Texas A&M
Texas Relays
Trio of top five finishes highlight day two of Texas Relays
Apr 01, 2010 | Track and Field
April 1, 2010
AUSTIN - Second day action at the Texas Relays produced a pair of top five finishes for Texas A&M in the multi-events at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Then the Aggie men's 4 x 800 relay squad capped the day with a fourth-place effort.
Trinity Otto placed third in the decathlon with a total of 7,542 points as Daphne Fitzpatrick finished fourth in the heptathlon with a score of 5,395. Bonnie Richardson totaled 4,796 to place 14th.
"It's a great experience at the Texas Relays," Fitzpatrick said after setting a career best score. "The competition is at a different level with such strong competition. It's really a privilege to compete here."
Finals on Thursday for A&M included the 4 x 800 relay as well as the B division of the men's pole vault.
The relay crew of Sam Mutschler (1:53.5), Michael Preble (1:53.0), Joey Roberts (1:51.9) and Oscar Ramirez (1:52.7) maintained second place for a majority of the race. They finished fourth in 7:31.11 behind LSU (7:30.25), Baylor (7:30.49) and Arkansas (7:30.87).
Bennett cleared 16-5.25 (5.01) to finish eighth. He matched the same height of three vaulters who placed ahead of him.
Friday's action begins at 9:30 a.m. with qualifying races in the 4 x 100 relay and will wrap up at 9:45 p.m. with the 4 x 1500 relay. There will be a total of 176 races on the day as well as mixture of field events.
"It's about getting on the track and competing no matter the circumstances," Texas A&M coach Pat Henry said. "We are healthy and ready to run. The past couple of weeks have shown that we are performing well. This group is very competitive, so they'll be ready to run. We hope to have two more good days this weekend."
Otto, who was in second place after nine of the 10 events, produced his third best score, which is the 10th best performance on the A&M all-time list. It's the best score at a Texas Relays by an Aggie decathlete. Otto placed fourth a year ago with a 7,355 score.
The second day for Otto included marks of 14.72w (4.9 wind) in the 110 hurdles, 122-8 discus, 15-1 pole vault, 151-10 javelin and a 5:04.40 in the 1500.
Oregon's Ashton Eaton, the defending NCAA Champion, won the event with a score of 8,310 points. Mike Morrison of California moved ahead of Otto in the last event, the 1,500 meters, with a tally of 7,557.
Brianne Theisen of Oregon won the heptathlon with 5,942 points while Angelo State's Aisha Adams set a NCAA Division II record as runner-up with 5,795 points. New Mexico's Sandy Fortner placed third with a 5,657 score.
Fitzpatrick improved her previous best score by nearly 600 points as she became the fourth best performer with the eighth best performance on the A&M all-time list. Her previous best score of 4,597 occurred during the Big 12 Championships last year.
"It's a great testament to hard work, improving by nearly 600 points in the heptathlon in a one year span for someone in a new event," Henry noted. "Coach VanHootegem, Coach De La Garza and Coach Anderson have all worked with her to improve on various events."
It's also the best score for an Aggie in the Texas Relays heptathlon, bettering a 5,273 score by Jennifer Johnson in 2005 when she placed fifth. However, the best tally by an A&M athlete in Austin is the Aggie school record of 5,642 set by Kalleen Madden during a Southwest Conference meet in 1993.
"I was really excited coming into the second day and anxious to get a good long jump mark," Fitzpatrick said. "I ended up coming up with almost a foot PR. Then I had a PR in the javelin.
"That put me in good standing and set me up for the 800. It gave me motivation to finish my 800 and produce a really good score."
Richardson's score in her first heptathlon makes her the 11th performer on the A&M all-time list.
"I've got a starting point now and I can build on that," Richardson said. "Being back in this stadium I can't say it was déjà vu, but it was nice to get to come back and perform.
"My goal is to improve on what I did here in the next heptathlon I have. I'll set some high goals, shoot for them and hopefully get them when it really counts at conference."
Marks for Fitzpatrick on day two of the heptathlon included 18-1.75 long jump, 128-4 javelin, and a 2:29.59 in the 800. Richardson had marks of 17-8 long jump, 115-10 javelin, and 2:40.17 in the 800.
Qualifying races on Thursday afternoon started with the 400 hurdles. Andrea Sutherland won her heat in 60.26 and was the third-fastest qualifier for the nine-person final. Angele Cooper of Texas led qualifying with a 59.39 while Baylor's Christina Holland had the second best mark at 59.70.
Courtnie Allen recorded a career best of 62.24 and placed 12th overall. Seth Mabry ran a 54.22 to place fifth in his heat of the men's 400 hurdles.
Players Mentioned
