Feb. 25, 2011
LINCOLN, Neb. - A pair of Texas A&M track and field school records fell during the first day of the Big 12 Indoor Championships, which are being held at the Bob Devaney Center on the University of Nebraska campus. Daphne Fitzpatrick and Cole Knuth bettered previous A&M marks in the pentathlon and weight throw, respectively.
A big scoring event for the Aggies came in the long jump final where the trio of Julian Reid, Tryon Stewart and Melvin Echard combined for 13 points with a 3-4-7 finish.
Meanwhile, in qualifying races for Saturday finals, the Aggies led the field with 27 combined qualifiers in 12 races. The A&M women totaled 15 qualifiers in six of the finals while the men accumulated 12. Next best were nine for the Oklahoma men and eighth each for Nebraska and Texas Tech women.
Through the finals held on the first day of the conference meet the leading teams on the men's side are Oklahoma (40), Nebraska (25), Texas A&M (23.5) and Texas (22) with Nebraska (38), Texas Tech (36), Iowa State (33) and Texas (19) on the women's side. The A&M women currently have seven points and are in 10th place.
Fitzpatrick broke the school record in the pentathlon with a score of 3,919 points to place third and score six points in the first track and field final of the conference meet.
Her biggest gain in points with the high jump, where she matched her indoor career best of 5-9 ¼ to claim 928 points. Then she closed out the day with a personal best in the 800, running 2:25.98 for 750 points.
Starting the competition with a 9.08 (893) in the hurdles, Fitzpatrick followed her stellar effort in the high jump with a 37-5 ¼ (11.41) in the shot put. In the long jump she went 18-4 ¼ (726).
Nebraska's Chantae McMillan defended her title with a score of 4,287 points while Kansas State's Ryann Krais passed Fitzpatrick in the final event to score 4,009 points for second.
The total by Fitzpatrick bettered the school mark of 3,794 established by Kendra Reimer in 2003. That mark was set during a Big 12 meet at this same Nebraska track. An even older A&M mark of 3,830 points, set in 1980 by Sande Lambert when the pentathlon had 55-meter hurdles instead of the current 60-meter hurdles.
"I came into today, as a senior, wanting to contribute as much as I could," Fitzpatrick said. "Breaking a school record is very exciting, especially as a senior. I was setting my best marks in each event, and my confidence was growing. Then I was able to break through in the 800 and run under 2:30.
"I was a little behind after the hurdle race, so matching by PR in the high jump got me back among the top three and gave me encouragement going into the shot put. After placing sixth last year, this is a big improvement for me to finish third."
The previous best by Fitzpatrick was 3,768 from earlier this season that was fourth best at A&M.
Reid's first competition this indoor season was key for the Aggies as he recorded a mark of 25-2 in the third and fourth rounds of the long jump. Stewart moved from eighth place to fifth in the fourth stanza and then improved to fourth place with a final round leap of 24-11 ¾. Echard went 24-8 ¼ to place seventh.
Knuth set a school record in the weight throw with an opening round toss of 61 feet. That mark placed Knuth fifth while teammate Casey Strong finished sixth at a career best of 60-1. The A&M duo scored seven Aggie points.
"It was just a continuation of what we've been doing over and over in practice, but today I was finally able to stay relaxed and do what I knew I could do," said Knuth. "As far as the school record, I'm more excited about getting the chance to contribute points that we weren't expected to get.
"Today, Casey and I were able to combine for seven points and I'm more excited for that contribution than the school record. The school record is just icing on the cake."
Aggie frosh supplied points in the men's pole vault and women's long jump. Dustin Phillips tied for seventh in the pole vault with a clearance of 16-4 ¾ for 1½ point. Lisa Steinkamp finished eighth in the long jump with a mark of 19-4 ¼ for a single point.
The A&M men's distance medley relay placed seventh with a time of 9:59.36 with the foursome of Ethan Doherty, Oscar Ramirez, Sam Mutschler and Will Barry.
In the women's distance medley relay the Aggies moved up to ninth with a time of 12:04.71 following the disqualification of Baylor and Oklahoma State. The Aggies ran with the foursome of Erica Parker, Brittany Machacek, Hillary Hagan and Haley Parsons.
Kevin Burnett ran 14:18.34 for 12th place in the 5,000. Katherine Devlin finished 17th in the women's 5,000 with a time of 16:56.33. Jennifer Edwards placed 18th in the weight throw with a 53-0 ¼ mark.
Through the first day of the heptathlon William Markert is currently 12th with a score of 2,120 points.
QUALIFYING
While producing the top number of qualifiers from Friday's prelim races, the Aggies also posted the leading qualifying time in six races and the second best mark in four events.
The group included Jessica Beard (22.97, 52.95) in the 200 and 400 meters. Natasha Ruddock (8.20) in the 60 hurdles with Gabby Mayo (8.23) the second fastest qualifier. Jeneba Tarmoh followed Beard in the 200 with the second best mark of 23.18.
On the men's side Prezel Hardy, Jr. (6.71) posting the third fastest. Tran Howell (21.13) was second fastest in the 200.
FRIDAY FINALS
MEN'S TEAMS: 1. Oklahoma, 40; 2. Nebraska, 25; 3. Texas A&M, 23.5; 4. Texas 22; 5. Missouri, 16; 6. Texas Tech, 15.
5000: 12. Kevin Burnett, 14:18.94.
DMR: 7. Texas A&M, 9:59.36.
PV: =7. Dustin Phillips, 16-4 ¾; 11. Colton Sandman, 15-11. (1.5 pts)
LJ: 3. Julian Reid, 25-2; 4. Tyron Stewart, 24-11 ¾; 7. Melvin Echard, 24-8 ¼.
Wt: 5. Cole Knuth, 61-0 (SCHOOL RECORD); 6. Casey Strong, 60-1. (7 pts)
WOMEN'S TEAMS: 1. Nebraska, 38; 2. Texas Tech, 36; 3. Iowa State, 33; 4. Kansas State & Texas, 19; 6. Oklahoma, 13; ... 10. Texas A&M 7.
5000: 17. Katherine Devlin, 16:56.33.
DMR: 9. Texas A&M, 12:04.71.
LJ: 8. Lisa Steinkamp, 19-4 ¼; 14. Sasha-Kay Matthias, 18-6 ½. (1 pt)
Wt: 18. Jennifer Edwards, 53-0 ¼.
Pent: 3. Daphne Fitzpatrick, 3,919 points (SCHOOL RECORD) (6 pts)
QUALIFIERS TO FINALS
MEN - (12 qualifiers, 6 events)
60: Prezel Hardy, Jr., 6.71; Michael Bryan, 6.74.
200: Tran Howell, 21.13; Gerald Phiri 21.33.
400: Demetrius Pinder 46.53; Bryan Miller 47.37.
600y: Michael Preble 1:09.16, Tabarie Henry 1:10.31.
800: Joey Roberts, 1:49.18; Oscar Ramirez, 1:50.20.
60H: Wayne Davis, 7.93.
WOMEN - (15 qualifiers, 6 events)
60: Jeneba Tarmoh, 7.32; Dominique Duncan, 7.35; Gabby Mayo, 7.35.
200: Jessica Beard, 22.97; Jeneba Tarmoh, 23.18; Dominique Duncan, 23.32; Ashley Collier, 23.64.
400: Jessica Beard, 52.95; Ibukun Mayungbe, 53.86.
600y: Andrea Sutherland, 1:21.87.
800: Aliese Hyde, 2:10.39; Erica Parker, 2:10.45.
60H: Donique' Flemings, 8.66.