Texas A&M
10-Team Invitational
Aggies sweep 10-team Invite, break pair of records
Jan 14, 2012 | Track and Field
College Station - In the process of winning the Texas 10-Team Invitational hosted by Texas A&M Saturday in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, the Aggies treated the 2,223 fans in attendance with a pair of school records.
Natosha Rogers claimed the A&M mile record that had stood for 27-plus years while Laura Asimakis broke a nearly 10-year-old indoor pole vault record.
In team scoring the Texas A&M women totaled 175.5 points while the Aggie men amassed 202.5 points. Baylor finished second both times, turning in 115.2 points in the women's competition and 68 in the men.
The rest of the top five women's teams included TCU (95.7) and a tie for fourth between Texas-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin at 48 points. In the men's field Texas-Arlington placed third with 67 points ahead of TCU (63) and Stephen F. Austin 52.5.
"Any time you set a school record and can have your name and picture on the wall in this building, it's a big day because there have been some great athletes ahead of you," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry, now in his eighth season with the Aggie program.
"Across the board I was pretty pleased with things. We still have a couple of young people who need to learn how to step up. Some of our older athletes are carrying some people right now and doing a good job. We even have 2 or 3 on the side who haven't competed yet that will hopefully get on the track against LSU in the dual meet we host next weekend."
Less than a month shy of the Aggie school record in the mile reaching its 28th year, Rogers cruised to a 4:50.06 victory to take down the long-standing mark of 4:50.59 set by Suzanne Sheffield on Feb. 4 in 1984 during the Dallas Times Herald Indoor meet.
"I decided last week that I wanted to break the mile record," stated Rogers. "So, I just made it happen today and I felt smooth.
"I know if you can get some speed under you it will translate into the longer races. So, I definitely want to run the mile one more time. I remember last year at Big 12 when I didn't have that speed to turnover. I definitely want to change that this year."
Rogers' mark equals the 10th fastest mile run this season among collegians. It also betters the meet record of 4:59.42 set by Mia Behm of Texas in 2010. Rogers topped the field by five seconds as Lauren Smith of SFA finished second in 4:55.00 while Baylor's Mariah Kelly placed third in 4:55.26.
Finishing in the race with Rogers were Itzel Cetina (5:01.89) in sixth place and Katherine Devlin (5:06.72) in eighth.
Asimakis, who broke the outdoor school record in the pole vault last spring with a best of 13-10 ½ (4.23), vaulted to an indoor record height of 13-8 ½ (4.18) and then attempted 14-0 ½ (4.28).
"Today I've been waiting two years to get this," said Asimakis, who was still in rehab at this time last season from an injury and surgery. "It feels great, and I'm glad to be back. I have a fire in me and I know I can do more. I'm so excited to be back.
"It wasn't a very pretty vault getting over 13-8 ½ on my third attempt. But I got over it and 14 feet was next. I felt strong, I felt fast and I'm healthy. I had the height on my last attempt at 14 feet, but the pole is a little stiff for me. I'm having a hard time moving it to get my peak at the right point. But I think I have bigger poles and higher heights in my future."
After her achievement Asimakis received a congratulatory tweet from former record holder Erica Bartolina (nee Boren), who held the indoor standard with a mark of 13-3 ¾ (4.06) from March of 2002 set in South Bend, Indiana. Aly Daily tied for third in the pole vault with a clearance of 12-2 ¾ (3.73).
Those two victories by Rogers and Asimakis were among seven wins produced by the Aggie women. The A&M men supplied eight victories, including the 21st consecutive win by the 4 x 400 relay squad.
An Aggie foursome consisting of Ricky Babineaux, who won the 200 in 21.25, Joey Roberts, Oscar Ramirez and Michael Preble sped to a 3:07.93 convincing decision over Baylor's 3:11.55.
A&M throwers had impressive performances in the women's shot put and weight throw. Freshman Brea Garrett finished second in the shot put with a 50-2 ¾ (15.31) toss that ranks No. 2 on the Aggie all-time indoor list while teammate Taylor Rosser placed fourth with a 48-2 ¾ (14.70) that ranks No. 5.
Rosser also finished third in the weight throw with a mark of 55-1 ½ (16.80), which moved her to No. 7 on the A&M all-time list. Jennifer Edwards placed fourth with a 55-1 (16.79) while Garrett turned in the No. 9 all-time mark of 51-11 ¾ (15.84) for the Aggies in placing sixth.
The women sprinters also put in solid performances in claiming wins over 60, 200 and 400 meters.
Ashley Collier set a personal best of 7.40, No. 7 at A&M, to win the 60 as LaKeidra Stewart finished third in 7.55. In the 200 it was Chandrell Stephens topping the field with a 21.14 as Stewart placed second in 24.26 and Collier finished third at 24.31.
Freshman Olivia Ekpone captured a win in the 400 with a 54.82 clocking that places her at No. 7 on the A&M all-time list.
Donique' Flemings cruised to a 8.38 career best, moving to No. 9 on the Aggie all-time list, for a runner-up finish in the 60 hurdles. Defending Big 12 champion and NCAA runner-up Tiffani McReynolds of Baylor won the race in 8.35 seconds.
Later in the meet Flemings anchored A&M to victory in the 4 x 400. The combination of Ekpone, Ibukun Mayungbe, and Stewart built a lead for Flemings, who finished off the 3:40.51 win over Baylor's 3:41.38.
The Aggies swept the mile titles when MacLean O'Donnell won the men's race in 4:11.21. Kevin Burnett placed third in 4:13.97 behind a 4:13.94 by Matt Russ of North Texas. James Hodges clocked 4:17.86 for sixth place.
Texas A&M also collected victories in the 800 from James Bonn (1:51.97) and Will Barry in the 3,000 (8:21.07). Bonn led an Aggie 1-2-4-5-7-11 finish in the 800 while Barry worked with C.J. Brown (8:21.51) and Isaac Spencer (8:24.25) on a 1-2-3 sweep.
Babineaux led an A&M 1-2-3 in the 200 as Michael Bryan (21.27) and Prezel Hardy, Jr. (21.29) followed. Hardy (6.71) and Bryan (6.74) also challenged for the 60 title that was claimed by TCU's Charles Silmon in 6.66.
Stephen Curry used a strong kick on the mile anchor leg of the distance medley relay to pull off a narrow victory, 0.01 of a second, over Baylor with a 10:16.92 clocking. Leading off the relay over 1,200 meters was Nathan Parker while Ashton Young handled the 400 leg and Collin Slattery covered the 800 stage.
Wayne Davis II won the 60 hurdles for the Aggies in 7.91 seconds while Casey Strong handled the field in the hammer by over two feet with a toss of 58-11 ¼ (17.96).
Chelsea Utley added a win in the high jump with a clearance of 5-6. In the men's high jump Cameron Alexander and Tyler Lee both cleared 6-7 in placing second and third.
Runner-up efforts included Aliese Hyde (2:12.36) in the 800 along with the Aggie women's distance medley relay (11:59.64) that included Sophie Blake, Kelsey Miller, Ashley Chamberlain and Haley Parsons.
Players Mentioned
