The Aggies enter the meet with the men ranked fourth and the women seventh nationally. The A&M men have finished third in the past two SEC Indoor meets while the Aggie women finished runner-up last season after placing third in 2013. The A&M men captured the SEC Outdoor title in 2014, which was also hosted by Kentucky.
“This is a tremendous competition,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “If you look at the depth of the Southeastern Conference this is a big meet and it always is. Every school comes to win, and they come into this competition prepared to do their best.
“At the SEC level both of our squads are as prepared as they can be. The men won the SEC Outdoor title last season while the women were the NCAA Outdoor champions after placing third in conference. We have a nucleus back off both of those squads we are pleased to go into this competition with.”
Coverage of the SEC Championships will be available on SEC Network + on Friday (http://es.pn/1znNIkc) and Saturday (http://es.pn/1BmaBtZ).
Action begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon. Field events start at noon while prelims on the track start at 3 p.m. Friday track finals include the 3,000 meters at 7:15 p.m. On Saturday the men's heptathlon continues at 9 a.m. while field events get underway at 10:30 a.m. Track finals start at 1 p.m. and conclude at 6 p.m.
Arkansas has claimed the past three indoor men's team titles with Florida finishing as runner-up each time. However, the Gators enter the weekend ranked No. 1 in the nation with the Razorbacks at No. 3. SEC programs also among the top 10 nationally are LSU and Georgia at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
Florida women have won team titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014 while Arkansas captured the 2013 title. The Razorback women enter the conference meet with a No. 1 national ranking while top 10 programs from the SEC also include No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Florida, and No. 9 Kentucky.
“I think Florida and Arkansas are both very strong teams in each gender,” said Henry in regards to the SEC team titles this weekend. “This environment is very difficult to duplicate because these are SEC teams that are trying to win as a team and beat each other for the league championship.”
The Aggies return a pair of SEC individual champions in Deon Lendore and Kamaria Brown along with the men's 4x400 relay that established a collegiate record of 3:03.20 when A&M hosted the 2014 conference meet.
Lendore is undefeated in conference indoor and outdoor 400-meter races over the past three years, having swept Big 12 titles as a freshman in 2012 and adding sweeps of SEC crowns the past two years. Lendore has also been on six winning conference 4x400 relays over the past three year span to go along with his six 400m victories.
“I try not to think about, because if you think about it too much then you get caught up in the moment,” stated Lendore, who won The Bowerman Award in 2014. “I'm just going with the flow and take each day as it comes. I know this is my last SEC Indoor, so I can't take that out of my mind. I've got to remember I've put a lot of hard work down in the past to set myself up for this.
“I kind of brought the pressure onto myself, but I'm the type of guy who likes the pressure, it makes me work better and run harder. I'm going to use the pressure to my advantage.”
If Lendore accomplishes a third consecutive 400m win in the SEC Indoor meet, he would be the first SEC sprinter to achieve the feat since Auburn's Willie Smith in 1976-78 when they ran 440 yards at the conference meet. The last school to win three consecutive 4x400 relays at the SEC Indoor was LSU from 2000-02 when Coach Henry was the head coach of the Tigers.
Challengers in the 400m field for Lendore, who has a season best of 45.38, include Florida's Najee Glass, the current collegiate leader at 45.34, A&M teammate Bralon Taplin with a career best of 45.39 this indoor season, and LSU's Vernon Norwood (45.56 this season). Including Lendore, those four sprinters represent the number 2-3-4-6 top times in the world this indoor season.
“The 400 field always ends up being stacked,” said Lendore. “I'm focused on myself more than worrying about what other people are doing. Even each day with practice I get the workout done so that I can have a good race on the day when it's needed. Once I have a good race I'm always able to come up with a good time. I'm not focusing on anyone. I'm just focusing on getting the process done at practice.”
Last season Brown became the first SEC sprinter, male or female, to capture titles in the 200 and 400 meters at the SEC Indoor. Brown accomplished the milestone in spectacular fashion, setting a school record of 22.50 in the 200 and establishing a conference record of 50.94 in the 400.
This weekend Brown will focus on one of those two individual events and the 4x400 relay for the Aggies. In the 200 Brown has a season best of 22.97, which ranks third collegiately and second in the SEC to a 22.81 by world leader Kyra Jefferson of Florida. Over 400 meters Brown has clocked 52.32 this season, eighth best collegiately and fifth among the SEC, with Taylor Ellis-Watson leading the conference with a 51.72.
“Last year I doubled, but this time I'm going to focus on one event,” said Brown. “Now that I don't have to focus on two individual events I'm able to put more into my one race and the relay. I enjoy running both individual events, but it will be nice to just focus on one event and go from there.”
A disqualification in the 4x400, where the Aggie women initially placed second, cost A&M eight points they needed to win the team title on their home track a year ago. Instead they placed second with 96.5 points while Florida scored 102 points for the team championship.
“That's something we will never forget, because it's an experience we haven't had before,” noted Brown. “We're going into it this year a little smarter and knowing what to do differently than what happened last year.”
