April 16, 2010
Irving, Texas - Athletes of the Week for track and field in the Big 12 included a pair of Aggies with Sam Humphreys receiving the honor for the second time this outdoor season along with Jessica Beard, who earned the honor during the indoor season as well.
Humphreys claimed his fourth consecutive javelin win of the season in Eugene as he bettered the Texas A&M school record by a centimeter with a mark of 251 feet, 8 inches (76.71 meters). The freshman from Laredo, Texas (Alexander HS) has improved his high school career best by 21 feet over the course of the outdoor season.
At historic Hayward Field for the Pepsi Team Invitational this past weekend Humphreys bettered a field that included a pair of 2009 NCAA finalists, who both set personal best throws in finishing second and third to Humphreys in Eugene.
Previous victories for Humphreys this season have included the Carolina Spring Break Classic (240-3); Arizona State Invitational (247-0), and Texas Relays (245-9). He has maintained the collegiate lead in the javelin from the first week he competed in March. Currently Humphreys is the second best American in the javelin and ranks 17th in the world for the 2010 season.
Beard, a junior from Euclid, Ohio (Euclid HS), ran her first open 400 of the outdoor season and established the collegiate leading time of 51.64 seconds as she broke an 18-year-old meet record at the 21st Pepsi Team Invitational. The previous meet record of 52.73 was set by Oregon's Camara Jones in 1992. Beard's mark is second fastest in the world for 2010, only trailing a 51.42 run by American Shana Cox at the Florida Relays.
Beard bettered the field by two seconds with Oregon's Keshia Baker, fifth in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor final, the runner-up in 53.62. Beard also anchored the Aggies 4 x 400 relay to a 3:38.06 win over Oregon, who won the NCAA Indoor relay title.
A&M's Curtis Mitchell in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd
New York City - Texas A&M junior sprinter Curtis Mitchell is included in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated as part of the weekly magazine's Faces in the Crowd feature. The SI edition, dated April 19 with Master's winner Phil Mickelson on the cover, will be on newsstands by Thursday.
Mitchell, from Daytona Beach, Florida (Atlantic HS, Pt. Orange, Fla.), won the NCAA Indoor 200 title in March with a world-leading and school record time of 20.38 seconds. Mitchell was also a member of the Aggies 4 x 400 relay that claimed a NCAA title in Fayetteville while A&M tied for second in team scoring with Oregon.
Currently enjoying an eight-meet winning streak, Mitchell's latest victory occurred in historic Hayward Field during the Pepsi Team Invitational hosted by Oregon. Mitchell ran a 20.69 to win the 200-meter race and led an Aggie 1-2-3 sweep of the event. Mitchell established an outdoor personal best of 20.54 in winning the Arizona State Invitational in late March.
During the first weekend of April at the Texas Relays in Austin, Mitchell was part of two A&M relay victories in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400. While the 4 x 200 crew defended its 2009 title, it was the first time since 1980 for the Aggies to claim the 4 x 400 relay at the Texas Relays.