April 16, 2011
GAINESVILLE, Florida - With nine victories Texas A&M track and field enjoyed a successful venture at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic hosted by the University of Florida.
Wins in the javelin were claimed by the Aggie brother and sister act of Sasha-Kay Matthias in the triple jump.
On the track A&M had the leading marks from Wayne Davis II (110 hurdles) and the men's 4 x 400.
Humphries nearly matched his school record with a winning toss of 251-8 (76.70) that bettered the field by 12 feet. Teammate Jon Gomez finished fifth with a 203-1 mark.
In the women's javelin Emalie powered a season best throw of 167-11 (51.18) to win by nine feet. Meanwhile, teammate Laura Asimakis threw for the first time in a meet since the 2010 Texas Relays and placed second with a toss of 158-4 (48.26).
The Aggies displayed its 400 strength with Demetrius Pinder winning with a time of 45.26 over Calvin Smith, a former Gator, who placed second in 45.59. A&M's Bryan Miller claimed third in 46.01.
In the second section Michael Preble won with a career best of 46.41 with teammate Joey Roberts second in 46.44. Carlyle Roudette claimed the third section of the 400 in 47.59 with Brett Parker runner-up in 48.21.
Pinder was the overall winner as the Aggies placed 1-4-6-7-13-15 in the field of 24 runners and had the top four collegiate times amid the post-collegians in the race.
Wayne Davis II won the 110 hurdles in a close finish with Florida's Eddie Lovett. Davis countered the better start by Lovett with a strong lean at the finish. Davis ran a windy 13.75 (2.3 wind) to claim the victory over Lovett's 13.81.
In the prelims Davis ran 13.93 to win his heat while Lovett claimed the other heat in 13.82. Both heats were wind-aided. A&M's William Markert ran 15.75 during the prelims.
The women's 100 hurdles also had a close finish with Central Florida's Jackie Coward posted a collegiate-leading 12.96 to edge out A&M's Donique' Flemings placed sixth in 13.81.
During the prelims Ruddock posted a wind-aided 13.12 while Flemings ran a windy 13.63. Daphne Fitzpatrick had a wind-aided 14.55 in another prelim heat.
Dominique Duncan sped to a windy 22.97 victory in the 200 with Jeneba Tarmoh placing second with a 23.26. Collier finished third in the same section, but placed fourth overall with a 23.56.
Erica Parker nearly lowered her career best in the 800 as she led the field through 400 (60) and 600 (1:33) meters. She carried the field to the finish with a 2:08.98 win as Hillary Hagan (2:11.68) and Aliese Hyde (2:11.76) placed third and fourth. Tiffany Singleton (2:12.49) finished sixth.
The Aggies capped the evening with a win in the 4 x 400 relay, posting a winning time of 3:04.77 to Florida's 3:06.43. Texas A&M ran with the foursome of Joey Roberts (46.1), Tran Howell (45.2), Carlyle Roudette (47.7) and Michael Preble (45.8).
Another group of Aggies placed fifth in 3:12.37 with the crew of Tim Johnson, Brett Parker, Michael Harbour and Oscar Ramirez.
Julian Reid won a windy long jump competition with a leap of 24-7.25 (7.50) as he competed against a Jamaican long jump legend, James Beckford, who placed third with a mark of 23-11.5. Florida's Christian Taylor fouled three of his attempts for no mark.
Later in the evening Sasha-Kay Matthias faced a stiff headwind in the triple jump where her 40-10.25 (12.45) won the event while teammate Tiffany Peters placed second with a 40-7.5 (12.38). Lisa Steinkamp finished third in the long jump with a wind-aided 19-10.75 (6.06).
Cameron Alexander set a career best in the high jump as he placed second with a clearance of 7-0.5 (2.15). Florida's Frankie Hammond won the event with a 7-2.5 (2.20) effort. A&M's Tyler Lee placed fourth with a 6-6.75.
In the 100 meters Ashley Collier placed second with a wind-aided 11.22 behind the 11.17 by Central Florida's Aurieyall Scott. In the next section Jessica Beard posted a windy 11.49 as runner-up while LaKeidra Stewart won the third section in 11.53, also wind-aided.
After throwing the javelin Asimakis engaged in a pole vault duel with Nebraska's Natalie Willer. Both cleared 13-4.25 (4.07), but Asimakis needed three attempts to Willer's one and that decided the win after both missed at 13-8.25 (4.17). Aly Daily placed fifth with a clearance of 12-6.25 (3.82). In the men's pole vault Dustin Phillips cleared a season best of 16-7.5 (5.07) for fifth place.
Andrea Sutherland ran well in the 400 hurdles as her 57.98 finished second to a 57.78 from Central Florida's Jackie Coward. Tim Johnson ran 53.06 for third in the men's 400 hurdles.
Both of the Aggies 4 x 100 units placed second with different line-ups used this week.
The A&M women ran 44.08 with a group that included LaKeidra Stewart, Chandrell Stephens, Ibukun Mayungbe and Ashley Collier. Central Florida won the race in 43.69 while TCU placed third in 45.67.
The Gators and Aggies had a competitive relay with Florida taking the win in 39.07 over A&M's 39.16 as anchor Jeff Demps held off the charge by Demetrius Pinder. The first three legs for the Aggies included Tran Howell, Gerald Phiri and Bryan Miller.
Hardy later ran a wind-aided 10.18 in the 100 for fourth place while Phiri clocked a wind-legal 20.78 in the 200 with Tabarie Henry posting a windy 20.79.
Oscar Ramirez and Sam Mutschler produced a pair of career best times in the 800, placing third and fourth with times of 1:49.27 and 1:50.27. In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase Stephen Curry placed second in 9:22.82 while Dylan Williams finished fourth in 9:34.46.
Casey Strong established another hammer school record as he placed third with a mark of 198-9 (60.58). Florida's Jeremy Postin won with a toss of 212-9. A&M's Cole Knuth finished fifth (183-0).
In the women's discus Jill Hydrick improved her career best by three feet to 161-3 (49.16) to place eighth. That marks moved Hydrick to No. 7 on the A&M all-time list. In the shot put Jennifer Edwards (48-4.75) and Taylor Rosser (48-2) placed eighth and ninth.
Mt. SAC Relays
A trio of Aggie distance runners traveled to California for the Mt. SAC Relays and they each set a career best in races over 5,000 and 10,000 meters during action on Thursday and Friday evening.
Katherine Devlin raced on Thursday evening, placing third in the 25-runner Invitational section of the women's 10,000 meters. Devlin clocked a time of 33:56.98 and became the second fastest performer on the A&M all-time list with the third best performance.
Emily Brown of New Balance won the race in 33:16.44 while New Mexico's Ruth Senior finished second in 33:42.10.
On Friday Natosha Rogers and Kevin Burnett each competed in the 5,000 meters. Rogers posted a 16:25.79 to finish eighth in her section. She also becomes the second fastest performer on the Aggie all-time list with the ninth best performance.
Burnett clocked a time of 14:04.71 to place 13th among a field of 32 runners in his section of the 5,000. Burnett moves to the No. 4 performer on the Aggie all-time list with the eighth best performance.