April 16, 2010
Heat Sheets
WACO - The second of four track and field meets Texas A&M will compete in while only being an hour and a half away from campus will occur this Saturday at Baylor's Hart/Patterson Track and Field Complex for the Michael Johnson Classic.
Field events begin at 9:30 a.m. while running prelims start at 11 a.m. in the 100/110 hurdles and 100 meters. Running finals with sections against time will take place during the midday session in the 800, 400, 400 hurdles, 200 and 1,500 meters. Evening finals in running events will begin at 5 p.m. with mile relays scheduled to conclude the day around 8:20 p.m.
After opening the month of April with a trip to Austin for the Texas Relays, the Aggies visit Waco this weekend and then return to Austin for a pair of meets in May - the Texas Invitational (May 1) and the NCAA West Region (May 27-29), which will serve as the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships.
Texas A&M, with the women's team No. 1 and the men's squad No. 2 in the national team rankings, will face a field that includes professional athletes as well as the following teams: Abilene Christian, Angelo State, Baylor, Colorado, George Mason, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Oklahoma Baptist, Prairie View A&M, Rice, SMU, Sam Houston, South Plains, Southwest Christian, Tarleton State, Texas, Texas A&M - Commerce, Texas A&M - Kingsville, Texas-Pan American, Texas Southern, Texas State, Wayland Baptist, and West Texas A&M.
Aggies heading into the Michael Johnson Classic with current winning streaks are Curtis Mitchell, eight finals in the 200, and Porscha Lucas will run her first outdoor 200 of the season along with Gabby Mayo and Jeneba Tarmoh.
In addition to teammates Chris Dykes and Mike Rodgers. Baylor's Trey Harts, who set a meet record of 20.29, is the defending champion.
Phiri will have a prelim in the 100 to qualify for the evening's final. The field includes Mickey Grimes as well as Baylor's contingent of Harts, Whitney Prevost and Courtney Thomas.
The women's Invitational 200 will feature Lucas (22.29), Mayo (22.88), and Tarmoh (22.94), who all sport career best times under 23 seconds. They will square off against a trio of Longhorn sprinters - Stacey-Ann Smith, Chantel Malone and Chalonda Goodman - along with SMU's Amber Evans.
In the 100 Lucas will be joined by teammates Elizabeth Adeoti, Ashika Charan, Sasha-Kay Matthias, Natasha Ruddock and Chandrell Stephens.
Jessica Beard, who opened her outdoor season in the 400 with an impressive 51.64 last weekend, will face an Invitational 400 field that includes former Longhorns Alexandria Anderson and Bianca Knight. Sanya Richards-Ross, the American record holder in the 400, will also be in Waco, but is opening her season with an 800.
The Invitational 400 for the men will feature A&M's Tabarie Henry and Aggie volunteer assistant Wallace Spearmon. They'll race against a field of Baylor sprinters that include current Bears - Marcus Boyd, Zwede Hewitt and Michael Liggins -- and former All-Americans - LeJerald Betters and Quentin Iglehart-Summers.
Aggie decathlete Trinity Otto returns to action following his third place finish at Texas Relays. His day will include the pole vault along with teammate Brett Bennett, Colton Sandman, Kaleb Shrader and Kyle Tomasini. Otto will also run the 400 and throw the discus.
Likewise, heptathletes Donique' Flemings, who have produced season best marks of 13.08 and 13.33 this season.