HOUSTON – A pair of Aggies set career best scores and collegiate leading marks amid the early stages of the outdoor season in winning multi-event competitions at the Shirley Crowe combined events hosted by Rice University on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Texas A&M frosh Ashtin Zamzow produced a winning score of 5,231 points to win the heptathlon while Aggie junior Daniel Martin achieved a winning tally of 7,101 points to claim the decathlon.
The score moves Zamzow to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list, just above a 5,212 by Stacy Sykora during the 1986 Southwest Conference meet. Zamzow added 348 points to her previous career best of 4,883 she scored to win the 2014 USATF National Junior Olympics title last June in Humble.
Martin added 361 points to his previous best score of 6,740 set during the 2014 SEC Championships. In the final event of the decathlon Martin posted a time of 4:15.52 in the 1,500 meters to pick up 842 points, allowing him to surpass the scoring goal of 7,100 he had entering the meet. Â
Finishing second to Zamzow in the heptathlon was teammate Shaina Burns with a tally of 4,789 points while third place went to Harvard's Allison Morrison at 4,756. Martin bettered the decathlon field by 220 points as the runner-up, Clayton Chaney, scored 6,881 points with Wichita State's Hunter Veith in third with 6,562.
Zamzow led the first day with 3,094 points as she ran the 100 hurdles in 14.48 for 912 points, high jumped 5-3 ¾ (759), threw the shot put 35-6 (583) and clocked 25.52 (840) in the 200. The second day began with a 16-10 ¾ (601) long jump followed by a 148-4 (770) javelin throw. Zamzow then ran 2:24.33 (766) in the 800 meters.
Burns totaled 2,841 points during the first day with a 15.86 (732) in the 100 hurdles, 5-2 ½ (724) high jump, 42-9 ½ (730) shot put and 27.69 (655) in the 200 meters. Burns started the second day with a 17-9 ¾ (680) long jump and 114-4 (569) in the javelin. She closed out the event with a 2:29.53 (699) in the 800.
Martin held a slim five point lead after the first day of the decathlon with a score of 3,646 over a 3,639 for Vieth. Martin ran 11.21 (814) in the 100, long jumped 22-2 ½ (760), threw the shot put 38-2 ¾ (585) and high jumped 5-10 ½ (619). Martin ran the 400 in 48.86 (868) to wrap up the first five events.
On day two Martin opened with a 15.10 (837) in the 110 hurdles, followed by a 105-11 (510) in the discus, 13-5 ¼ (645) in the pole vault and a 171-2 (621) javelin throw. Martin bettered the field by 30 seconds in running a 4:15.52 to wrap up the decathlon.
Texas A&M's outdoor season continues with the Baldy Castillo Invitational hosted by Arizona State on Friday and Saturday. The Aggie women enter this portion of the season as defending NCAA champions while the A&M men are the defending SEC champions.
Teams entered in the Castillo Invitational include Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, UC Riverside, Washington.
Friday's events include the hammer throw at 1 p.m. along with the 1,500 meters starting at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday portion of the meet begins at 9 a.m. with the discus while running events start at 1 p.m.