April 23, 2010
PHILADELPHIA - A collegiate record in the shuttle hurdle relay and a successful defense of their 4 x 100 relay title made the Aggies second day at the 116th Penn Relay Carnival a showcase for the A&M women's sprinting and hurdling prowess in front of 38,904 at historic Franklin Field.
The Aggie women also enjoyed another victory in a jumping event as Sasha-Kay Matthias claimed the college division triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 41-5.25 (12.63).
Texas A&M men also had a productive day as they set the top qualifying times in three different relays - 4 x 100 (39.37), 4 x 200 (1:21.22) and 4 x 400 (3:04.84). The Aggies won the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 last year at Penn and were third in the 4 x 400.
Saturday's line-up will have A&M contending for five Championship of America relay titles as well as a couple of field events. Coverage of the final day will appear on ESPN2 in a 2-hour tape-delay, starting at 7 p.m. (CDT).
Running the shuttle hurdle relay with the crew of Donique' Flemings and Natasha Ruddock the Aggies sped to a winning time of 52.50, shattering the collegiate record of 52.77 set in 2008 by LSU.
"Vince Anderson has done a great job with this group of hurdlers," Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said. "We knew that if they hit and leave their marks right, which is a big challenge when it comes to this race, they were going to have a great race. Great competition added to that and we were able to produce the fastest collegiate time ever."
Records also broken by Texas A&M were the Penn Relays record and Franklin Field, both of which were 52.77. The Aggies are third on the all-time world list in the rarely run race behind a 52.00 set by Russia in 1992 and a 52.30 run by Ukraine in 1993.
"We only get one shot at this race," said Mayo, who was a freshman on A&M's squad that set an American record of 52.96 as runner-up to LSU in the 2008 race. "We wanted to go out there and prove we had what it takes. We came out on top.
"I knew we had more depth in the hurdles. Virginia Tech had two great hurdlers, but we had four. Four beats two any day."
Virginia Tech held the early lead in the shuttle hurdles with world-class talent Queen Harrison and Kristi Castlin with Miami and Texas A&M challenging in second place.
"I kept my mindset on focusing on my race rather than worrying about the Virginia Tech hurdlers," Thomas noted. "I know I can keep up with them and I wasn't going to let them blast out me out of the race. I wasn't going to mess up my form trying to do more than I can do.
"This is so amazing. I knew we were capable of doing it, but actually doing it is WOW, we did it. This was such an amazing race and I'm so happy to be part of it. It's a whole lot of pressure to have only one race to run this event. But they say pressure makes diamonds and it did today."
By the third leg A&M had closed the gap with Flemings pulling even with Virginia Tech by the end of her race.
"I haven't seen how they run this race before this season," explained Flemings, a freshman at A&M. "But I've heard about it and have wanted to be a part of it. So, this was very exciting for me. This is a really different atmosphere from the Texas Relays. The crowd is crazy and it pumps up your adrenaline and gets you ready to race.
"This is my first time even being at Penn, so this is really exciting. Then to come out here as a freshman and be part of a collegiate record is fabulous. I knew everyone was going to have to do her part. I just remained focused on doing my part. It didn't matter who was in front of me or behind me. I just ran my own race."
Ruddock started the anchor leg even with Virginia Tech and Miami and breezed to the finish for the victory.
"They all looked really good," Henry said of the Aggie group. "We knew Virginia Tech had two fast hurdles and would have the lead early and we would have to chase them down. It's hard sometimes to keep that perspective when running that type of race. We were happy to see Ruddock even with the leaders starting the anchor leg."
Ruddock's anchor leg put a full second on Miami (53.82) with Virginia Tech (54.27) taking third. Behind the first three teams in the split-section final was Mississippi State (54.33), winner of section two.
"We knew we had a good team and we weren't worried about who else was in the race," stated Ruddock, who is from Jamaica. "We just wanted to stay focused and be successful. I'm very happy for my teammates.
"My teammates did a very good job keeping me in there. It was fun anchoring the race. I knew once it was close we would have a shot at winning. I'm very happy for the win."
This is the second collegiate record Mayo has been part of while at Texas A&M. Last June at the NCAA Championships she anchored the Aggies to a collegiate record of 42.36 in the 4 x 100 relay.
"I'm so happy to be part of another collegiate record," said Mayo. "I would never have thought that would happen and I would be part of two collegiate records. I think I picked the right team at the right school."
Texas A&M women successfully defended its Championship of America 4 x 100 title with a winning time of 43.09. The Aggies faced a stern challenge from LSU, who finished second in 43.30, and UTech of Jamaica, who placed third in 43.66.
"This is my last year to run on the college level, so it was exciting to get a win and defend our title," senior Porscha Lucas said. "It was cool having Bill Cosby join us for our picture with the trophy and talk with us.
"It's always fun to run at Penn, the crowd is great. That always makes the race more fun and enjoyable."
The rest of the 4 x 100 final field included Auburn (43.88), Florida State (44.30), Oregon (44.42), South Carolina (44.61) and Georgetown (45.03).
