Texas A&M
Penn Relay Carnival
A&M wins women's 4x2, men's 4x4 on final day of Penn Relays
Apr 30, 2011 | Track and Field
April 30, 2011
PHILADELPHIA - On the final day of the 117th Penn Relay Carnival the Aggies won the women's 4 x 200 and men's 4 x 400 relays, while a pair of dropped batons prevented Texas A&M from claiming the men's 4 x 100 and women's 4 x 400 titles.
Amid a day that had a crowd of 48,531 fans at historic Franklin Field, the Aggie women won its fourth consecutive title in the 4 x 200 (1:29.96) in commanding fashion while the A&M men redeemed their runner-up finish a year ago with a strong effort in the 4 x 400 (3:01.73).
Over the three days of the Penn Relays the crowd totaled 110,141 and they saw the Aggie women claim three relay titles while the A&M men captured one and finished second in two others.
"Any time that you win a relay here it's an outstanding accomplishment," said Texas A&M coach Pat Henry. "Our ladies won three this weekend, and had a chance to win a fourth. It was unfortunate to have the baton knocked out that way, since we were running very well. But, those things happen and you have to get tougher as a result.
"On the men's side we were running very well in the 4 x 100 and dropped the stick there. Then in the 4 x 200 we got beat, but ran very fast. Our 4 x 8 also ran very well, setting a school record. In the 4 x 400 we got the win and ran faster than USA Red or Blue."
The women's 4 x 200 crew of Jeneba Tarmoh, Ashley Collier, Jessica Beard and Dominique Duncan cruised to a 1:29.96 victory over Texas (1:30.93), Clemson (1:33.62), Central Florida (1:34.18), Pittsburgh (1:35.42), and Tennessee (1:35.83). Auburn, the runner-up the past two years, did not finish.
"It's amazing, winning is always a good thing," noted Tarmoh. "I love putting my teammates in a good situation when I start. Ashley did her part, Jessica made it a bit better and Dominique brought it home."
The Aggies recorded the third fastest time in Penn Relays history, trailing only the collegiate record of 1:29.42 they set a year ago and a 1:29.78 by LSU in 2003.
"It's a new and humbling experience every time we win," noted Duncan. "Every time we come to the Penn Relays we don't think about ourselves as the record holders or the defending champions. We think about how we have to win this time.
"I was a bit nervous since coach had me run anchor for the first time on any relay that I've run at A&M. I enjoyed running anchor and taking over Porscha's spot. It's so crazy and loud out here when we run. It's an humbling experience to know there is this many people out here for this relay."
With its fourth straight win in the 4 x 200 relay A&M matches the four-year run LSU had from 1994-97 and again from 2001-2004. The Aggies have the second most victories at Penn in this event behind the 11 titles won by LSU. Texas A&M was tied at three wins with South Carolina and Texas.
"Being my senior year this feels great to come out here and get another win," said Beard. "We wanted to have safe passes and run a good time for the win."
Finishing second to LSU in the prelims on Friday marked the first loss for the Aggie men's 4 x 400 since last year's Penn Relays final, snapping an 18-race winning streak.
The Championship of America final featured another showdown between the Tigers and A&M. Bryan Miller led off with a 46.2 split giving the Aggies a very slight edge over the 46.3 turned in by LSU's Robert Simmons.
"We wanted to come in here and make a statement," noted Miller. "At the Texas Relays we ran fast (3:00.45) when I ran the first leg, so coach decided to put me there again. It worked out well. I set up my race pretty well and put my team in a good position.
"We were second last year and that was hard for us. It was the first time we had lost a race that entire year. So we wanted to keep our winning streak going and execute a good race plan. Most of all we wanted to have fun and run a good time."
Then Tran Howell ran a 45.7 second leg when he handed off to Tabarie Henry even with LSU, who had a 45.6 from Ade Alleyne-Forte.
"I had to give it my all in the 4 x 400 after we didn't win the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200," said Howell, who ran on three relays Saturday. "I'm so happy that we won the final race. I love to perform on a big level, especially Penns and Texas Relays."
Henry, who had to deal with a dropped baton on the anchor leg last year, split 44.87 as he withstood the challenge by UTech's Peter Matthews (45.66) and LSU's Caleb Williams (45.73).
"Last year was horrible, we were favored to win and me and Curtis had our mishap," recalled Henry. "Since I've been here this week it's been a bad weekend for me. I haven't won a relay and I was 0-for-3 going into the 4 x 400. I couldn't go 0-for-4, so I had to win one. This is my last Penns, I wanted to end it with a bang."
Demetrius Pinder rolled to the finish in 44.98 as Tiger Riker Hylton challenged with a 44.68.
