Texas A&M
LSU Alumni Gold Invitational
Prezel Hardy, Jr. sets PR to win 200 at LSU Alumni
Apr 21, 2012 | Track and Field
While most sprint races were aided by too much wind, Prezel Hardy, Jr. won the 200 meters in a career best time of 20.46 (1.0 wind) after he placed fourth in the 100 with a windy 10.10 (5.0 wind) clocking.
"I knew after the 4 x 100 relay there were going to be strong winds the rest of the day," noted Hardy. "To run 10.10 with a 5.0 wind, that's a strong wind. But as coach says it's still a 10.10. I'll take that on a day like today.
"To come back in the 200, when I wasn't feeling that well, was surprising. Coach Henry tells us sometimes you run your best races when you're not feeling so well. I got after it and ran a great race. I set a PR and I'm very happy with that."
With former teammate Demetrius Pinder of the Bahamas in lane 8 and Hardy stationed in four at the start of the 200, it was Hardy holding the edge as the race left the curve for the straightaway. Remaining a tight battle to the finish line, Hardy's 20.43 held off the 20.46 for Pinder. Hardy became the No. 10 performer on the Aggie all-time list.
"I love Pinder," said Hardy. "To have him outside of me and being able to see him for part of the race motivated me a lot. I know he is a strong runner, because he is a 400 runner. So, I knew if I could stay with him off his strong start I would have a fast time."
Hardy was the second fastest collegian in the 100-meter field. Trell Kimmons won the race in 10.00 with Canada's Justyn Warner runner-up at 10.09. Isiah Young of Mississippi and Hardy both ran 10.10, separated by 0.003 of a second (10.096 to 10.099).
Michael Bryan finished second in the next heat of the 100 with a 10.28 (4.1 wind) and placed seventh overall. In the 200, Bryan was second in the next heat with a 20.64 (5.0 wind) and placed fourth overall.
Donique' Flemings was a double runner-up in the hurdles for the Aggies. Flemings lowered her career best to 13.00 in the 100 hurdles as runner-up to LSU's Jasmin Stowers winning time of 12.92 (0.9 wind) with Canada's Perdita Felecien third in 13.12.
It was the first loss after five victories for Flemings, who moves to No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list. Flemings is now ahead of Rosa Jolivet (13.02) on the all-time list and trails Anjanette Kirkland (12.74), Gabby Mayo (12.81) and Natasha Ruddock (12.87).
Later in the meet Flemings finished second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58.90 behind the 57.39 from LSU's Cassandra Tate.
Other winners for the Aggies included Stephen Curry in the steeplechase (9:02.21), Sophie Blake in the women's 1,500 (4:33.75 PR), MacLean O'Donnell in the men's 1,500 (3:46.75), Oscar Ramirez in the 800 (1:48.82), Deon Lendore in the 400 (46.22), the men's 4 x 100 (39.55), Casey Strong in the hammer (196-11), Jillian Anderson in the 800 B section (2:13.61), and Ashton Young in the 800 B section (1:51.91).
Curry nearly bettered his personal best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as he finished ahead of teammate Dylan Williams, who knocked six seconds off his best time with a 9:10.32.
Sophie Blake waited until 180 meters remained in her 1,500 race to take over the lead and she shaved some time off the PR of 4:34.04 she set in Miami last week. Blake bettered the field by nearly three full seconds as a trio of runners from Mississippi placed 2-3-4 behind her. A&M's McKenzie Neal finished seventh in 4:44.07.
In the men's 1,500 O'Donnell took the early lead and then gave way to teammate Henry Lelei, who led the field to the final lap. In the homestretch, though, O'Donnell surged past Lelei to claim the win in 3:46.75 over Lelei's 3:46.83. While O'Donnell just missed improving his 3:46.49 PR from earlier this season Lelei's first 1,500 as an Aggie placed him No. 8 on the A&M all-time list.
Finishing third and fourth for the Aggies in the 1,500 were C.J. Brown (3:50.94 PR) and Kevin Burnett (3:54.12). Also running in the race for A&M were Isaac Spencer (6th, 3:55.81), Colin Slattery (7th, 3:57.16) and Nathan Parker (8th, 4:01.50).
