Texas A&M
NCAA West Preliminary Rounds
Aggies total 25 entries in 18 events for NCAA meet
May 27, 2012 | Track and Field
TOTAL (25 entries, 24 athletes, 18 events)
Men (13 entries, 14 athletes, 9 events)
100: Prezel Hardy, Jr., 10.24; Michael Bryan, 10.29.
200: Ameer Webb, 20.29w, Prezel Hardy, Jr., 20.53.
400: Deon Lendore, 45.28.
110H: Wayne Davis II, 13.31w.
Steeplechase: Henry Lelei, 8:48.99.
4x100: Texas A&M, 39.11 (Carlyle Roudette, Ameer Webb, Michael Bryan, Prezel Hardy, Jr.)
4x400: Texas A&M, 3:04.30 (Ricky Babineaux, Joey Roberts, Michael Preble, Deon Lendore)
Discus: Dalton Rowan, 192-4 (58.62).
Javelin: Sam Humphreys, 255-8 (77.94); Devin Bogert, 236-1 (71.97); Jon Gomez, 224-7 (68.45).
Women (12 entries, 10 athletes, 9 events)
100: Ashley Collier, 11.22; Dominique Duncan, 11.28.
200: Dominique Duncan, 22.95; Ashley Collier, 22.97w.
400: Kanika Beckles, 52.38; Ibukun Mayungbe, 53.33.
5,000: Natosha Rogers, 15:50.13
10,000: Natosha Rogers, 33:47.12.
100H: Donique' Flemings, 12.96w.
4x100: Texas A&M, 43.34 (LaKeidra Stewart, Olivia Ekponé, Dominique Duncan, Ashley Collier)
4x400: Texas A&M, 3:31.77 (Ibukun Mayungbe, Kanika Beckles, Kamaria Brown, Olivia Ekponé)
Javelin: Laura Asimakis, 162-11 (49.67)
AUSTIN - The final day of the NCAA West preliminary round at Myers Stadium saw a lot of Texas A&M athletes crossing the finish line in positions to move on to the NCAA Championship weekend, held in Des Moines from June 6-9.
In fact the Aggies added another 12 entries, including all four relays, to their impressive group that will be seeking a fourth consecutive national championship. In all, Texas A&M will have 25 entries amid 24 athletes in 18 events.
The breakdown includes 13 entries for the No. 1 ranked Aggie men with 14 athletes in nine events. For the No. 6 A&M women there are 12 entries among 10 athletes in nine events.
"I'm really pleased with the team," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "Our team matured this weekend, we grew up and met some challenges in a tough environment. That's a huge part of being successful on this level.
"We qualified a lot of people and this was a great meet for Texas A&M. We didn't make many mistakes. That's key on this weekend. We did the things that are going to help us be successful in two weeks."
Running events on the final day of the NCAA West preliminary rounds started with the 4 x 100 relays and the Aggies cruised to the fastest qualifying times in each race.
The men posted a 39.11 to claim the third and final heat over Texas (39.53) and TCU (39.59). Other heat winners included UCLA (39.69) and Illinois (39.29). Running on the A&M squad were Carlyle Roudette, Ameer Webb, Michael Bryan and Prezel Hardy, Jr.
In the women's relay the Aggie crew of LaKeidra Stewart, Olivia Ekponé, Dominique Duncan and Ashley Collier captured the third heat in 43.34 over USC (44.29) and Arkansas (44.50). Other heat winners included Texas (43.79) and Oregon (43.99).
A&M frosh Dalton Rowan qualified for the NCAA Championship field when he tossed a career best of 192 feet, 4 inches (58.62) in the discus to place third overall. Rowan moves up the A&M all-time list to No. 8, overtaking Steve Stewart's 189-1 from 1977 and a 187-5 by Henrik Ramstad in 1990.
"It's very relieving," said Rowan. "This whole season I wanted to be the best that I could. I didn't want to disappoint the team. I felt real relaxed on the two PR throws, but there are always things I can work on. Every throw is an opportunity to get a better mark. We still have a couple more weeks before the next meet."
