Feb. 13, 2010
College Station - SCORES
Men - 1. Big 12 309.5; 2. SEC 143.5; 3. Conference USA 116
Women - 1. Big 12 290; 2. SEC 163; 3. Conference USA 130
The Big 12 claimed both team titles in the Texas A&M Challenge, which featured nine teams among three conferences at the Giliam Indoor Track Stadium on Saturday.
The Big 12 combination of Texas A&M, Texas and Texas Tech scored 309.5 points on the men's side and 290 on the women's for the pair of titles. The SEC, which consisted of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, scored 143.5 points in the men's meet and 163 on the women's side to place second in both. Conference USA, with Houston, Rice and UTEP, totaled 116 men's points and 130 women's points.
On the final home meet for Aggie seniors a crowd of 2,070 fans were treated to some high-end performances from various teams. Tennessee's Phoebe Wright broke the Gilliam facility record she set last March with a 2:02.84 win that lowered her collegiate leading time from a 2:04.00.
Six individual victories and two relay wins highlighted the effort by Texas A&M in its last meet prior to the Big 12 Championships in two weeks.
The Aggie women topped off the evening with a 3:35.00 victory in the 4 x 400 relay as they defeated Tennessee (3:39.07) in their section and finished ahead of Houston (3:37.60) and Texas Tech (3:38.37).
Running on the women's relay were Porscha Lucas (55.28), Andrea Sutherland (54.40) and Jessica Beard (51.52). A&M currently has the fourth fastest time this season.
Another relay win included the men's distance medley relay with the foursome of Wes Caceras, Eric Gosset, and C.J. Brown. They posted a 9:51.15 winning time over Tennessee's 10:05.07 and a second Aggie squad that ran 10:10.18. The Aggie relay posted the eighth fastest time at A&M.
In addition to her relay carry Tarmoh also won the 200 in 23.37, a season best effort that places her No. 6 on the A&M all-time list. Dominique Duncan placed third in the 200 with a NCAA provisional mark of 23.66, which is No. 7 at A&M.
Natasha Ruddock claimed another 60 hurdle win in 8.16, the seventh fastest performance at A&M, while Vashti Thomas place third in 8.43. Thomas later won the triple jump with a 41-3.75 effort with Tiffany Peters as runner-up at 40-4.75.
Victories for the men included a Curtis Mitchell in the 200 (20.80) and Tabarie Henry in the 400 (46.19).
Each of those winning efforts included some company with Aggie teammates. Bryan Miller posted a personal indoor best of 46.25 as runner-up in the 400 while Michael Preble (47.34) and Joey Roberts (47.36) finished fourth and fifth with career indoor best marks.
Phiri also placed third in the 200 (21.23) behind Mitchell and Alabama's Kirani James (20.94). Tran Howell finished fifth in the 60 (6.82) and seventh in the 200 (21.38) in his first multi-race action this season.
Howell also led off the Aggie 4 x 400 and faced Texas Tech's Gil Roberts on the opening leg. Roberts (47.73) had an edge over Howell (48.20), but A&M took over the lead with Mitchell (45.90) carrying the second leg over Tech's Markus Henderson (47.46).
Kyle Dykhuizen (47.40) and Roberts (46.84) ran the next two legs for the Aggies as they placed second in 3:08.32 to Tech's 3:08.04.
Other solid runner-up efforts for A&M included De'Lon Isom in the 60 hurdles (7.94), with Elizabeth Adeoti in eighth (7.58). Dominique Duncan jumped 19-4 for second place in the long jump.
The women's distance medley relay challenged for a runner-up finish and finished third in 11:52.35, the fourth fastest in school history. Texas Tech won the race in 11:31.75 with Texas second in 11:51.59. Running for the Aggies were Kellie Trinkaus, Erica Parker, and Tara Upshaw.
Echard placed third in the long jump (24-4.25) while Cole Knuth finished third in the weight throw (57-8.5). Also third was Laura Asimakis (12-6.75) in the pole vault.
Brett Bennett and Colton Sandman both clearing 16-0.
Deidre Tarver was fourth in the women's weight (59-7.75) while Jennifer Edwards placed fifth in the shot put (46-11.5) with Taylor Rosser seventh (46-4.25).