Lendore posted a second victory in the 400 as he ran 46.22 to win his section by a full second. Ricky Babineaux posted a 47.39 to place fourth in the heat. A 46.39 from Armanti Hayes, who defeated Tabarie Henry (46.99) and Bryan Miller (47.02), led the next section of the 400 that featured post-collegians.
In the women's 400 the Aggies alternated finishing positions with LSU. The Tigers Rebecca Alexander won in 53.19 while Kanika Beckles finished second in 53.77. Olivia Ekponé (54.28) and Ibukun Mayungbe (54.55) placed fourth and sixth.
The men's 800 was claimed by Ramirez in 1:48.82 over LSU's Howard Shepard (1:49.17) and Darwin Price of Grambling (1:50.05). LSU's Keith Griffith led the field through 400m and then Michael Preble took the field through 600m.
Ramirez took over the lead with 150m remaining and cruised to the finish line. Meanwhile, Preble struggled in the homestretch and finished eighth behind James Bonn (1:52.71) in sixth.
Joey Roberts, running his first 800 since an injury in the 4 x 400 at the Texas Relays, ran 1:59.53 to place ninth. Later in the meet Roberts split 46.1 on A&M's second 4 x 400 relay that ran 3:11.96 to win its section and place sixth overall.
A top collegian in their event was Casey Strong, who threw the hammer 196-11 (60.02) behind the winning toss of 197-10 (60.29) from Edgar Florian. It was the fourth-best performance by Strong on the A&M all-time list. Landon Hartwick set a career best of 179-5 (54.69).
Only the Canadian relay team finished ahead of the Aggies in the men's 4 x 100. The A&M foursome of Babineaux, Carlyle Roudette, Bryan and Hardy clocked 39.55 while the Canadians won in 39.25.
Aggie heptathlete Jena Hemann had a stellar day, throwing the javelin 151-11 (46.30) to improve her previous best by over 15 feet. She was the second best collegian and placed fourth overall. Hemann was also the second best collegian in the B long jump with a windy mark of 19-2.75 (5.86).
Wayne Davis II faced a strong field in the 110 hurdles, placing third with a wind-aided 13.56 (3.8 wind) behind post-collegian Ryan Fontenot (13.39) and LSU's Barrett Nugent (13.41). Gregory Coleman ran 52.19 for a runner-up finish in the 400 hurdles behind the 51.09 from Carson Blanks of Mississippi.
Both Aggie 4 x 400 relays finished second with different relay line-ups. The men ran 3:09.02 with the foursome of Ramirez, Roudette, Ashton Young and Babineaux. The women clocked 3:40.76 with a crew of Flemings, Mayungbe, Tiffany Singleton and Beckles.
Misses separated the top three places in the men's high jump and the top four places in the women's pole vault. Cameron Alexander and Tyler Lee both cleared 6-9.5 (2.07) in the high jump to place second and third behind Mississippi's Ricky Robertson.
In the pole vault, Laura Asimakis and Aly Daily cleared 12-10.75 (3.93) to place second and fourth behind Neal Tisher of Mississippi. Asimakis tied for second with LSU's Rachel Laurent.
Placing third for A&M were Dalton Rowan in the discus (173-1), Ashely Collier in the 100 (11.28 PR), Brea Garrett in the shot put (49-2.25), and the women's 4 x 100 (44.88) with the foursome of LaKeidra Stewart, Olivia Ekponé, Mayungbe and Chandrell Stephens.
The women's 800 featured a pair of career best times for Natosha Rogers, who ran her first collegiate two-lap race, and Singleton. Rogers clocked 2:10.10 for fourth place with teammate Aliese Hyde fifth in 2:10.32 and Singelton sixth in 2:10.37.
Babatunde Amosu had a windy 51-9.25 (15.78) to place sixth in the invitational triple jump. Jonathan Turner produced a wind-aided 24-1.75 (7.36) for sixth in the invitational long jump.
In the women's 200 the Aggies had a 4-5-6 finish from Dominique Duncan (23.21w), Beckles (23.45w) and Stephens (23.52). Duncan placed fourth in the 100 with an 11.32.
Players Mentioned
