Jan. 25, 2011
IRVING - The Big 12 Conference office selected a pair of Aggie sprinters for Athlete of the Week honors in track and field on Tuesday. The senior tandem of Jessica Beard and Gerald Phiri each won a pair of events as Texas A&M defeated LSU in a dual meet among national powers this past Saturday. It's the third career Big 12 weekly honor for each sprinter.
Beard claimed a 200-400 double win as the No. 2 Aggie women defeated No. 3 LSU 91-67. Phiri produced a 60-200 double victory as the No. 3 A&M men bettered No. 2 LSU 84-75.
Beard established a career best, indoor or outdoor, in winning the 200 with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 22.95 seconds. Currently the world leader for the 2011 season, Beard is now No. 3 on the Aggie all-time list behind former NCAA Outdoor 200m champions Simone Facey (2008) and Porscha Lucas (2009 and 2010). Beard bettered the A&M dual meet record of 23.21 set by Lucas in 2010.
In the 400 Beard cruised to a comfortable win in 52.97 seconds, the current collegiate leader.
Phiri broke a pair of A&M dual meet records as the claimed the 60 in 6.63 seconds and the 200 in a career best of 20.80 seconds, which currently rank third and second on the 2011 world list. He bettered the 6.65 dual meet mark he produced in 2009 as well as the 20.99 set by Curtis Mitchell in 2010. Phiri's 200 mark is also a national record for his native Zambia and places him No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list.
The school record holder in the 60 with a 6.59, Phiri's 6.63 is equal to the fourth fastest performance on the A&M all-time list. Phiri has produced each mark among the top 10 performances on the Aggie all-time list, ranging from 6.59 to 6.65.
NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS
The first set of indoor rankings following the preseason top 25 was updated on Tuesday by the USTFCCCA and Texas A&M remained No. 2 in the women's rankings and No. 3 in the men's rankings.
Seven of the eight teams competing in this weekend's Texas A&M Challenge, which features the Big 12 versus the SEC, are also ranked among the top 25 this week.
The Big 12 teams will include Texas A&M, Kansas State (No. 20 men), Oklahoma (No. 23 men, No. 12 women) and Texas Tech (No. 4 men, No. 13 women). The SEC foursome includes Florida (No. 2 men and the defending NCAA Indoor champions), Georgia (No. 14 men), Mississippi and South Carolina (No. 22 women).