Natosha Rogers wins 5,000 in New York City
Feb 03, 2012 | Track and Field
NEW YORK CITY - A pair of school records in the 5,000 meters highlighted early action for Texas A&M in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational held at the historic Armory as Natosha Rogers won the women's 5,000 meters and Kevin Burnett finished second in the men's 5,000.
Then the Aggie men's distance medley relay achieved a remarkable world-leading time of 9:29.71 to earn a NCAA automatic qualifier in the event, taking down A&M (9:33.12), meet (9:35.75) and facility (9:32.89) records.
During the evening session of the meet career best times were posted by Wayne Davis II in the 60 hurdles and Ashley Collier in the women's 60.
Collier improved her PR to 7.34 in the prelims and then blasted a 7.25 as runner-up in the final. Clemson's Stormy Kendrick won the final in 7.22 while Collier finished ahead of two Central Florida sprinters, Octavious Freeman (7.26) and Aurieyall Scott (7.27).
"When I was in the blocks, I just kept thinking about pushing out," said Collier, who is the No. 5 performer with the No. 5 performance on the Aggie all-time list. "I did very well with my push, then started moving down the track.
"I didn't know what place I got when I finished, so I was happy to see 7.25 and second place on the scoreboard. I'm excited about my potential to run even faster this season."
Collier's time is just 0.07 of a second off the school record 7.18 set by Gabby Mayo in 2010 and is just a tick away from A&M All-Americans Simone Facey (7.23), Porscha Lucas (7.24) and Jeneba Tarmoh (7.24).
Davis II posted a 7.74 to place fourth in the hurdle final. He is No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list. The winner of the race, Jarret Eaton of Syracuse, set a meet record of 7.54 ahead of Clemson's Spencer Adams (7.68) and Barrett Nugent of LSU (7.72).
Running on the Aggie distance medley relay were James Bonn (2:57.9), Michael Preble (47.2), Joey Roberts (1:47.4) and Henry Lelei (3:57.2) as Texas A&M became the 11th fastest school in the event all-time.
The Aggie foursome defeated Big 12 rival Oklahoma (9:30.13), who also bettered the NCAA auto standard of 9:31.00, as well as Iona (9:48.78), Columbia (9:50.87), Kansas (9:57.89) and Iowa State (9:58.54).
Bonn led the field for a couple of laps during his carry over the first 1,200 meters and then fell back to fourth as Iona and Oklahoma shared the lead. The Sooners enjoyed a 30-meter lead at the first exchange.
"My brother flew in from Chicago to watch us tonight," noted Bonn, whose brother Tommy anchored the Aggie school record in 2004. "He told us we have a chance to break that school record. It's just a great feeling to accomplish that goal.
"When I handed off to Preble I had a lot of faith in him. Joey always attacks it. With Henry, I was a little worried when he was running behind the OU runner for so long and wondering if it was going to come down to a kicker's race. It was great seeing him run down the homestretch in the lead and setting the school record.
Preble charged out well on his first lap of the 400-meter leg, moving A&M from fourth to second on the first 200. In second place, though, Preble was still 20 meters down to OU as he exchanged to the baton to Roberts.
"With Joey the next leg, I wanted to put him in a good position so he can do what he does best," noted Preble. "Then we could set it up for Henry so he could bring it on home for us. I just wanted to get it into a perfect position for those guys."
Down 15 meters to the Oklahoma third leg, Roberts trimmed that deficit to five meters by his second lap and maintained that distance over laps three and four of his 800-meter leg. When the final exchange took place the Aggies and Sooners were tied.
"I knew automatically I had a target on my leg," said Roberts. "It was my duty to catch him and do some damage. I'm more than happy we won and broke so many records in winning this race. It was a tactical race and the Oklahoma runner on my leg was my target, unfortunately for him.
"To see Henry run the last two laps was an exhilarating experience. I think we were all inspired to make history today. I told Bonn before the race we are going to take down the record your brother has today."
Lelei remained a stride back of Oklahoma's anchor throughout the 1,600-meter anchor leg. Only with 100 meters left did Lelei make a move. Then coming off the final curve Lelei pulled ahead and completed his leg in 3:57.2 to claim the victory.
"One thing I had in my mind was that I believe in these guys," stated Lelei. "They did their job, so I had to do mine. The big thing was to qualify automatic for the NCAA Championships. That was the only thing I was thinking about."
The meet record of 9:35.75 bettered by the Aggie men had been held by Stanford (2002) and the Armory facility record of 9:32.89 had been set by Villanova in 2008. Members of the 2004 A&M school record, set on an oversized track at Notre Dame, included Brian Duplechain, Bryan Kelley, Juan Cardenas and Tommy Bonn.
