Texas A&M
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Aggies score well in triple jump, qualify seven to finals along with two relays
Jun 09, 2010 | Track and Field
June 9, 2010
EUGENE, OREGON - POINTS - NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - Day One
MEN
Triple Jump: 14 - Zuheir Sharif, 3rd place
FINALISTS - NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - Eugene, Oregon
MEN
100: Curtis Mitchell, 10.28
400: Tabarie Henry, 45.74; Demetrius Pinder, 45.77
4 x 100: Texas A&M, 39.05
WOMEN
100: Porscha Lucas, 11.07w
400: Jessica Beard, 52.42
4 x 100: Texas A&M, 43.41
Texas A&M men scored 14 points on the opening day of the NCAA Championships in front of 9,891 fans at historic Hayward Field with a second and third place finish from a pair of triple jumpers, who dealt with rain and 50 degree temperatures.
"That was a big day for us," Aggie head coach Pat Henry said. "Jim VanHootegem is doing a great job with our jumpers. To go second and third is a great, great day for us."
In addition the Aggies advanced both sprint relays to the final along with seven sprinters in the 100 and 400 meters.
"We advanced very well in the sprint races and the short relays," Henry added. "I was extremely pleased with everything that we did today. We couldn't have done any more."
With just two men's events scored on the first of four days Texas A&M leads with 14 points followed by 13 from Florida. Arizona State is third with 12 points, Kansas sits fourth with eight and Texas Tech had six points in fifth.
The women's team scoring includes three finals and Iowa State is leading with 18 points while Hawaii and Illinois State tied for second with 10. The rest of the top five includes Arizona (9) and Oklahoma (8).
Triple jumpers Zuheir Sharif provided the Aggie men with its first points of the meet. Stewart jumped a windy 53-9 (16.38) while Sharif reached 53-5.75 (16.30) to place second and third, respectively.
"We knew what we had to do," said Sharif. "Coach Henry runs his program in a manner that if everybody does what they need to do on the day, then there is a chance we will all be successful.
"We didn't want to think about last year too much, because we knew there was a target on our back. We tried to maintain our composure and do what we had to do. Hopefully this sets the momentum for the rest of the week."
Florida's Christian Taylor won the event with a wind-aided mark of 56-1 (17.09) in the final round. Taylor claimed the lead for good in round four with a 54-8.75 (16.68) after Stewart jump into first place with his best effort of the day.
"I was happy all three us made the finals," Stewart said. "Coming into the finals I was having some ankle problems. But I got one out there that moved me into first place briefly.
"The season prepared us real well for conditions we had today. We experienced rain at Baylor as well as cold and rain during the Big 12 meet. The season was crazy. If it would have snowed or hailed we still would have been ready to perform. We were ready to jump."
Another Florida jumper, Omar Craddock, placed sixth with a windy 52-11 leap to add three points to the Gators total on day one which reached 13 points.
Melvin Echard advanced among the final nine jumpers from a field of 12, but was unable to improve his position in the final three rounds and did not score with a windy effort of 51-8.5 (15.76)
"I know Melvin wanted to score really bad," noted Henry.
This event was held on the final day at last year's national meet, when A&M had four jumpers combine for 18 points and push the Aggies into contention for the team title. This year the jumps crew produced points on the very first day for the No. 1 Texas A&M.
"When Coach Henry is smiling after you contribute points on the first day you can go home and sleep well," noted Sharif. "If Coach Henry is happy, then we're happy." Stewart added: "This will definitely boost the rest of the team. Our sprinters are already hyped. So for us to bring in 14 points on the first day will have them really excited and ready to run fast."
The first events on the track were the 4 x 100 relays and the Aggies won each of their heats.
For the men a winning heat time of 39.05 matched their best effort of the year from the NCAA West preliminary round in Ausitn.
The A&M men ran with the crew of Curtis Mitchell. Finishing second to the Aggies was Auburn in 39.18.
Joining A&M and Auburn in Saturday's final are Florida (38.94), South Carolina (39.07), LSU (39.13), Florida State (39.30), Kentucky (39.62) and UCLA (39.75).
The women ran 43.41 to win a heat over LSU's 43.50 with the foursome of Porscha Lucas, Elizabeth Adeoti.
"Elizabeth did a good job today of taking the stick, and that is what she is really good at," Henry said. "Saturday will be a different race and we'll look to see what we need to do then."
Also advancing to the final are Houston (43.68), Clemson (43.82), Oregon (44.08), Auburn (44.10), Baylor (44.24) and Texas Tech (44.27).
Three time winners of the 4 x 100 relay, the A&M women will seek a fourth consecutive title on Saturday as they carry winning streaks of 28 races (20 finals), 18 postseason races (10 finals) in the race.
"It will be cool that they will broadcast the 4 x 100 nationally on TV Saturday," Lucas said. "It was unfortunate last year when people heard we broke the collegiate record, but not everyone got to see it live."
Tabarie Henry faced a very tough semifinal field in the first heat of the 400 and had to wait out two more heats to see if he would qualify on time.
Henry ran 45.74 to place fourth in the heat. Kirani James of Alabama won the race in 45.44 with Florida's Calvin Smith second in 45.64. Florida State's Kevin Borlee edged ahead of Henry at the finish with a 45.70. Both advanced on time.
Demetrius Pinder finished second in the next heat to earn an automatic spot in the final with a time of 45.77. Joey Hughes of USC won the heat in 45.15. Bryan Miller finished sixth in the heat with a 47.23.
Donald Sanford of Arizona State won the third heat in 45.94 with Tavaris Tate of Mississippi State runner-up in 45.74. Baylor's Zwede Hewitt placed third, but his time of 45.92 didn't advance. Another Bear in the race who did not finish was Marcus Boyd, the led-off leg of Baylor's 4 x 100.
Jessica Beard cruised to a comfortable win in the women's 400 semifinal, taking the first heat in 52.42. Other heat winners were defending champion Joanna Atkins of Auburn in 51.88 along with NCAA Indoor champ Francena McCorory of Hampton in 52.04. Oregon's Keshia Baker, runner-up to McCorory, ran 53.29.
A slow start almost spelled trouble for Curtis Mitchell in the men's 100 semifnal, but a blistering finish moved the Aggie sprinter into second place. Florida's Jeff Demps won the race in a wind-aided 10.15 with Mitchell claiming second in 10.28.
In the women's 100 the tandem of Porscha Lucas sped to the fastest qualifying times with wind-aided marks of 11.05 and 11.07 to finish 1-2 in the same heat. The wind reading was 2.7 meters per second.
"In my mind 11.05 is my biggest PR," said Tarmoh, who has a wind-legal career best of 11.19. "Even with a 2.7 wind, it doesn't matter. If I can do it once, I can do it again. Porscha and I work really well together, both at practice and competitively."
Lucas noted: "Running an 11.07, I'm so excited. I don't care what the wind says. I know I ran 11.07. I've overcome so much this year, ending my indoor season on a terrible note with an injury.
"I know everything happens for a reason, and I definitely think this is my time right now. So, I'm on top of the world."
Dominique Duncan ran in the opening heat while Gabby Mayo did not start. Duncan placed fourth with an 11.49, but didn't advance on time as she placed 14th overall.
Mayo was unable to start due to a quad injury she suffered in her left leg during practice recently.
Racing in the 400 hurdles, neither Donique' Flemings were able to reach the finals. They both finished eighth in their heats, with Sutherland running 59.52 and Sutherland a 60.60.
Players Mentioned
