Aggies host 10-team Invitational Saturday
Jan 13, 2012 | Track and Field
COLLEGE STATION -- Texas A&M's first home meet in 2012 features 10 teams from Texas in a scored meet on Saturday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. Action begins at noon with prelims in the 60 hurdles and 60 meters while running finals start at 2 p.m. with the mile.
The Aggies, three-time defending National Outdoor champions with its men's and women's programs, will host Baylor, North Texas, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Texas Southern, Texas State, and UT-Arlington.
During the 2011 season, in which 16 indoor school records were broken, Texas A&M men repeated as the NCAA Indoor runner-up team while the Aggie women finished fifth for the second consecutive year.
Michael Preble, who set a pair of indoor school records in the 800 and 600 yards in 2011 while also being part of school records in the 4 x 400 and 4 x 800, will run on the 4 x 400 this weekend with Oscar Ramirez, Joey Roberts and Ricky Babineaux. Ramirez and Roberts were also part of the school record performance in the 4 x 800 last season.
After clocking 3:07.43, with Roberts supplying a 45.65 split on the second leg, during the Reveille Invitational in December, the Aggie relay crew will seek to better the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 3:06.50 while also defending a 20-meet winning streak. Last season in this meet the A&M squad recorded a winning time of 3:06.49 and later defended its NCAA Indoor title with a school record of 3:04.24.
In the 60 hurdles the Aggies feature a pair of juniors in Wayne Davis II and Donique' Flemings along with a slew of freshmen. Joining Davis in the men's race are Kenneth Minkah and Corey McPherson. Along with Flemings in the women's hurdles are Jena Hemann, Annie Kuntz and Chelsea Utley.
The sprints will include doubles by Dominique Duncan and Ashley Collier in the women's 60 and 200 along with Prezel Hardy, Jr. and Michael Bryan in the men's 60 and 200. Ibukun Mayungbe and Olivia Ekpone contest the women's 400 while the men's event will include a crew of four freshmen for A&M in Josh McKinney, Alex Gilreath, Aiken Graham and Greg Coleman.
Sophomores Aliese Hyde and Hillary Hagan look to build upon very solid freshman campaigns as they run with a new crop of Aggies in the 800. Likewise, the A&M men have a crew of nine entered in the men's 800.
In the distance events the mile features standouts from the recent cross country season. Natosha Rogers, Katherine Devlin and Itzel Cetina line up in the women's race with Kevin Burnett, James Hodges, Stephen Curry and MacLean O'Donnell running in the men's event. Will Barry, C.J. Brown and Isaac Spencer contest the men's 3,000 while Tara Upshaw leads a group of seven Aggies in the women's 3,000 meters.
A continued attempt to break a 10-year-old indoor school record (13-3.75) in the pole vault will be pursued by Aly Daily (13-0.25) and Laura Asimakis (12-10), who holds the outdoor school record of 13-10.5. Meanwhile, clearing seven feet in the high jump indoors remains a goal for Cameron Alexander (6-11) and Tyler Lee (6-10.75).
The reigns of the jumping events, where three All-American seniors graduated in 2011, are passed along to a pair of newcomers in Olabanji Asekun and Babatunde Amosu, who will compete in the triple jump, as well as Jonathan Turner, who will contest the long jump.
In the weight throw school record holder Cole Knuth will face a challenge from teammate Casey Strong, who ranks third all-time at A&M in the event. Knuth reached a distance of 61-0 last year while Strong challenged with a best of 60-1. For the Aggie women the trio of juniors Jennifer Edwards and Taylor Rosser along with freshman Brea Garrett will compete in both the shot put and weight throw.
A pair of Olympic Development races in the 60 and 200 meters will include Aggie All-Americans Porscha Lucas (60), Gabby Mayo (200), Natasha Ruddock (60), Andrea Sutherland (200), Gerald Phiri (200) and Tyrone Edgar (60).
Players Mentioned