"I wanted to finish strong and help my team out with the victory," noted Pinder. "We didn't think about last year, we came in with the mindset to win the title this year. You have to come into this meet thinking it's a regular track meet. We did that today and finished strong."
Pinder stopped the clock at 3:01.73 as A&M posted the fourth fastest time at Penn Relays and bettered the winning time by USA Red (3:02.40) in the USA vs. the World race a few minutes earlier. It was the 17th consecutive win in a final for the Aggies.
The men's 4 x 200 featured a closer dual between the Aggies and LSU. The Tigers claimed the win by 0.10 over A&M, 1:20.62 to 1:20.72. The Aggie quartet of Howell, Gerald Phiri, Henry, and Pinder ran the ninth fastest time at Penn Relays and the third fastest mark in A&M history.
Florida (1:22.00) finished third in the race ahead of South Carolina (1:22.85), Arkansas (1:23.17), Indiana (1:24.23) and Clemson (1:25.49).
Texas A&M women were on their way to challenging for the win in the 4 x 400, seeking their first title in this event at Penn, but a dropped baton on the third leg put paid to those plans.
Tarmoh led off the relay with a stellar 52.1 while Ibukun Mayungbe followed with a 52.4. Andrea Sutherland's split ended up being 58.95 after she dropped the baton when Texas' Kendra Chambers passed her in the final 90 meters of their leg.
Once the baton was in her hand Beard took off in sixth place while Chantel Malone ran the anchor leg for leading Texas. Beard split 52.02 and passed a couple of teams to place third in 3:35.69.
Texas won the race in 3:30.08 with LSU runner-up in 3:32.65.
A third place finish in the men's 4 x 800 netted a school record of 7:14.02, but left the crew of Sam Mutschler (1:52.47), Joey Roberts (1:46.90), Oscar Ramirez (1:47.46) and Michael Preble (1:47.19) disappointed nonetheless.
Virginia defended its title with a 7:12.15, the second fastest time ever at Penn, while Penn State was runner-up in 7:12.90. Virginia used a 1:46.00 anchor from Robbie Andrews while Penn State countered with a 1:46.70 from Casimir Loxsom.
Roberts moved the Aggies from eighth to second on the first circuit of his second leg carry. Ramirez maintained a second and third place position for A&M on the third leg as early leaders Arkansas, who placed fourth in 7:18.08, gave way to Penn State and Virginia.
As the baton was passed to Preble for the anchor leg, the race was down to three contenders in Penn State, Virginia and the Aggies. Andrews took over the lead and maintained it to the finish. Penn State, the meet record holder with a 7:11.17 from 1985, recorded the sixth fastest time while A&M produced the 11th fastest.
The first relay event on Saturday for the Aggies was the 4 x 100, where a dropped baton on the final exchange knocked Texas A&M out of contention for their third consecutive win in this race.
Instead it was LSU taking a 38.77 victory over Florida (40.00), TCU (40.15), South Carolina (40.35), Indiana (40.36), Mississippi State (40.38) and A&M (44.36). Texas was disqualified for passing out of the zone.
The Aggie foursome included Prezel Hardy, Jr.
Individual events on the final day of the Penn Relay Carnival had Natasha Ruddock placing third in the 100 hurdles in 13.23 while Gabby Mayo finished seventh.
In the 110 hurdles Wayne Davis II finished fourth with a 13.80. Texas Tech's Omo Osaghae won the race in 13.35 over LSU's Barrett Nugent (13.70).
Texas A&M women placed 10th in the 4 x 800 with a clocking of 8:48.04 and finished ahead of LSU's 8:50.60. Duke won the race in 8:35.95. Running for the Aggies were Aliese Hyde (2:11.78), Tiffany Singleton (2:12.54), Erica Parker (2:10.91) and Hillary Hagan (2:12.81).
USA vs. the WORLD RELAYS
A pair of former Texas A&M teammates and NCAA 200-meter champions ran against one another on the same opening 200-meter leg of the sprint medley. The 1,600-meter race is run with 200, 200, 400 and 800-meter legs.Simone Facey, the 2008 NCAA Outdoor 200 champion, ran on the Jamaica squad that just missed the world record in winning with a time of 3:34.64. Porscha Lucas, the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Outdoor 200 champ, was a member of the USA Red squad that place second in 3:37.81.
The Jamaicans just missed the 3:34.56 world best set by a Jamaican team in 2009 while the American crew were close to the American record of 3:37.16 set in 2006.
In the men's 4 x 100 Texas A&M volunteer assistant Wallace Spearmon ran the second leg of the USA Red (38.43) squad that placed second to Jamaica (38.33).
Players Mentioned