Rogers demolished the women's field with a time of 15:58.40, the second fastest collegiate time this season. It also bettered the Aggie school record of 16:02.72 set by Melissa Gulli during the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships.
"I made sure I looked at the heat sheet to see who was going to be in the race," said Rogers, who just missed the NCAA automatic mark of 15:57.00 in dropping her career best down from a 16:44.69 set at this same meet last year. "I knew I'd have to take myself to the time today. I battled in my own head. As long as I keep my head on strong I'll keep looking forward.
"I kept repeating 15:50's over and over again in my head, just to keep reminding me of my goal. My goal is nationals. I want that bad. So, that's what I'm looking to right now."
This marked the fifth consecutive race for Rogers to break a school record this indoor season. She broke the mile record twice (4:50.06, 4:45.84), anchored the distance medley relay (11:29.89) to a school record and also claimed the 3,000 meters (9:12.83).
Finishing a distant second to Rogers was Elaina Balouris of William & Mary in 16:26.24 with Columbia's Caroline McDonough third in 16:26.62. A&M's Katherine Devlin placed 14th in 17:30.34.
Rogers recorded the second fastest winning time in this meet at the Armory, behind a 15:52.17 set by Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum in 2005. Rogers is currently second on the 2012 collegiate list behind a 15:52.80 run by Boston University's Katie Matthews last weekend.
In the men's 5000 that followed Burnett also set a school record with a runner-up finish in 14:04.27 to better the Aggie school record of 14:09.59 set by Scott Lengefeld during the Big 12 Championships on an oversized track in 2000.
"It was really exciting and exhilarating to watch Natosha run before my race," said Burnett, who had a previous best of 14:18.94 in the 5,000 from the Big 12 meet last year. "Watching her lap person after person I knew she was going to run something fast.
"It's always fun to come to New York with great competition. With the emotions of racing I went out a little quick, but I had enough experience to know how to get my bearings back, check instruments and keep going."
Villanova's Ryan Sheridan won the men's race in 13:56.43 while a pair of Duke runners placed third and fourth with Brian Atkinson (14:13.95) and Andrew Brodeur (14:19.59). A&M's James Hodges placed 15th in the race with a 15:01.60.
"At the very end, when he pulled away, he was more determined to get the win on this day," noted Burnett. "I'm not deterred by that. When he was leading I let him pull me along as I raced relaxed. Next time, especially at Big 12s, I'll come out ready to break 14 minutes."
In the men's sprints, the Aggie duo of Ameer Webb (6.69) and Prezel Hardy, Jr. (6.70) finished fourth and fifth in the 60 meter final. During the prelims Hardy clocked a 6.69 while Webb had a 6.71.
Olivia Ekpone qualified for the consolation finals of the women's 60, running 7.49 for seventh place. In the prelims she ran 7.46 with Dominique Duncan (7.47) and LaKeidra Stewart (7.49) placing 17th and 18th in qualifying.
Donique' Flemings recorded a personal best of 8.34 in the prelims of the 60 hurdles and placed seventh in the final with an 8.36.
Tiffany Singleton finished eighth in the 500 meters with a time of 1:13.56. In the college division of the 500, Jillian Anderson ran 1:16.08 for 16th place.
The Aggie tandem of Sophie Blake and Will Barry each placed marks on the all-time list in the 1,000 meters.
Blake won her heat, and placed 13th overall, in 2:53.79 to become the third fastest performer with the seventh fastest performance. A&M's Ashley Chamberlain led the heat with Blake for a majority of the race and finished 37th overall with a 2:58.08 that is No. 7 on the all-time list.
Barry clocked 2:27.62 for the No. 9 spot on the Aggie all-time list as he placed 10th overall.
A&M's pole vault tandem of Aly Daily and Laura Asimakis tied for seventh place as both cleared 13-1.5 (4.00).
Jonathan Turner placed 13th in the long jump 23-7 ½ (7.20), while Jena Hemann finished 13th in the women's long jump 18-10 ¾ (5.76).
In a large and competitive shot put field, Texas A&M's trio of Brea Garrett, Jennifer Edwards and Taylor Rosser placed 14th, 18th and 28th. Garrett had a mark of 47-0 ¼ (14.33) while Edwards hit 46-2 ¾ (14.09) and Rosser turned in a 44-0 ¾ (13.43).
QUALIFYING
In the women's 400 qualifying Kamaria Brown placed second in her heat with a 53.83 that placed third overall. Clemson's Marlena Wesh won the heat Brown raced in with a 53.71. Ibukum Mayungbe finished 15th overall with a 55.17.
Deon Lendore posted the sixth fastest time in men's qualifying for 400 meters with a time of 47.77 that won his heat. Josh McKinney ran 49.89 and finished 29th overall.
The fastest 10 runners in 400 qualifying advance to Saturday's final.
