Texas A&M
Arkansas Tyson Invitational
Pair of A&M school records threatened at Tyson Invitational
Feb 14, 2015 | Track and Field
The foursome of Gregory Coleman (46.64), Bralon Taplin (45.21), Shavez Hart (46.38) and Deon Lendore (45.24) dominated the relay field, winning their section handily over Nebraska's 3:06.02. The Cornhuskers were second overall with Alabama (3:06.05), LSU (3:096.66) and Texas (3:06.76) rounding out the top five teams.
Texas A&M's time is the third fastest performance in collegiate history, trailing only the collegiate record of 3:03.20 the Aggies set in 2014 and the 3:03.23, which serves as the 2015 world leader, recorded by the same A&M foursome a couple of weeks ago on the Randal Tyson Track.
Collie threatened the Aggie school record in the triple jump with a 54-9 ¼ (16.69) leap that placed him second to Florida's Marquis Dendy, who won the event with a world-leading 56-6 ½ (17.23). Dendy also equaled the No. 9 mark on the collegiate all-time list.
Collie's impressive series included marks of 54-8 ¾ (16.68), foul, 54-9 ¼ (16.69), 54-6 ½ (16.62), 54-6 ½ (16.62), and 49-6 ½ (15.10). Collie came within an inch of breaking Julian Reid's school record of 54-10 (16.71) set in 2011. Instead, Collie is the No. 2 performer at A&M with the No. 2, 3, 4, and 5 performances.
“This was one of the best series I've had indoors, and this was just my second meet of the season,” noted Collie.
Dendy, the 2014 NCAA Outdoor champion, responded to a new challenger in the conference with a stellar series in the triple jump. His series started with a 55-8 ½ (16.98) and included 54-9 ¼ (16.69), 55-3 ¾ (16.86), 55-11 ¾ (17.06) and 55-0 ¼ (16.77) before closing with the 56-6 ½ (17.23). On the previous night Dendy had registered three fouls in the long jump.
“It was a really good competition today, and I was able to put the pressure on him,” said Collie, the 2014 triple jump champion at Tyson. “Hopefully at SECs I can beat him. I wanted to face him before conference and nationals.”
Kamaria Brown won the opening section of the seeded 200 meters in 22.97, currently third best in the world for 2015, and placed second overall to a world-leading 22.81 posted by Florida's Kyra Jefferson from the fourth and final section. Texas Tech's Cierra White, the collegiate leader coming into this weekend, placed third with a 23.10.
Ashton Purvis (23.38) and Olivia Ekpone (23.50) each placed second in their respective sections as they placed seventh and 10th overall. In earlier sections of the 200 Aaliyah Brown was second overall with a 23.52 that just missed her indoor career best of 23.51. In the men's unseeded 200 a 21.34 from Deon Hickey won his section and placed ninth overall.
Later in the 4x400 relay K. Brown anchored with a 51.90 split as A&M won their section in 3:32.84 and placed second overall to a world-leading 3:29.36 posted by Texas in another section. The Aggie foursome included Shamier Little (52.85), Ekpone (53.54), Purvis (54.55) and Brown. Texas A&M moved to fourth on the current collegiate list for 2015 and it was the ninth fastest time on the Aggie all-time list.
Finishing behind the Longhorns and Aggies were Clemson (3:33.04), Arkansas (3:33.58) and Kansas State (3:34.57), who was runner-up to A&M in their section.
Austin Wells set a career best over 3,000 meters with an 8:17.86 that placed fourth in the seeded section of the event. Houston's Brian Barraza won in 8:04.51 as he was paced by a teammate through the first half of the race. Finishing second and third were Sam Dickerson of Missouri (8:15.94) and Kentucky's Spencer Hrycay (8:16.57).
In the 5,000 meters Ryan Miller placed fourth with a 14:39.40. Riley Coates of Air Force pulled away from the field early on and posted a 14:21.04 victory. Oklahoma's tandem of Eric Graf (14:30.84) and Will Hogston (14:34.21) finished second and third.
Olabanji Asekun and Jeffrey Prothro established a pair of indoor PRs in the unseeded triple jump as they placed third and sixth, respectively, amid a field of 23 jumpers. Asekun produced a mark of 51-7 ¼ (15.73) while Prothro went 51-0 (15.54). The event was won by Nick Phynn of Texas with a 52-1 ¾ (15.89) as Iowa's Babatunde Amosu placed second at 51-11 ¾ (15.84).
“My performances this weekend sets me up real well for conference,” stated Asekun. “I wasn't feeling that well this week, but I pushed through it. I'm glad I did so well to build my confidence for the SEC meet. As a whole group we did very well this weekend. I'm excited for the rest of the season.”
Prothro added: “I kind of broke a personal barrier in getting over 50 feet. I've been working hard, trying to attack the board and be more aggressive. Having a teammate there always helps. With us pushing each other it's great as well. Conference will be very competitive, but we're on a high note right now. So we just need to keep up the momentum.”
The Aggie distance medley relay finished second with a time of 9:51.51 behind Arkansas' winning effort of 9:50.77. The A&M foursome included Alex Riba (3:01.55), Deon Hickey (47.37), Gaines Kinsey (1:50.64) and Aaron Murray (4:11.97). Finishing behind the Aggies were Baylor (9:53.98), Kansas State (9:56.50), Oklahoma (10:05.06) and Tulsa (10:06.77).
After winning the weight throw on Friday with a collegiate-leading mark of 73-1 ¼ (22.38), Brea Garrett came back to place fifth in the shot put with a 51-6 ½ (15.71). Penn State's Rachel Fatherly claimed the title with a 52-2 ¾ (15.92) over the Oklahoma pair of Avione Allgood (51-11) and Jessica Woodard (51-7 ¾).
Chase Wolfle finished sixth in the Invitational pole vault, clearing 17-8 ½ (5.40) and missing three attempts at a school record height of 18-2 ½ (5.55). Wolfle's effort equaled the sixth best performance on the Aggie all-time list. Akron's Shawn Barber improved his collegiate record to 19-4 ¼ (5.90) in claiming the victory over an elite field of vaulters as Andrew Irwin of Arkansas finished second at 18-10 ¼ (5.75).
Sam McSwain attempted to clear 6-11 again this week, but missed his three attempts at that height. He placed ninth in the high jump with a clearance of 6-9.
Players Mentioned
