PHILADELPHIA - Sporting a No. 1 ranking this week, the Texas A&M men will contest six relay events at the 118th running of Penn Relay Carnival held in historic Franklin Field this weekend (April 26-28) while the No. 6 Aggie women compete in three relays.
Among the six relays the A&M men have entered this year they have added the 4 x Mile and distance medley relay to its normal array of the 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400 and more recently, the 4 x 800 relay. The three women's relays the Aggies have entered include the 4 x 100, 4 x 200 and 4 x 400.
Live coverage of the meet is available online for a subscription fee at www.pennrelays.com while TV coverage will be available live on NBC during the USA vs. The World portion of the meet on Saturday, April 28, from noon to 2 p.m. (CT).
Texas A&M is the defending champion in the men's 4 x 400 relay as their 3:01.73 winning time in 2011 was the fourth fastest time ever at the Penn Relays, trailing only Florida (3:01.10 - 2004), LSU (3:01.39 - 2004) and Florida State (3:01.54 - 2009).
The Aggie women are the defending champions in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays, two events where A&M has combined for seven victories over the past four years - winning four consecutive 4 x 200 titles and three straight 4 x 100 crowns. A dropped baton in the 4 x 400, where the Aggies placed third, prevented a sweep by A&M in those three relays a year ago at the Penn Relays.
In addition to relay events the Aggies also have several individual entries at Penn. Thursday's field events will have Laura Asimakis and Aly Daily in the pole vault while the evening distance events will feature Stephen Curry and Isaac Spencer in the 3,000-meter steeplechase along with Kevin Burnett and MacLean O'Donnell in the 5,000 meters.
High jumpers Cameron Alexander and Tyler Lee compete on Friday along with Jena Hemann and Chelsea Utley in the women's high jump and Jonathan Turner is in the long jump. Meanwhile, on the track, prelims will take place for LaKeidra Stewart in the 100 meters along with Donique' Flemings in the 100 hurdles and Wayne Davis II in the 110 hurdles.
On Saturday, Natosha Rogers will run in the Olympic Development Mile while finals are held in the 100, 100H and 110H. Amid a field of 20 milers, Rogers will be involved in race that features talented pro runners such as Maggie Infield, Nicole Blood, and Molly Beckwith. Collegians in the field include Ashley Verplank of North Carolina, Lindsay Crevoiserat of Connecticut and Penn State's Rebekka Simko.
Rogers has set nine school records this season while establishing a total of 10 career best marks. Her most recent PR came in the 800 meters where a 2:10.10 placed her fourth at the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational. Rogers earned All-America honors during the indoor season placing seventh in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Natosha Rogers - Aggie School Records
Indoor (6): Mile (4:50.06, 4:45.84), 3000 (9:12.83), 5000 (15:58.40, 15:52.40), distance medley relay (11:29.89, ran anchor leg)
Outdoor (3): 1,500 (4:18.75, 4:17.06), 5000 (15:45.80)
A&M Women - 4 x 100
In the women's 4 x 100 the Aggies are seeking a fourth consecutive title after winning the event three straight years. Only LSU, which has won 12 titles, has pulled off a four-year winning streak at Penn.
The Tigers will be favored as they enter the meet with a collegiate leading 42.99 from their Texas Relays victory while Texas A&M has the second best mark at 43.21 as runner-up in the race with LSU in Austin.
Third and fourth place teams from a year ago return with Central Florida, who has added freshman sprinter Octavious Freeman, and Auburn. Others in contention include Houston, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas Tech and Jamaican squads from UTech and G.C. Foster.
A&M Women - 4 x 200
One of the more dominant relay efforts by the Aggies at the Penn Relays has come in the women's 4 x 200 where A&M has won the past four titles. The 2010 victory in 1:29.42 set a Collegiate and Penn Relays record for the Aggies.
On the Penn Relays top 10 marks in the 4 x 200, Texas A&M has achieved five of the top 10 performances. The Aggies return Ashley Collier and Dominique Duncan who were part of a 1:29.96 winning effort last season.
LSU won the Texas Relays title with a meet record, but haven't entered their strongest team for this event at Penn.
Clemson and Central Florida were third and fourth a year ago and bring back potent squads. Others who will challenge include Texas Tech and UTech of Jamaica.
