humphreys in the javelin (156-6).
The A&M men had silver medal performances from Chris Dykes in the 200 (20.77), Justin Oliver in the 400 (45.62), Justin Oliver.
Securing bronze medals for the Aggies were De'Lon Isom in the 110 hurdles (13.92).
In addition to the men's sprint points, the triple jump crew turned a 2-3-4-5-6 finish into 26 points that locked the Texas A&M into second place.
Reid, who was runner-up in the long jump, added a silver medal in the triple jump behind Oklahoma's Will Clay. Both jumpers surpassed the previous meet record of 54-4.75 (16.58), set last season by OU's Shardae Boutte, with marks of 55-9.75w (17.01) for Clay and 54-9.25 for Reid.
Stewart followed at 54-4w (16.56) with Zuheir Sharif taking fourth with a 52-9.25w (16.08) as Keenan Hall (51-3 - 15.62) placed fifth and sixth.
A 1-2-5-7 Aggie finish in the javelin to start day three of the Big 12 totaled 24 points for the A&M women and moved them into the team lead with a 39-28 edge over Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers answered with 14 points in the high jump and 22.5 in the pole vault. Meanwhile, A&M tallied 25 in the triple jump as Yasmine Regis claimed her fifth conference title and led a 1-2-3-8 finish for the Aggies.
As the races began Texas A&M went into sprint mode, winning the 4 x 100 for the third consecutive year with a blistering time of 42.97 seconds.
The foursome of Porscha Lucas, Dominique Duncan and Mayo recorded the second fastest collegiate time of the season, trailing A&M's own 42.91 leading time. Giving chase were Baylor (43.85), Oklahoma (44.21), Texas (44.50) and Texas Tech (44.76).
When Nebraska women turned in 13 points from the steeplechase they reclaimed the lead at 87.5 to 51.5.
Then Mayo sped to a 13.22 winning effort in the 100 hurdles to defeat OU's Latoya Heath (13.33). Beard rallied for her fourth Big 12 title in the 400, using a lean at the finish for a 0.003 margin of victory over Oklahoma's Leslie Cole, 51.525 to 51.528. Brittany Machacek finished eighth (56.54) and claimed a point for the Aggies.
Those points created a tie between Texas A&M and Nebraska at 97.5 points with 14 of the 21 events scored.
Earlier in the day Asimakis won the javelin competition with a toss of 157-11 (48.13) as teammate Humphreys finished second with a 156-6 (47.72). It was the first Big 12 title in the event for A&M since Katy Doyle won two of her four titles in 2003-2004.
Hillary Pustka added points with a fifth place effort in the javelin, reaching a distance of 152-10 (46.60). Hali Henderson also scored with a seventh place result hitting a mark of 144-7 (44.07). Also in the event for the Aggies were Ilsa Rodriguez, who placed 11th (129-11), and Daphne Fitzpatrick, who finished 13th (124-0).
Mayo scored in four events on Sunday. After anchoring the sprint relay and winning the hurdle race, she finished seventh in the 100 (11.63) prior to placing eighth in the 200. She contributed 15.5 points on the day.
Running on the sixth place 4 x 400 for the A&M women were Brittany Machacek, Tiffany Singleton, Charan and Machacek. They recorded a time of 3:41.89.
Aly Daily tied for sixth place in the pole vault, clearing 12-1.5 (3.70). Asimakis matched that height, but misses placed her 10th.
Duncan added an eighth place in the 100 (11.68) as Christina Munoz did in the 5,000 (17:03.92) and Angela Thomas in the triple jump (41-6.5).
In the men's javelin Chad Brown placed fifth with a mark of 198-8 (60.56). Nick Cook earned a point in the shot put, placing eighth with a 56-0 (17.07) toss.
Just missing on a point was Kevin McNab in the steeplechase, where he placed ninth in 9:22.40. In the 5,000 Eric Motter was 13th in the shot put (50-6.25).
Players Mentioned
