April 9, 2011
AUSTIN - Breaking a 26-year-old record held by Baylor in the 4 x 400 relay was a fitting way for the Texas A&M men's relay to cap another successful weekend for the Aggies at the 84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Myers Stadium.
With a dozen victories on the weekend, with six wins in relay events, Texas A&M was named outstanding team for the third consecutive year.
In addition Aggie senior sprinter Gerald Phiri earned outstanding male athlete of the meet for breaking a 35-year-old meet record in the University men's 100 meters. It was the oldest record held at the Texas Relays in the men's University division.
"We competed at a level that showed who we are today," said A&M head coach Pat Henry. "I'm extremely pleased with the whole group across the board, men and women. These are the things we have to be able to do if we are going to be a good team. Our team is doing very well right now."
Of the record six relay victories the Aggies claimed, four were won on Saturday's showcase day in front of 18,369 fans. Texas A&M swept the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays with some of the fastest times ever recorded at the prestigious Texas Relays.
It was the first time since LSU in 2004 for the same school to win the men and women's 4 x 100 titles in the same year. In the 4 x 400 the Aggies became the first team since Baylor in 1998 to win the men and women's race in the same meet.
Individual titles came in pairs as well with Phiri and Jeneba Tarmoh each racing to titles in the 100 meters while Julian Reid won the triple jump for the second time in three years.
Michael Preble was another standout for the Aggies during the weekend as he was part of three winning relays. After anchoring the 4 x 800 on Thursday and running the third, 400m leg, of the sprint medley on Friday, Preble put A&M into the lead for good on his third leg carry of the 4 x 400 on Saturday evening.
"It's exciting to have the opportunity to run on three different winning relay teams," said Preble. "As good as everyone is, to be part of that is unreal. I knew if I could contribute my best we would have a shot at winning all three relays I was part of."
Texas A&M posted a meet record of 3:00.45 to break the 1985 mark of 3:00.88 set by Baylor. The Aggie foursome included Bryan Miller (45.2), Tabarie Henry (45.0), Preble (45.3) and Demetrius Pinder (45.0).
"This is my senior year and it was an impressive performance," Miller said. "Coach Henry motivated us to run fast today. This is the third time I've been on a school record 4 x 4 relay and the second time I've been on a relay that won the 4 x 4 at the Texas Relays. To go out with my name in the record books with a bunch of great athletes and teammates is something I'll take with me the rest of my life.
"It kind of shows what kind of dynasty we have built the past few years. Everyone is going to come here and see our names in the record book. It's been a great experience for me."
USC held the led at the end of the second leg, but Preble went to the front with 100m left on his carry. Giving the baton to Pinder with a 5m lead was enough to secure the win.
"I knew Bryan was going to set it up for us and you can always count on Tabarie to run fast," Preble noted. "I was just trying to get it to Pinder in a good spot so he could run fast on his anchor leg."
Pinder cruised to the finish line to break the A&M school record of 3:00.89 set in winning the NCAA title last year as the Aggies become the seventh fastest school ever with the eighth best performance.
Baylor finished second to A&M with a 3:01.77 while LSU was third in 3:02.23 and USC placed fourth at 3:02.87.
In the women's 4 x 400 Jessica Beard anchored her third relay of the day and split 49.68 as the Aggies produced a school record of 3:27.33 and became the fourth fastest school ever.
"I'm just really proud of everybody," said Beard. "They stepped up and ran fast. I think at the end we knew what we wanted to do. We wanted to come together as a team and I couldn't be happier. It wasn't the best conditions today with the strong wind, but we still came out here and got it done.
"It was a little tough running the anchor on three relays. By the 4 x 400 I was a bit tired. I just asked God to give me strength. The girls ran well and gave me the baton in the lead. So, I knew what I needed to do on my end and help extend the lead."
The first three legs for A&M included Tarmoh (52.5), Ibukun Mayungbe (52.0), and Andrea Sutherland (53.2). Arkansas placed second in 3:31.34 with Texas (3:31.69) and South Plains (3:31.85) third and fourth.
Texas A&M swept the 4 x 100 relays as the men won the race for the first time since 1997 and the women claimed the title for the third time in four years.
Running in lane two the Aggie foursome of Prezel Hardy, Jr. edged LSU for the victory. A&M's time of 38.71 is second fastest in Texas Relays history to the meet record of 38.64 set by TCU in 1999.
