BIRMINGHAM – Texas A&M senior sprinter Bralon Taplin earned SEC Runner of the Week honors and added a honorable mention for the National Athlete of the Week named by USTFCCCA after establishing the collegiate leading time of 44.89 seconds in the 400 meters this past weekend.
Taplin set a career best as runner-up to defending Olympic champion Kirani James, who set a world-leading time of 44.31, at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona, this past Saturday. Third in the race was Aggie teammate Deon Lendore with a time of 45.18.
Moving to No. 6 performer with the No. 7 performance in Texas A&M history, Taplin's time is third best in the world for the 2015 season. He is also fourth on the all-time list among athletes representing Grenada following Kirani James (43.74), Texas A&M assistant coach Alleyne Francique (44.47) and Rondell Bartholomew (44.65).
Taplin and Thomas Joyce of California were both honorable mentions for the national award that went to Georgia's Garrett Scantling, who improved his career best decathlon score to a world-leading 8,232 points at a home meet.
Texas A&M men and women each remained No. 1 in the national team computer rankings released by USTFCCCA this week.
The Aggie men lead the rankings with 408 points over Florida (362), Oregon (302), LSU (235), USC (218), Texas (196), Florida State (181), Arkansas (178), Texas Tech (171) and Alabama (164). The A&M women lead with 319 points over Florida (303), Texas (292), Arkansas (287), Georgia (278), Kentucky (256), USC (247), Oregon (244), Kansas State (173) and Baylor (154).
Competing closer to home this weekend Texas A&M travels the short distance to Waco for the Michael Johnson Classic on Saturday. Field events start at 11 a.m., an afternoon running session begins at 1 p.m. and the evening running session starts at 5 p.m.
Admission to the meet is $10 for adults and $5 for youth, ages 2-17. All tickets are general admission.