Texas A&M
Big 12 Championships
Sam Humphreys successfully defends Big 12 javelin title
May 13, 2011 | Track and Field
May 13, 2011
NORMAN, Okla. - Amid six finals on the first day of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, the Aggies scored well in the throwing events, getting a combined 37 points in the javelin and hammer.
Through the first day of the three-day event the A&M women have 22 points while the men have scored 19. The Aggie women are currently second to Nebraska's 29 and ahead of Iowa State's 21. A&M men are third behind Oklahoma (29) and Colorado (23).
Sam Humphreys defended his title in the javelin while a huge career best effort had Bonnie Richardson leading the Aggie women with a runner-up performance in the women's javelin. Casey Strong placed fourth in the men's hammer to wrap up the scoring in the throwing events.
Meanwhile, Daphne Fitzpatrick leads the heptathlon after she produced a trio of personal best marks amid the four events held on the first day of the multe-event.
Track finals on the opening day of the Big 12 Championships included the 10,000 meters where Katherine Devlin placed fifth with a clocking of 34:19.87, the fifth best all-time performance at A&M.
In the men's 10,000 meters, James Hodges ran 30:10.10 for 10th place, which makes him the fifth best performer all-time at A&M with the ninth best performance.
Second day events on the University of Oklahoma campus will feature prelims in track races along with six field event finals and the conclusion of the heptathlon and decathlon.
Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m. with the multi-events followed by the field events starting at 1 p.m. and running prelims beginning at 2 p.m. Results will be posted on www.deltatiming.com and Aggie updates will be available through www.twitter.com/aggietrk.
Humphreys successfully defended his Big 12 javelin title taking the lead from the very first round and holding it throughout. His winning toss, from the fifth round, measured 238-3 (72.63) as the field faced a strong, crossing head wind that denied most any significant distance on this day.
In addition to Humphreys winning effort, Jon Gomez placed fifth with a throw of 208-9 (63.62) to give the Aggies 14 points in the first final of the day for the men. It was the second best mark by Gomez this season, behind a 212-6 last month.
Humphreys bettered the field by 11-plus feet as Baylor's Nick Lyons, the conference leader coming in, finished second at 226-11 (69.16) while Nebraska's Adam Wolkins placed third with a 222-11 (67.94).
"The wind was a big factor," noted Humphreys. "Me and the thrower from Baylor would have had some big throws if the wind had been just right, it would have been a massive meet. Everybody would have thrown well."
It's the first time a men's thrower has won consecutive javelin titles in the Big 12. Scott Russell of Kansas won three times, but his victories were spread out over five years (1998, 2000, 2002).
"To win both Big 12 titles I've competed in is nice," added Humhreys. "The last person to win multiple titles was Scott Russell. I'm going after his record of three titles. I expected to have the bulls-eye on my back as defending champion, but I just focus on going after everyone else and doing my best.
"This year I felt more prepared for this meet. Last year I threw a couple of times in quite a few meets, but this year I threw complete series in fewer meets. I think that helped me with more muscle memory."
The last Aggie to claim consecutive conference javelin titles was Nery Kennedy, who won the SWC javelin in 1995 and 1996.
The Aggie women also had a great start on the day, scoring 18 points in the javelin from a 2-3-6-8 finish amid a very windy competition that included wind gusts in the 25-30 mph range.
Richardson surprised with a nearly 16-foot career best throw of 163-1 (49.70) to place second, just seven inches behind the winning mark of 163-8 (43.90) by Oklahoma's Brittany Borman.
"That was crazy, I have no idea where that throw came from," said Richardson. "I was struggling at first, and was hoping to better my PR by a little bit and be consistent. It even shocked me when I heard it was a 49-meter throw.
"It was a nice way to start the meet, everything is on the right track for us scoring this many points in the javelin."
Richardson, who had marks of 130-4 in each of her two previous meets, improved upon her previous best of 147-4 that won the B division of the Texas Relays in early April.
"Mostly, we had to try to throw the javelin flat," explained Richardson in dealing with the strong cross wind conditions. "That was a problem for everyone today. We changed our run-up at an angle, hoping to get the wind to help us rather than hinder us."
Emalie Humphreys placed third with a toss of 158-1 (48.19) while Laura Asimakis finished sixth at 149-10 (45.67). Lauren Berg added a point to the A&M tally with an eighth-place effort of 142-2 (43.34), a season best. Aly Daily had a 112-4 (34.24) to finish 12th.
Strong made the final of the men's hammer and finished fourth with his best effort of 195-11 (59.73) produced in the final round. It's the third best mark produced by the Aggie school record holder this season.
Cole Knuth just missed joining Strong for the final three rounds, as his best of 179-9 (54.78) placed 10th. Landon Hartwick threw 176-9 (53.88) for 12th place.
In the multi-events A&M's Daphne Fitzpatrick holds the first day lead in the heptathlon while William Markert is in 12th place.
Fitzpatrick holds a 37-point lead over defending champion Chantae McMillan of Nebraska with a tally of 3,525 points through the first four events. McMillan is second with 3,488 points while Jordan Andreassen of Iowa State holds third with a score of 3,203 points.
"This is a great start, especially since I got three PRs in the multi, which is difficult to do," noted Fitzpatrick. "I'm going head to head with Chantae right now. Going in tomorrow should be hard since she is so strong in the long jump."
Markert has scored 3,521 point through five events of the decathlon. The leader of the event is Lars Rise of Missouri with 4,038 points followed by Nebraska's Bjorn Barrefors at 3,996 and Iowa State's Jamal Currica with 3,887.
Opening her day with a 14.22 (2.7 wind) time in the hurdles for 947 points, Fitzpatrick set a pair of career best marks in the high jump. First she cleared 5-9.25 (1.76) for the first time outdoors and then achieved a clearance of 5-10 (1.78). The higher height produced 953 points.
"Clearing 5-10 was a goal of mine," explained Fitzpatrick. "I'm glad I finally achieved it. I wanted to keep going in the high jump, but I tweaked my ankle when I cleared 5-10. So, I was like don't get hurt now, that is good enough."
Moving to the shot put Fitzpatrick had the second best effort among the field with a toss of 39-2.25 (11.94) for 657 points. Then Fitzpatrick closed out the first day of the heptathlon with a 24.13 (0.0 wind) clocking in the 200 for 968 points.
"Texas Relays really prepared me for today," said Fitzpatrick. "It was less windy than what we faced in Austin, but usually that much wind makes the high jump a battle. On one attempt I had the bar fell off from the wind before I approached the bar."
McMillan and Fitzpatrick have exchanged leads in the heptathlon after each discipline. McMillan led after the hurdles as her 13.81 scored 1,005 points. Fitzpatrick moved into first place after her high jump, but McMillan reclaimed the edge after a 46-6.25 shot put produced 806 points.
"It a great confidence boost leading after day one," noted Fitzpatrick. "Chantae is a good friend of mine, so we've had some jokes between us during the day."
Players Mentioned