LSU finished second in 38.78 while Baylor placed third in 39.21 and Texas was fourth in 39.29. The rest of the field included TCU (39.38), Mississippi State (39.59), Arkansas (39.91), UT-Arlington (40.03) and Clemson (40.62).
Texas A&M women were stationed in lane five with Texas in four and LSU in six. The Aggie foursome of Ashley Collier, Tarmoh, Dominique Duncan and Beard cruised to a winning time of 42.87, lowering their collegiate leading mark from a 43.16 they ran last weekend.
It's the third time in four years the A&M women have won the Texas Relays title in the sprint relay. They also won in 2008 and 2010. Finishing behind the Aggies were LSU (43.44), Texas (43.78), Houston (43.81), USC (44.08), Baylor (44.26), Texas Tech (44.29) and Clemson (44.30).
"Jessica Beard looks like a person that is about as fine of a college track athlete that I've ever seen in my whole life," Henry noted. "She is absolutely unbelievable.
"She did a tremendous job anchoring three relays today. Last year we stuck her on the 4 x 100 when we had an injury. I don't think you stick her on there anymore, I think she has probably earned that position."
Phiri clocked a world leading time of 10.06 as he took down a 35-year-old meet record of 10.07. Phiri's race had a wind reading of 1.3 meters per second, the only race to have a wind-legal mark on the day.
"What a way to run such a fast time with a legal wind in front of my family and friends," state Phiri. "I was very excited when I noticed the wind was dropping in the races prior to mine.
"Jeff Demps has been the guy to beat, especially when he ran 10.07 with a 2.2 wind. So I was prepared to run a time in similar conditions to compare myself with him. When I saw a 1.4 wind with a 10.06 by my name I couldn't believe it. We ran at the perfect time."
Finishing behind Phiri were Baylor's Woodrow Randall (10.20), D'Angelo Cherry of Mississippi State (10.23) and Codero Gray of UT-Arlington (10.24). Hardy posted a 10.29 for sixth place. Bryan did not start the final.
"I saw D'Angelo Cherry for the first half of the race," recalled Phiri. "I knew he would be there with me. Then I started to lift my knees and separated from the field. I really used the 4 x 100 to see where I was with my knee injury and maximum velocity. I felt better while running in the 4 x 100 and I just repeated that while running the 100 meters."
Tarmoh sped to a 10.94 victory in the women's race, with an aiding wind of 2.9. Her mark is the sixth-fastest collegiate time ever, under any conditions and is the fastest ever by an Aggie, topping the 10.95 school record of Simone Facey.
This is the fourth consecutive year an Aggie sprinter has claimed the University 100. The previous winners were Porscha Lucas (2008) and Gabby Mayo (2009 & 2010).
"I was ecstatic to see 10.94 on the scoreboard," Tarmoh said. "Once you run under 11 seconds, you should be able to do it again.
"I love contributing to the team. This is the Texas Relays so it's obviously a relays meet. It's not about your individual performance. It's more about the relays. That's what we came to do, crush the relay."
Tarmoh finished ahead of LSU's tandem of Semoy Hackett (10.98) and Kimberlynn Duncan (11.07) with Baylor Tiffany Townsend (11.09) in fourth. A&M's Duncan finished seventh with an 11.20.
Reid had a windy winning mark of 54-8.75 (16.88) to win the triple jump over LSU's Zedric Thomas, who hit a mark of 54-1.25. Reid also won the triple jump in 2009 while A&M grad Zuheir Sharif claimed the 2010 title.
"I'm glad a group of Aggies came to Austin and established dominance," said Reid. "We've won the triple jump three years straight and hopefully we'll have another one next year in the triple or the long jump.
"For me it's all about the history and I'm happy to be a part of it. Coach VanHootegem and I were pleased with the performance, but there are a couple of things I still need to work on. To jump that far, though, there are plenty of positives that come out of it."
A runner-up effort was turned in by the women's 4 x 200 relay that consisted of LaKedria Stewart, Chandrell Stephens, Duncan and Beard. They posted a time of 1:32.01 behind LSU's 1:30.88. Texas finished third in 1:32.51 while Houston placed fourth in 1:33.17.
Emalie Humphreys threw the javelin 161-3 (49.15) to place third in the javelin. Andrea Sutherland clocked 58.58 for fourth in the 400 hurdles.
Running in the Jerry Thompson mile, which featured professional runners, Will Barry placed 14th with a 4:17.83.