Texas A&M
NCAA Championships
Texas A&M men second, women fifth at NCAA Indoor
Mar 13, 2010 | Track and Field
March 13, 2010
Fayetteville, Arkansas - Another NCAA title was claimed by Texas A&M as they won the 4 x 400 relay Saturday in front of 5,475 fans at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus.
The Aggie men won the 4 x 400 relay in 3:04.40, lowering their world leading time and Aggie school record from 3:04.86. The running order, with splits, included Curtis Mitchell (45.92).
"I just wanted to go out there and help the 4 x 400 get some hardware, especially for Tabarie since he was injured," stated Mitchell. "To go out there and produce and help my teammates win that title was big for me."
Miller added: "This means a lot to me, because I've been getting a lot of second place medals in the relay during my collegiate career. To come out of here with a win is a blessing."
While the meet finished with the 4 x 400 relay, it only determined where the Aggies would finish among the top five as Florida had too many points to overcome in one final race.
Texas A&M finished with 44 points to tie for second place in the team scoring with Oregon. Florida won the NCAA title with 57 points. Rounding out the top five were LSU (42) and Arkansas (38). The previous best finish for the Aggies at an NCAA Indoor was third in 1989 and 1990.
"We did the things we could do here today," A&M head coach Pat Henry said. "We're not 100 percent healthy. An example is Julian Reid comes to the meet and doesn't score a point. Tabarie, we know, is a little bit hurt.
"But they lined up everything they could and we had a great meet on the men's side. To finish second for Texas A&M, we're extremely pleased with that."
The 3:04.40 ranks the Aggies as the fifth fastest school ever with the seventh fastest performance on the all-time collegiate list. It's also the 20th fastest time ever on the world all-time list.
"I had a strategy going into the race that if I got the stick in the lead then I was going to go out so hard that those guys weren't going to catch me," said Miller of his second leg carry. "Or they were going to have to do something crazy to get by me. I just wanted to bring the stick to Tabarie in the lead and it worked for me successfully.
On seeing the effort from Mitchell on the anchor leg, Miller exclaimed: "Wow. I believe in Curtis because he has too much speed. He can go out at a certain speed and still have so much more left than the other guy. I knew Curtis was going to make his move and when he did I ran to the finish line, ran to him and I was happy that we won."
As Mitchell ran the anchor leg Baylor's Marcus Boyd challenged on the backstretch of the final lap. With 100 meters remaining Mitchell made his move, regained the lead and powered home for the victory. The Bears were runner-up in 3:05.01 with LSU (3:05.65) in third and Florida (3:05.78) in fourth.
"I wanted to go out comfortable, not run too hard or too slow," explained Mitchell. "When he tried to make a move on me I had enough left in the tank to kick and bring it on home. I just wanted to get to that second curve and kick."
It is the second time for an Aggie 4 x 400 to win the NCAA Indoor title. The previous victory came in 1994.
The same relay scenario held true for the A&M women at the end of the meet as Oregon had already locked up the title prior to the 4 x 400. The Aggie women placed sixth in 3:34.14 with the foursome of Sandy Wooten (54.46) and Jessica Beard (51.78).
Oregon, who captured the 4 x 400 relay in 3:29.97, won the women's team title with 61 points, followed by Tennessee (36), LSU (35), Florida (33) and Texas A&M in fifth place with 31 points.
"On the ladies side I think we had a good meet," noted Coach Henry. "We still have areas we have got to shore up to get a little bit better. We know that, it's the same on the men's side. We had a couple of people who had a tough time here at this meet.
"This is where we are at this time of the year. Last year the women were second and the men were ninth indoors. Then we won both titles outdoors. So we'll use this to make us more tougher, stronger and more competitive as we bounce off this into the outdoor season. We're pleased with what happened here today."
A photo finish in the women's 60 found Gabby Mayo with a career best and Texas A&M school record of 7.18 seconds (7.175), just 0.003 behind winner Blessing Okagbare of UTEP (7.172), who also clocked 7.18.
"I wasn't as worried about my time, I was just trying to win," Mayo said. "I was disappointed with my hurdle race earlier, so that gave me an added adrenalin rush for the 60 meters. To run 7.18 and set a PR, I'm happy.
"I had a tunnel vision on my lane during the race. I knew she was there with me, but I was just trying to get to the finish line first. We got there at the same time."
Defending champion Lakya Brookins of South Carolina placed third in 7.22 with this year's 200 champion Shaniqua Ferguson of Auburn fourth in 7.23 ahead of three LSU sprinters, who finished 5-6-7.
Mayo breaks the school record of 7.23 set by Simone Facey in 2008 and she is equal to the 10th fastest American collegian ever.
In the men's 60 a solid start and a charge to the finish placed Gerald Phiri second in 6.60, just off his school record of 6.59. Florida's Jeff Demps won the race in 6.57.
"I thought I won it," Phiri said. "In the past when I dip at the line I usually look around to see where I am with the rest of the field. This time I just focused on my own race all the way through. When I crossed the line, for a split second I thought I won. Then I saw Demps name on the scoreboard as first.
"I didn't run a perfect race. Second place, I'm very disappointed. Especially when you get so close. In the past I've been fifth or sixth during my freshman and sophomore year."
Jessica Beard ran 52.08 for third in the 400. Defending champion Francena McCorory of Hampton set an American record and collegiate record of 50.54 to win the race. Oregon's Keisha Baker clocked 51.63 in the first section to claim second place overall.
McCorory bettered the collegiate record of 50.80 by Natasha Hastings (2007) and the American record of 50.64 by Diane Dixon (1991).
The women's hurdle final had Natasha Ruddock and Mayo placing fourth and fifth with times of 8.09 and 8.12 behind the combination of Virginia Tech hurdlers - Queen Harrison (7.95) and Kristi Castlin (8.01) - along with Miami's Ti'erra Brown (8.08) in third.
Zuheir Sharif also produced a fourth and fifth place finish in the men's triple jump. Stewart turned in a 53-2 3/4 (16.22) while Sharif hit a mark of 53-2 1/4 (16.21) as they totaled nine points in the event. Defending champion Christian Taylor won with a 56-4 1/2 (17.18) while A&M's Julian Reid (51-5 1/2) finished 11th.
"I'm happy to contribute points to the team, but on a personal note I feel that I have not done my duty," stated Stewart, who fouled his first two jumps in the first flight of jumpers. "I had too many fouls and some of those efforts were big jumps. I was fortunate to get a jump in and lucky that it held up for fourth place.
"It was different this weekend being the very first jumper in the long jump and the third jumper in the triple. I'm used to being in the second flight, but it was something I had to overcome."
Demetrius Pinder matched his career best of 46.01 as runner-up to Florida's Tony McQuay (45.74) in the first section of the 400 final. Tabarie Henry placed third in the section with a 46.19.
Following the second section, won by Georgia's Torrin Lawrence (45.23), Pinder and Henry placed fifth and sixth for seven Aggie points.
Ashika Charan placed eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-5 3/4 (13.25) while Vashti Thomas finished 10th with a 42-6 1/4 (12.96).
The Power of 12: A couple more notes on the NCAA title won by Curtis Mitchell in the 200 on Friday night in Fayetteville. It's been 12 years since the Aggie men have claimed a NCAA Indoor title, the last being Larry Wade in the 55 hurdles during the 1998 season. It also marked the 12th NCAA Indoor title for Texas A&M, the first being achieved by Randy Matson in the shot put back in 1965. Of course, the date Mitchell achieved his championship was March 12.
Players Mentioned