A&M Women - 4 x 400
Minus the talents of Jessica Beard for the first time in four years, the Aggies are coping with ups and downs in the 4 x 400 this season. Indoors a season best of 3:31.54 earned second place at the Big 12 Championships while a 3:33.32 had A&M placing fifth at the NCAA Championships.
Outdoors the Aggies have been hampered by an injury Kamaria Brown, which she suffered during the first outdoor meet of the season. In her place the Aggies have seen promising production from Kanika Beckles and Tiffany Singleton while still getting solid efforts from Olivia Ekponé, Donique' Flemings and Ibukun Mayungbe.
A&M Men - 4 x 100
The Aggies won this event in 2009 and 2010, recording the third fastest time ever run at Penn Relays with the 38.79 victory in 2009. Last season a miscue on the final exchange left A&M in seventh place.
The Penn Relays meet record of 38.68 set by TCU in 2001 will be challenged as Texas A&M faces Auburn again. During the Texas Relays at the end of March, Auburn set a meet record of 38.30 to defeat the Aggies (38.84). That has been the only loss to a collegian team for A&M this season as they posted wins at Arizona State (39.41), USC (39.48), Oregon (39.40), and Miami (39.45). Only a professional squad from Canada bettered the Aggies (39.55) at LSU this past weekend.
A&M Men - 4 x 200
Running with the foursome of Michael Bryan, Prezel Hardy, Jr., Carlyle Roudette and Ameer Webb, the Aggies won the Texas Relays title in 1:21.21 over Baylor and LSU. Texas A&M last won this event at Penn in 2009 and were runner-up in 2011.
A&M Men - 4 x 400
While defending champions in this event, none of the four sprinters on the 2011 winning relay are back for the Aggies this season. The main foursome this year includes Ricky Babineaux, Joey Roberts, Michael Preble and Deon Lendore.
At their best they produced a 3:03.16 at USC earlier this season, but an injury to Roberts on the opening leg of the Texas Relays 4 x 400 has seen Roudette and Ashton Young filling in for A&M. Roberts showed promise of being reading for the Penn Relays weekend with a 46.1 carry at LSU.
Lendore, a freshman from Trinidad & Tobago, has lowered his career best in the open 400 to 45.56 while contributing low 45-second splits on the relay. He was a member of Trinidad's 4 x 400 relay during the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea this past summer.
A&M Men - 4 x 800
The all Texas native 4 x 800 crew of James Bonn (Lockhart), Joey Roberts (San Antonio), Oscar Ramirez (Eagle Pass) and Michael Preble (Houston) will seek to earn the Aggies first ever title in this race at the Penn Relay Carnival.
Texas A&M placed third at Franklin Field a year ago, setting a school record of 7:14.02. This season the Aggies broke a 27-year-old Texas Relays meet record (7:16.21 Jackson State '85) in winning the title with a 7:15.99 clocking that bettered the field by seven seconds.
Challengers for A&M include Penn State, who finished second last year, along with Oregon, Columbia, Princeton and Villanova. Two-time defending champion Virginia opted not to enter the event after the departure of Robby Andrews to the pro ranks earlier this season.
A&M Men - 4 x Mile
In the 4 x Mile the Aggies will face defending champion Princeton, who won the 2011 title in 16:19.98, along with distance-strong programs Indiana, Columbia, Penn State, Virginia, Georgetown, Oregon, Oklahoma and Villanova. Oregon won the Penn Relays title in 2010 with a 16:15.14 clocking.
Earlier this season, running a 4 x 1500 at the Texas Relays, the A&M foursome of Will Barry, MacLean O'Donnell, C.J. Brown and Henry Lelei placed second to Stanford, 15:20.09 to 15:20.79. Lelei anchored the Aggie effort with a 3:42.6 split.
A&M Men - Distance Medley Relay
Texas A&M's challengers in the distance medley relay will include Villanova, who has won the event twice in the past three years, Oregon (the 2010 champ), Indiana, Oklahoma, Princeton and Georgetown. The Aggies placed seventh at the NCAA Indoor in this event after setting a school record of 9:29.71 in winning the New Balance Collegiate Invitational to earn a NCAA auto standard.
During the Texas Relays a 9:35.36 from A&M secured the distance medley win over Texas, Baylor and Stanford as Lelei anchored the effort with a 4:02.8 split on the 1600 anchor leg.