Seeded 15th coming into the NCAA West preliminary, Rowan had a PR mark of 187-5 (57.13) in the third round. That placed the A&M frosh sixth going into the final three rounds where a field of 16 would be trimmed to 12. He improved to third place with his fourth round throw and then finished the day with a pair of fouls.
"That was a huge effort for Dalton," stated Henry. "For a freshman to come in here and set a PR by six feet shows the maturity level of our athletes. That's the kind of performance is what it takes to be successful at the next stage of this season."
Rowan, who has performed well in Myers Stadium as a high school athlete from Conroe Oak Ridge during the Texas Relays and Texas State meet, found the northwest wind favorable.
"The wind was perfect and it was a great day to throw," noted Rowan. "Me and this stadium have a lot of history. As a junior, in just my second year of throwing the discus, I got first at the Texas Relays and finished first at State (5A) as a junior and senior. It's great to be back here since I'm so familiar with the throwing ring."
Oklahoma's Luke Bryant produced the top mark with a 197-8 (60.24) and was followed by Nebraska's Chad Wright at 193-9 (59.05). Three other throwers surpassed 190 behind Rowan and that trio included Jordan Williams of Northern Iowa (192-1), Texas Tech's Kole Weldon (191-11) and UCLA's Matthew Kosecki (191-5).
A pair of Aggies sported the fastest times in qualifying for Des Moines in the 110 and 100 hurdles.
Wayne Davis II won his heat in 13.31 with a 4.1 assisting wind while teammate Kenneth Minkah finished sixth in 13.87. Davis' time is the fastest time ever run by an Aggie in any conditions. He betters a wind-legal and wind-aided 13.37 by Larry Wade in 1998 as well as Davis' own 13.37 from winning the Big 12 title.
Donique' Flemings clocked a windy 12.96 in the 100 hurdles to top the field of 27. Finished behind Flemings in the same heat were Morgan Snow of Texas (13.04) and Demeeka Jones of Houston (13.09) with Kori Carter of Stanford in fourth with a 13.22.
This marks the fifth time this season Flemings has recorded a sub 13-second time and all have been wind-aided. She holds a career best of 13.00 from this season and a windy best of 12.87.
The Aggies advanced four sprinters in the 200 meters to Des Moines, a pair each for the men and women.
Ameer Webb posted the top time of 20.29 with a 2.4 wind as a heat winner while Prezel Hardy, Jr. won his heat in 20.53, the third fastest time in qualifying.
Michael Bryan ran 20.98 while Carlyle Roudette finished in 21.22w as they placed sixth and seventh in their respective heats.
Dominique Duncan and Ashley Collier posted the top set of times in the women's 200. Duncan posted a 22.95 while Collier had a windy 22.97 as heat winners. LaKeidra Stewart (23.82) and Chandrell Stephens (24.16) did not advance past the quarterfinals.
Duncan won her heat over Aareon Payne of USC (23.38) and Tiffany Hines of Arkansas (23.47) while Collier topped Big 12 champion Paris Daniels of Kansas (23.09), who led the field coming off the curve, and Taylor Evans of Texas Tech (23.26).
Natosha Rogers advanced to Des Moines in a second event for the Aggies as she placed second in the 5,000 with a time of 15:50.13, second best all-time at A&M behind her school record of 15:45.80.
Rogers, who advanced in the 10,000 on Thursday, was in the lead back of four as she covered the first 3,000 meters in 9:25.3 with splits of 3:04.5, 3:11.5, and 3:09.3.
By the 4,000 meter mark Rogers went to the lead off a 3:14.1 split for a time of 12:39.4. Roger relinquished the lead over the next couple of laps as she split 3:10.7 to close out her final 1,000. Washington's Megan Goethals won the race in 15:46.82.
The Aggies closed out the weekend by advancing both 4 x 400 relays. The men won their heat in 3:04.30 with the foursome of Ricky Babineaux (46.6), Joey Roberts (46.6), Michael Preble (46.2) and Deon Lendore (44.9).
In the women's 4 x 400 A&M finished second to Kansas in their heat with a season best time of 3:31.77, seventh fastest ever on the Aggie all-time list, with a crew of Ibukun Mayungbe (54.2), Kanika Beckles (52.2), Kamaria Brown (53.6) and Olivia Ekponé (51.8).
Players Mentioned
