ALBUQUERQUE – Texas A&M junior Deon Lendore claimed his first national individual title with a time of 45.21 seconds in the 400 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“It's a great accomplishment for Deon,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “He's the best quarter-miler in the country and he proved that tonight. Any time you're a national champion in the NCAA then you are big time. I'm extremely proud of Deon.”
The Aggie women placed fifth with 35 points as the A&M men finished tied for eighth in team scoring with 18 points.
“We had a good day, but we didn't have a day that we are happy with,” noted Henry. “We are not happy with being fifth and eighth. We're better than that and just had a few unfortunate situations happen. Tomorrow is a new day and we start getting ready to compete outdoors.”
Oregon captured both team titles, with the women winning a fifth consecutive title by half a point over Texas, 44 to 43.5, and the Duck men scoring 62 points over 54 for defending champion Arkansas . Finishing tied for third in the women's team race was Georgia and Florida with 40.5 points each and the Gators were third in the men's scoring with 35 points.
Aggie frosh Shamier Little powered her way to a third-place finish in the women's 400 as she claimed the second section in 51.96. Wayne Davis II also finished third in the 60 hurdles with a 7.61 and the A&M women's 4x400 placed third with a 3:31.31 clocking. LaQue Moen-Davis was fourth in the triple jump with a 43-3.25 mark.
After winning five conference titles in his specialty race, Lendore now has NCAA title in the 400. When nine athletes were advanced to the final due to a protest, the race became a three-section final with Oregon's Mike Berry and Florida's Arman Hall joining Lendore in the third section.
“I was kind of disappointed at first when I heard we were going to have three sections,” noted Lendore. “But when I heard Berry and Hall would be in the heat I was ok since they would push the limits. I knew my section would eventually have the fastest times.”
The time to chase was a 45.46 from LSU's Vernon Norwood, who claimed the second section. Lendore cruised to the break and led the field through 200 meters with a 21.22 with Hall at 21.37 and Berry at 21.39.
“Indoors getting to the break is the key,” explained Lendore. “Once I had that advantage it was all about staying composed and not tightening up. Then I focused on beating Norwood's time.”
Lendore maintained a healthy advantage through the second lap and drove to the finish for a 45.21 victory, the second fastest winning time in the history over the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The only winning time faster than Lendore is the World record of 44.57 set by Florida's Kerron Clement in 2005. Hall finished second in the section at 45.52 and was third overall while Berry ran 45.64 for fourth overall.
“Being a national champion is the best feeling there is,” stated Lendore. “You work so hard to reach the top. When you get there you have to work twice as hard to stay on top, because staying on top is the hardest thing to do. I'm willing to work and do all that needs to be done to be an outdoor national champion as well.”
Little also was able to take the lead at the break in her 400 race, even though she started from lane three. She split 24.30 at 200 to lead the Texas pair of Kendall Baisden (24.49) and Courtney Okolo (24.69) as well as Florida's Robin Reynolds (24.53).
With Little controlling the lead on the second lap of the race neither Longhorn had an opportunity to attempt a pass. Little held her edge to the finish line to stay ahead of Okolo's late challenge. Okolo ran 51.97 with Baisden at 52.01 and Reynolds clocking 52.92 as they placed fourth, fifth and eighth overall.
“I was pretty much nervous until the gun went off,” said Little. “When I got to the break first I was trying to maintain and keep my stride. When I was still leading off the last curve I focused on finishing my race like I usually do. Leading at the break boosted my confidence and I knew I could win the race.”
The first section of the women's 400 had its share of fireworks with Oregon's Phyllis Francis breaking the American and collegiate record with a winning time of 50.46 seconds. She bettered the 50.54 set by Francena McCorory of Hampton in 2010. Runner-up to Francis was Texas' Ashley Spencer, the two-time defending NCAA Outdoor champion, with a 51.71.
Wayne Davis II finished third in a very close 60 hurdle final with a time of 7.61, the third fastest time in school history. Davis, who holds the A&M record of 7.59 from his silver medal performance a year ago, was not pleased the outcome.
“It's unacceptable for me to finish third,” stated Davis. “I didn't really do what I needed to do out there. I got too close to one of the hurdles and that's when they got ahead. It's just really me being able to stay away from those hurdles when I'm ahead or doing well. If I can do that, then the race should be mine.”