The Aggies ran with the foursome of Jeneba Tarmoh, Lucas, Dominique Ducan and Mayo. Lucas and Mayo returned from last year's winning squad when A&M won in 43.10.
"It's actually a pretty good blessing for me," Tarmoh said. "I fee like this is a once in a lifetime chance kind of a thing that happened to me. I'm just so happy to be part of a strong team like this.
"The passes weren't quite what we are capable of doing, but it's getting better each race we have. Winning here is something that is going to prepare most of us for our future, because we really have a strong team. This is something we will have to get used to on the next level."
Duncan, who ran on the winning 4 x 200 at Penn last season, noted: "I'm a new addition to our 4 x 100 for the Penn Relays this season. It's very exciting, but very different from the 4 x 2.
"I'm happy that LSU was in the final with us. It was so different having that many teams still with us on the last exchange. Usually we are well in front. It pushed me to do better and get Gabby a lead."
Texas A&M had three entrants in the Championship division of the triple jump. Ashika Charan led the trio with a third-place finish and a windy distance of 42-2.75 (12.87). TCU's Neidra Covington won with a wind-aided 43-4.5 (13.22) while LSU's Melissa Ogbourne finished second with a windy 42-3.5 (12.89).
Tiffany Peters placed fifth with a windy 41-5 (12.62). Vashti Thomas, who had a personal best in the long jump yesterday, claimed sixth with a windy 40-6.25 (12.35).
Mevlin Echard placed third in the men's college division long jump with a mark of 24-10.5 (7.58) while Trinity Otto finished sixth with a 24-2.25 (7.37). Brett Bennett cleared 15-9 (4.80) in the pole vault to place fifth. Tyron Stewart finished sixth in the Championship long jump with a 24-10 (7.57) leap.
Other relay finals on Friday had A&M men placing fifth in the sprint medley with a time of 3:21.37 while the Aggie women finished 19th in 4:02.39.
The men ran with the foursome of Kyle Dykhuizen (46.3) and Sandy Wooten.
In men's qualifying for the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 the Aggies recorded the top qualifying times of 39.37 and 1:21.22 with the same relay crew in each race. The order for each relay consisted of Curtis Mitchell. There were 87 teams in the 4 x 100 and 69 squads in the 4 x 200.
For the 4 x 400 the Aggies ran 3:04.84 with the crew of Kyle Dykhuizen (46.7) and Tabarie Henry (44.8). They faced a challenge from UTech (3:05.25) and St. Augustine's (3:05.27) in their heat and topped a field of 54 teams in qualifying.
Miller moved the Aggies from second to first over UTech. Dykhuizen overcame his heel getting clipped by UTech's Oliver Smith with 200 meters left in his carry. When Henry started his anchor leg he was in third, but moved to second on the backstretch. Through the final curve Henry surged to the lead and carried it home to the finish.
Mississippi State recorded the second-fastest qualifying time with a 3:05.12 heat winner. They join A&M, UTech and St. Aug's in the Saturday final along with LSU (3:06.02), J.C. Smith (3:07.90), Western Kentucky (3:09.18), and South Carolina (3:09.28).
Current collegiate leader Florida dropped the baton as they reached Calvin Smith on the anchor leg. The Gators placed fifth in their heat with a 3:09.54, but were 11th overall.
Joining the Aggies in the Championship of America final in the 4 x 100 will be Florida (39.88), Maryland-Eastern Shore (40.19), TCU (40.24), UTech (40.36), Kentucky (40.39), Miami (40.40), and LSU (40.44).
Texas A&M cruised to victory in the opening heat with St. Augustine's placing second in 41.11 and Wheaton in third at 41.28. Texas ran in the lane adjacent to the Aggies and finished with a 41.57 for fifth in the heat, but was disqualified.
Reaching the final in the 4 x 200 with A&M were Florida (1:22.39), Mississippi State (1:22.97), Maryland-Eastern Shore (1:23.07), Tennessee (1:23.93), South Carolina (1:24.02), G.C. Foster (1:24.05) and Rutgers (1:24.18).
As smooth as the baton passing was for the Aggies in the 4 x 100, the exchanges were not as smooth in the 4 x 200. Still A&M managed to ease in for the win with G.C. Foster of Jamaica placing second in 1:24.05 and Rutgers third in 1:24.18. It was the only heat that advanced three teams to the final.
Individual qualifying on Friday had Ruddock advancing in the 100 hurdles with a 13.15 heat winner. Her time was fifth fastest in qualifying. Virginia Tech's Queen Harrison topped the field with a windy 12.46 seconds.
Other Aggies in the hurdle prelims included Flemings (13.56w) and Daphne Fitzpatrick (14.43w). They placed 11th and 27th overall.
A group of Aggies will also be competing in Houston on Saturday at the J. Fred Duckett Invitational hosted by Rice University. The A&M crew will consist mainly of throwers and will include some sprinters and distant runners.