Henry added: “That's never happened to a team I've ever coached, to be disqualified in the 4x400 after the meet is over and lose a team championship. It was a great competition last year and could come down to the final event again this time.”
The Aggies also return seven medalists from last year's indoor conference meet, with four women and three for the men. In addition the A&M women also return 10 scoring finalists while the men have seven returning.
Defending NCAA Champion Brea Garrett has finished second in the SEC weight throw the past two years. Shamier Little claimed bronze in the 400 meters while Olivia Ekponé placed third in the 60 and added a fourth place in the 200. Grace Fletcher earned bronze in the 3,000 and added a fifth place in the 5,000.
Garrett, who is undefeated in the weight throw this season, recently bettered an elite field at the Tyson Invitational and took over the collegiate lead with a winning mark of 73-1.25. Missouri's Kearsten Peoples, who finished second to Garrett at Tyson, reclaimed the collegiate lead this past weekend with a mark of 74-11.25 at a home meet.
Shavez Hart earned bronze in the SEC 200 last season while also placing fifth in the 60. Chase Wolfle tied for third in the pole vault after placing fifth in 2013 and the distance medley relay returns intact from a bronze medal effort in 2014.
Hart enters the conference meet as the world leader in the 200 meters with a clocking of 20.57 as the Aggies have three of the top six times in the conference with Taplin (20.80) and Devin Jenkins (20.89).
With a season best of 17-8.5, Wolfle ranks third in the SEC pole vault this season. Joining Wolfle in the field is a pair of Aggie frosh, Carl Johansson (17-0.75) and Audie Wyatt (16-8.75), who rank sixth and seventh in the SEC.
The A&M distance medley relay has run 9:34.30, which is currently third best in the conference behind Arkansas (9:28.37) and Alabama (9:29.93).
Newcomers to the Aggie program who will likely have an impact are twin brothers Latario Collie and Lathone Collie in the triple jump. Latario, the 2014 NJCAA Indoor and Outdoor triple jump champion, brings in a career best of 55-5.75 while Lathone, the NJCAA Indoor and Outdoor triple jump runner-up in 2014, has a career best of 53-2.75.
Latario recently challenged Florida's Marquis Dendy during the Tyson Invitational two weeks ago with a mark of 54-9.25, which left him an inch away from breaking the A&M school record. Dendy responded with a world-leading 56-6.50 for the victory. Dendy won the 2014 NCAA Outdoor long jump and triple jump titles and has a pair of SEC Indoor long jump titles (2012, 2013), but he has yet to claim an SEC Indoor title in the triple jump.
In distance events the Aggies have a pair of top five marks in the SEC for the men's mile and women's 5,000 meters.
Isaac Spencer, who finished seventh in the mile last season, equaled the A&M school record with a 4:00.41 this indoor season and he ranks second in the SEC mile to a 3:58.02 by Kentucky's Keffri Neal. Cameron Villarreal joins Spencer among the top five times in the mile with a 4:01.25 that ranks fifth.
Hillary Montgomery, who placed sixth in the 5,000 last year, has posted a 16:05.03 that ranks third in the SEC while Fletcher is fourth with a 16:10.41. In the 3,000 the Aggie pair both ran 9:31.32, which ranks eighth best in the SEC.
A&M also has a pair ranked in the top eight among the men's 800 with Josh Hernandez at 1:48.73, which is sixth best, and Hector Hernandez at 1:49.03, which ranks eighth. Josh placed fourth in 2014 while Hector finished fifth in 2013 at the SEC Indoor.
With a recent career best of 7.28 in the 60 meters, Aaliyah Brown leads a strong sprint crew for the Aggies in the short dash. Brown was fifth last season behind teammates Ekponé in third and Jennifer Madu in fourth.
After finishing 12th a year ago in the men's weight throw, Austin Cook ranks fourth heading into the conference meet with his school record effort of 67-7. Olabanji Asekun placed fifth in the long jump in 2014 and ranks in the same position with his recent improvement to 25-2.5.
Leading a group of five Aggies in the pentathlon is Jena Hemann, who placed third in the SEC in 2013 and finished seventh last year. Joining Hemann is Annie Kunz, who placed fifth in 2013, along with three freshmen. In the men's heptathlon Daniel Martin returns from an eighth-place effort and is joined by newcomer Lindon Victor.
Hemann also ranks equal seventh in the high jump with her season best of 5-10. In the men's high jump Samuel McSwain is equal sixth with his career best of 6-11 after tying for eighth place a year ago.
USTFCCCA National Computer Team Rankings
- Rankings of conference schools heading into SEC Indoors
SEC MEN – 8 among top 25
1. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. Texas A&M
6. LSU
7. Georgia
11. Alabama
13. Tennessee
21. South Carolina
SEC WOMEN – 8 among top 25
1. Arkansas
2. Georgia
3. Florida
7. Texas A&M
9. Kentucky
18. Mississippi State
20. Missouri
21. LSU