May 16, 2010
Columbia, Missouri - A sweep of the sprint events and relays propelled the Texas A&M women to its eighth consecutive Big 12 track and field championship, including indoor titles, since its first ever conference title in 2007.
The Aggie women compiled a total of 157 points, scoring 124 on the final day. Nebraska placed second with 102 points while Texas finished third with 93.
The seniors of this year's class -- which includes Elizabeth Adeoti, Ashika Charan, Porscha Lucas, Christina Munoz, Hillary Pustka, Deidre Tarver and Sandy Wooten -- won all eight Big 12 team titles they competed in since their freshman season in 2007.
"To win eight times at anything is truly special," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "This is a big win for Texas A&M and our program.
"We have some depth on the women's side and some people stepped up. Porscha Lucas came back after being out for about three weeks and had a great meet for us."
Jeneba Tarmoh earned high point honors for the women as she won the 100-200 double and led off the Aggies winning 4 x 100. Tarmoh ran career best times to win the 100 in 11.19 and the 200 in 22.65. She was also part of a 43.74 winning 4 x 100 as A&M claimed a fourth consecutive Big 12 title in that event as well.
Tarmoh becomes the second Aggie sprinter to win the 100-200-4x1 triple, joining Simone Facey's effort from 2007.
Also supplying the Aggies with sprint and hurdle victories was Jessica Beard (52.08) in the 400 and Natasha Ruddock (12.89w) in the 100 hurdles. Then the A&M women capped the meet with Beard anchoring the 4 x 400 relay in 50.79 for a 3:31.79 victory.
Curtis Mitchell claiming the 200.
The Aggie men placed third in the team title chase with 110 points, just eight points behind champion Nebraska (118) with Oklahoma (114) in second place.
"On the men's side we did everything we could do, we just didn't have enough bullets," said Henry. "Nebraska is a talented group of people."
Texas A&M swept the 100, 200 and 400 on the men's side and added the 4 x 400 relay, breaking a 12-year winning streak by Baylor. The Aggies edged the Bears, 3:04.45 to 3:04.48, in the final event of the meet. Mitchell split 44.69 on the third leg to bring A&M from fifth to even with Baylor for the lead by the exchange to the anchor leg.
While Phiri won the 100 in 10.13, Mitchell remained undefeated in the 200 with a 20.46 victory with Phiri runner-up in 20.61. Tabarie Henry led an A&M 1-2 in the 400 with a 45.89 to 46.02 win over Demetrius Pinder.
A pair of senior jumpers, who both went to high school in California, won triple jump titles on Sunday in their final conference meet appearance.
Ashika Charan, runner-up in the Big 12 on four occasions, won the women's triple jump with a 42-9.25 (13.04) effort. It was the third straight Aggie win in the event following a pair of titles from Yasmine Regis in 2007-08.
Later in the meet Zuheir Sharif bettered the men's field with a 52-8.75 (16.07) mark that defeated defending champion Will Claye of Oklahoma, who reached the same distance. Sharif had a better back-up jump of 52-6 (16.00) to Claye's 51-10.5 (15.81).
Aggies point production receives a big boost with the 100 and 400 being held back-to-back. Texas A&M swept all four titles with the crew of Jessica Beard (52.08), Tabarie Henry (45.89), Jeneba Tarmoh (11.19) and Gerald Phiri (10.13).
Beard and Phiri claimed a third consecutive title in their respective events. Beard's total of Big 12 titles in the 400 now numbers six when including her indoor crowns.
Phiri set a Big 12 meet record in winning his third 100 title at the Big 12 Championships. He bettered a 10.21 set in 2000 by Lawrence Armstrong of Texas.
The Aggie men enjoyed a 1-2-8 finish in the 400. Demetrius Pinder followed Henry with a 46.02 for runner-up honors. Bryan Miller finished eighth in 48.41. Henry became the first Aggie to win a Big 12 400 men's title.
In the women's 100 additional points for A&M were produced by Porscha Lucas (11.38) and Simone Facey won back-to-back titles in 2007-2008.
Following Phiri in the men's 100 were Curtis Mitchell (10.37) and Tran Howell (10.53) in fourth and eighth place.
Prior to the running finals starting on Sunday Ashika Charan led a 16-point effort for A&M in the women's triple jump. Charan won the event with a mark of 42-9 ¼ (13.04). It was the best effort this season by Charan, who is a four-time runner-up in the Big 12 triple jump.
Charan continued a streak of three consecutive wins in the event following a pair of victories by Yasmine Regis. Sasha-Kay Matthias placed sixth with a 41-2.25 (12.55) with Vashti Thomas (40-9.75 / 12.44) and Tiffany Peters (40-9.5 / 12.43) finishing seventh and eight.
Texas A&M women won its fourth consecutive title in the 4 x 100, running a 43.74 to defeat Baylor (44.63) and Texas Tech (44.68). It's the 16th postseason victory, and 10th final, for the Aggies over the past four years (2007-2010). Including regular season meets A&M also has a 26-race winning streak dating back to 2008.
The Aggies ran with the foursome of Porscha Lucas, Elizabeth Adeoti.
Baylor finished ahead of the Aggies in the men's 4 x 100, 39.36 to 39.59. Texas A&M ran with a crew of Curtis Mitchell. Miller replaced Pinder, who was limited to the 400 at the conference meet after an injury during the Penn Relays.