Texas A&M
Texas Invitational
Lucas runs collegiate leader in 200, Echard long jumps windy 26 feet
May 01, 2010 | Track and Field
May 1, 2010
AUSTIN - Amid nine victories and eight runner-up finishes by Texas A&M during Saturday's Texas Invitational, the Aggies had one double winner in senior sprinter Porscha Lucas.
Lucas won the 100 and 200 combo, setting a collegiate leading time for 2010 of 22.85 seconds in the 200. She won the 100 in 11.37 seconds.
Teammates Ashika Charan, who posted an impressive 23.78 for second in her heat and 11th overall.
A&M junior Melvin Echard enjoyed a breakout performance in the long jump, an event he has only taken up while in college. On his first jump at Myers Stadium Echard flew out to a wind-aided distance of 26-0.25 (7.93) for the win.
"I didn't quite know what 7.93 was when I jumped it," Echard noted. "I was excited to see 7.93 on the board, but I probably didn't show a lot of emotion because I didn't quite know what had happened. I knew I felt good coming off the board and with my execution of the jump.
"In high school I never had a long jump. When I got to college I took one jump my freshman year. Then I had a couple more in my sophomore season. This year was just about really taking it seriously, knowing that this could possibly be one of my events. It was exciting to see the fruits of my labor."
The effort bettered Echard's previous best of 24-10.5 which he set at Penn Relays last weekend. Echard only had one more attempt measured, a windy 25-4 (7.72) in round four. He passed the final two rounds to conserve energy for the 110 hurdles later in the meet.
Teammate Julian Reid turned in his first long jump performance of the outdoor season, placing second to Echard with a 24-9.75 (7.56). Marquise Goodwin of Texas finished third with a wind-aided 24-9.25 (7.55) while Oklahoma's Will Claye placed sixth with a windy 23-11.5 (7.30).
"I was really glad to see Julian back in competition," Echard said. "It was exciting to compete against a field of this caliber and excel. I'm really excited to see what this will hold for me in the future."
A&M also produced a 1-2 finish in the women's long jump and men's triple jump.
Vashti Thomas turned in a windy 20-10.5 (6.35) for the long jump victory while Sasha-Kay Mattias reached a distance of 20-9.75 (6.34) as runner-up. Tiffany Peters placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 42-0 (12.80).
The mark for Matthias makes her the No. 4 performer at A&M and equals the 6th performance. The wind-legal best of 20-8.5 (6.31) for Thomas moves her to the No. 6 performance.
Thomas later placed second in the 100 hurdles with a 13.22 while teammates Donique' Flemings (13.90) and Daphne Fitzpatrick (14.42) finished eighth and ninth.
Zuheir Sharif used a windy 54-1.25 (16.49) to win the triple jump while Tyron Stewart finished second with a 52-10.25 (16.11). Reid had two jumps in the event, his best being 49-0.25 (14.94) to place 11th.
A men's 400 meters loaded with Aggie talent generated a 1-3-4 finish in the first section. Tabarie Henry posted his top time of the season with a 45.20 for the victory over Baylor's Marcus Boyd (45.69). Bryan Miller (45.95) finished fifth overall while Tran Howell (46.05) claimed seventh and lowered his career best from 47.14.
In the third section of the 400 Kyle Dykhuizen placed second and third, finishing 15th and 18th overall. Preble lowered his career best from 47.36.
The Aggie men capped the night with a win in the 4 x 400 relay with its second crew, running a 3:06.58 with the foursome of Preble (47.1), Ashton Young (47.2), Joey Roberts (46.0) and Dykhuizen (46.3). They defeated Oklahoma (3:06.99), TCU (3:07.71) and Houston (3:10.67).
Sprinting prowess by the Aggie women was on display in the 100 meters as A&M totaled five heat winners with the crew of Lucas (11.37), Elizabeth Adeoti (11.84) and Matthias (11.78).
Lucas defeated Baylor's Tiffany Townsend (11.47) in the opening section while Oklahoma's Scottesha Miller false started and Chalonda Goodman of Texas did not finish after pulling up 30 meters into the race.
Duncan and Ruddock placed third and fourth overall while Matthias finished eighth and Adeoti was 11th.
Andrea Sutherland topped the field in the 400 hurdles with a 58.65 that bettered the 59.24 from Baylor's Christina Holland. Courtnie Allen placed fourth in the heat and fifth overall with a 62.21.
While Oscar Ramirez ran near the front of the pack in the 800, teammate Joey Roberts was content to run in the back of the pack. With 150 meters left in the race Roberts made his move from eighth place.
Roberts kept picking off runners on the home stretch and reached the lead with 10 meters remaining, taking the race in a career best 1:49.46. Baylor's Gavyn Nero was second in 1:49.67. Ramirez placed eighth in the race with a 1:52.19, 11th overall.
A late surge in the second section of the 800 provided A&M's Eric Gosset with a win as well. Gosset ran a personal best of 1:50.91 and place seventh overall. Joe Snelick (1:52.23) were third and fourth in the section, finishing 10th and 12th overall.
In the steeplechase C.J. Brown finished second with a 9:24.57, knocking nearly 15 full seconds off his effort in the event last weekend. Stephen Curry (9:35.32) and Micah Dettmer (9:37.91) placed sixth and seventh.
Deidre Tarver set a career best of 177-6 (54.11) in the hammer, placing second. Cole Knuth did the same in the men's hammer as his career best of 178-10 (54.51) placed third and moved Knuth to No. 3 on the A&M all-time list. Landon Hartwick (162-3 / 49.45) finished eighth.
Aggie frosh Casey Strong, who competed unattached, placed second in the men's hammer with a career best toss of 186-3 (56.77).
In the javelin Emalie Humphreys (159-11 / 48.74) and Hillary Puskta (158-0 / 48.15) placed third and fourth behind a pair of Oklahoma throwers. Heptathlete Daphne Fitzpatrick threw (126-7 / 38.58) to finish eighth.
Natosha Rogers ran 10:04.93 for third in the 3,000 meters as Kasey McNorton clocked 10:29.73 for eighth place.
Brett Bennett hit a career best of 16-9.5 (5.12) for fourth place in the pole vault. Colton Sandman and Kaleb Shrader tied for 12th clearing 15-3.75 (4.67).
De'Lon Isom ran 14.23 for fifth in the 110 hurdles. Echard placed third in another heat with a 14.27 and finished ninth overall. Trinity Otto clocked 15.12 for 14th.
The men's 100 had a strong Big 12 flavor in the first section. Gerald Phiri ran 10.51 for fifth place behind OU's Rakieem Salaam (10.37) and Colorado's Jeremy Dodson (10.42). The Longhorns tandem of Goodwin (10.53) and Trevante Rhodes (10.56) were sixth and seventh. The race was won by post collegian Aaron Armstrong in 10.23.
Wes Caceras nearly matched his personal best, set a week ago at Rice, in placing eighth in the 1,500 with a 3:53.22.
After their PR efforts in the hammer, Tarver and Knuth each placed ninth in their respective discus competitions. Knuth hit a mark of 166-3 (50.68). Tarver turned in a 148-0 (45.10) with Taylor Rosser in 10th with a 146-1 (44.53).
Players Mentioned
