April 12, 2011
IRVING - Texas A&M sprinters Gerald Phiri and Jeneba Tarmoh were named Big 12 Athletes of the Week for their performances at the Texas Relays this past weekend.
Phiri broke the second oldest Texas Relays meet record when he defended his 100-meter title in 10.06 seconds. That bettered the 10.07 set in 1976 by Ed Preston of Arkansas State. Phiri is the current world leader for the 2011 season.
Phiri also ran second leg on a victorious 4 x 100 relay that set a collegiate leading time of 38.71 seconds and currently ranks fourth in the world. It was the first sprint relay win at the Texas Relays for Texas A&M since 1997.
This marks the third consecutive week an A&M men's sprinter has earned Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors, a feat that has never previously been accomplished in the Big 12. Demetrius Pinder shared the honor with Texas hurdler Keiron Stewart on March 29 while Tabarie Henry was selected for the week of April 5.
Tarmoh shared the women's Athlete of the Week honors with Baylor's Tiffani McReynolds, who won the 100 hurdles in a wind-aided 12.74 seconds.
In winning the 100 meter title Tarmoh ran a wind-aided 10.94 seconds, equaling the sixth fastest time ever run by a collegian under any conditions. Tarmoh's time is the best among Aggie sprinters, under any conditions, topping the school record of 10.95 set at altitude by Simone Facey in 2008.
Tarmoh also ran the leading leg of two winning Aggie relays, the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400. Texas A&M won the 4 x 100 for the third time in four years, setting a collegiate leading time of 42.87 that currently ranks second fastest in the world.
In the 4 x 400 the Aggies won the Texas Relays event for the first time in program history as they recorded a world leading time of 3:27.33, making A&M the fourth fastest school ever in this event. Tarmoh ran a split of 52.5 seconds on the opening leg as the Aggies defeated the field by over four seconds.