Arkansas frosh Omar McLeod claimed the hurdle victory in 7.58 as defending champion Eddie Lovett of Florida placed second with the same time. They were separated by 0.002 when going to the 1000ths to determine the winner. Pac-12 schools claimed places 4-5-6 with Oregon's Johnathan Cabral (7.65), USC's Alec Harris (7.67) and Cal's Milan Ristic (7.68).
The Aggie women's 4x400 unit consisted of Little (53.08), Ibukun Mayungbe (52.89), Janeil Bellille (52.22) and Olivia Ekpone (53.14). They teamed up for a 3:31.31 that placed them third behind Oregon's collegiate record of 3:27.40 and a 3:27.42 for runner-up Texas. Florida placed fourth in 3:32.06.
In the men's 4x400 Texas A&M and Florida were both disqualified for interference between each other on the third leg of the race. The Gators initially finished second to LSU, 3:04.10 to 3:05.78, in the race while a dropped baton for the Aggies had them placing 12th overall.
LSU was the overall winner with Nebraska claiming second in 3:05.25. The Gators were third overall before the disqualification, but Arkansas moved into third place with a 3:06.29 over Pittsburgh (3:06.31), North Carolina (3:06.49) and Oregon (3:06.51).
LaQue Moen-Davis finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-3.25 (13.19) while SEC champion Ciarra Brewer placd 14th and didn't score for the Gators. However, two other SEC foes placed second and third in the event with Marshay Ryan of Auburn (44-0.5) and Lynnika Pitts of LSU (43-9.75). The winner of the triple jump was San Diego State's Shanieka Thomas with a 45-10 effort.
In the women's 60 meters Jennifer Madu ran 7.33 for eighth place. The race was claimed by Alabama's Remona Burchell in 7.11 with Dezerea Bryant of Kentucky runner-up at 7.12.
Jena Hemann produced another school record in the pentathlon as her total of 4,193 points placed her eighth for one team point. Hemann bettered the score of 4,079 she had at the SEC Indoor meet for seventh place.
“I'm beyond excited, one for the opportunity to be here and then also to score a point,” said Hemann, who qualified for her first NCAA Indoor meet.
In the men's pole vault Wolfle tied for 11th with a clearance of 17-8.5 (5.40) on his third attempt. He had three tries at 17-10.5. The winner of the pole vault was Akron's Shawn Barber with an 18-10.25 clearance.
The SEC dominated the pentathlon, sweeping the top four places and Hemann placing eighth. Georgia's Kendell Williams broke the collegiate record with a winning score of 4,635 points over the 4,586 points scored by the SEC champion and defending NCAA champion Erica Bougard of Mississippi State.
Both Williams and Bougard both bettered the previous collegiate record of 4,569 set by Makeba Alcide of Arkansas at the 2013 SEC Indoor meet.
In third place was Brittany Harrell of Florida (4,287) and fourth place went to Lucie Ondraschkova of Georgia (4,268). Just ahead of Hemann, by a total of 60 points, were Deanna Latham of Wisconsin (4,253), Eastern Michigan's Sarah Chauchard (4,229) and Penn State's Brittney Howell (4,202).
Hemann started the pentathlon with an 8.63 personal best in the 60 hurdles for 989 points and then cleared 5-8 in the high jump for 891 points. Despite scoring very well in those two events, Hemann was only in 12th place given the depth and quality of the competition.
An improvement to 43-4.5 in the shot put was huge for Hemann as the indoor PR netted 742 points and moved her into fourth place. An indoor career best of 19-1.25 in the long jump added 795 points and kept Hemann in fourth place heading into the final event.
A 2:23.58 for the 800 meters added 776 points as Hemann surpassed her Aggie school record with ease. As the only Texas A&M athlete to ever score over 4,000 points, Hemann now has four marks over that standard on the Aggie all-time list.
“I was shocked at how big of a move I made up the standings following the shot put,” stated Hemann. “I knew I had that shot put in me and I was just waiting for it. It came at the perfect time. Then to get back into the 19-foot range in the long jump definitely feels good. I've been missing it.”