March 15, 2011
COLLEGE STATION - Honors from the NCAA Indoor Championships hosted by Texas A&M included a new format for All-America distinction by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
First-team honors were given to those who placed in the championships' top eight or were a member of an eight-person final. Second-team honors were handed out to those who earned final classifications between ninth and 16th place. Others who participated earned honorable mention.
Aggies earning first-team All-America honors for placing in the top eight of their respective events were Wayne Davis II (60H), Dominique Duncan (200m), Tabarie Henry (400, 4x4), Tran Howell (4x4), Gabby Mayo (60H), Ibukun Mayungbe (4x4), Bryan Miller (4x4), Gerald Phiri (60m), Demetrius Pinder (400, 4x4), Michael Preble (800), Julian Reid (triple jump), Andrea Sutherland (4x4), and Jeneba Tarmoh (200, 4x4).
Second-team honors went to Prezel Hardy, Jr. (60m), Miller (400), Phiri (200) and Tarmoh (60m). Joey Roberts (800) received honorable mention.
Texas A&M had 14 individuals earn a total of 18 first-team honors. Porscha Lucas, who reached a total of 19 in her career.
With eight All-America honors with the Aggies, Tarmoh is tied for fourth on the A&M list with Adrien Sawyer. Mayo has seven honors and is tied with Ashika Charan and Clora Williams on the Aggie career list.
For the men Phiri now has nine career All-America honors and is tied with Justin Oliver for the most by an A&M male athlete.
Miller, with eight, is tied for third on the career list with such noteworthy Aggies as Howard Davis, Chris Dykes, Stanley Kerr and Randy Matson. Reid, meanwhile, has seven All-America honors and is tied with Andre Cason for eighth on the list.
ESPN - NCAA INDOOR COVERAGE
Coverage of the NCAA Indoor Championships, which featured a two-day total of 8,587 fans, will air on ESPN2 this Wednesday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m.
In repeating its team finish from 2010 with the men placing second and the women finishing fifth, Texas A&M set six school records in the process.
"Our team from top to bottom did about everything they possibly could do," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It's reflective in the times and the efforts of the group. I've never had a team set six school records in one competition. That just doesn't happen. I can't be anything but very satisfied with the effort from our team this past weekend."
As Jessica Beard lowered her own school record to 50.79 she set the world leading mark for 2011 and moved to No. 2 on the all-time collegiate list, No. 3 on the American list and No. 24 on the all-time world list.
Beard's milestone also includes becoming the first Aggie female to claim an individual title at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
"The combination of the home crowd and running on her home track should be something Jessica remembers for the rest of her life," Henry said. "I don't know that I've heard a building get that loud for the 400 or both those relays."
Demetrius Pinder, who earned A&M's first indoor title in the men's 400, became the No. 8 collegian all-time while setting a Bahamian national record of 45.33. He bettered the national record of 45.78 set by Chris Brown in 2006. Pinder is also No. 14 on the all-time world indoor list.
Beard and Pinder each played key roles in the Aggies securing titles and a couple more school records in the 4 x 400 relay.
The A&M women recorded the second fastest time in the world for 2011 with a 3:29.72, which only trails the 3:29.34 set by the Russians in winning the European Championships the previous weekend. The Aggies mark is No. 8 all-time on the collegiate list and the No. 5 school.
In the men's 4 x 400 Texas A&M produced the world leader for 2011 and equals the No. 4 time on the all-time collegiate list and equals the No. 17 time on the world all-time list.
Ahead of the Aggies on the collegiate list are Florida (3:03.51, 2005), Baylor (3:03.96, 2004), and LSU (3:04.01, 2006) with Baylor also having a 3:04.24 from 2007.
Bronze medal efforts from Michael Preble and Julian Reid produced school records in the 800 meters and triple jump, respectively. Preble clocked 1:47.88 in the prelims of the 800 and then finished third in the final. Reid generated a mark of 54-10 (16.71) in the final round of the triple jump to move into third place.
"Julian Reid's effort was tremendous in the triple jump," noted Henry. "To withstand some of the things he has over the past two months and then really get going at the Big 12 and NCAA Indoor shows he has a Texas A&M heart."
COLLEGIATE RECORDS
In addition to the six school records set by Aggies during the weekend, the NCAA Championships also produced two collegiate records and four meet records, along with five world leading marks and 15 collegiate leaders for the 2011 indoor season.
"It's a great venue," Henry added. "I still think we have one of the greatest venues in the world and we kind of proved it again. We had excellent sprint and hurdle marks, fast times in a couple of distance events and some spectacular jumping."
In the women's 60 meters South Carolina senior LaKya Brookins repeated her victory from 2009 when the meet was previously hosted at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
In the prelims of the 60, Brookins equaled the facility record of 7.13, which she set in 2009. Then, in the finals, she equaled the collegiate record and championship met record of 7.09 set by Angela Williams of USC in 2001.
"I like this track and it felt good to run in the same place I won two years ago," Brookins noted. "I have come to know this track very well."
On the opening day of the meet Oregon's Brianne Theisen improved the collegiate record in the pentathlon to 4,540 points.
NCAA INDOOR MEET RECORDS
Of the four NCAA Indoor meet records broken or equaled, the oldest mark to be broken was 30 years old. Florida's Will Claye bettered the 1981 triple jump mark of 56-9 ½ (17.31) set by Keith Conner of SMU.
Perhaps squashing the notion you need an oversized track to produce fast times in distance races, the top three finishers in the men's 5,000 meters broke the previous meet record of 13:28.93 set in 2003 by Alistair Cragg of Arkansas. The top 11 finishers in the race set personal best marks.
NCAA Indoor meet records
Men (2)
5000: 13:26.01, Leonard Korir, Iona
TJ: 56-10 (17.32), Will Claye, Florida
Women (2)
60: 7.09, LaKya Brookins, South Carolina
Pent: 4540, Brianne Theisen, Oregon
World Leaders - 2011
Men (2)
200: 20.39, Mookie Salaam, Oklahoma (prelim)
4x400: 3:04.24, Texas A&M
Women (3)
60: 7.09, LaKya Brookins, South Carolina
400: 50.79, Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
DMR: 10:52.52, Villanova
Collegiate Leaders - 2011
Men (7)
60: 6.53, Jeff Demps, Florida
200: 20.39, Mookie Salaam, Oklahoma (prelim)
5000: 13:26.01, Leonard Korir, Iona
60H: 7.58, Andrew Riley, Illinois
4x400: 3:04.24, Texas A&M
HJ: 7-7 ¾ (2.33), Derek Drouin, Indiana
Hept: 5986, Miller Moss, Clemson
Women (8)
60: 7.09, LaKya Brookins, South Carolina
400: 50.79, Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
800: 2:04.09, Lacey Bleazard, BYU
60H: 7.96, Brianna Rollins, Clemson
4x400: 3:29.72, Texas A&M
DMR: 10:52.52, Villanova
TJ: 45-9 ¾ (13.96), Kim Williams, Florida State
Pent: 4540, Brianne Theisen, Oregon