Texas A&M
Baldy Castillo Invitational
A&M throwers produce collegiate leading marks at Baldy Castillo
Mar 22, 2015 | Track and Field
TEMPE, Arizona – Aggies throwers continued to have an impressive opening weekend to the outdoor season as Shelbi Vaughan and Ioannis Kyriazis both produced collegiate leading marks as they won the women's discus and men's javelin, respectively, at the Baldy Castillo Invitational hosted by Arizona State.
“This is a break out time for our people in the discus and javelin,” noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “Across the board there were a number of things that were very good today. We worked on some things that needed to be done this week. It's works out to be a good week of training in that aspect and in this timeframe of the season for us.”
Vaughan spun the discus to 195-2 (59.49) amid a solid series of marks in producing her best mark this early in the outdoor season. It's the No. 7 performance on the A&M all-time list among Vaughan's best winning marks. Her series included marks of 180-11 (55.15), 195-2 (59.49), 187-5 (57.14), foul, foul, 195-0 (59.45).
“Going into this meet I was shooting for the 190s since it was my average during the season last year,” said Vaughan. “The heat was pounding on me a bit, but the breeze was nice. I love this ring and this meet is always good to start the outdoor season. Now I'm ready for the Texas Relays.”
Kyriazis hit a mark of 245-10 (74.94) off a short approach in his javelin debut for the Aggies, moving to No. 4 on the A&M all-time list. He improved upon his previous career best of 241-8. Devin Bogert finished third at 238-4 (72.64) as he neared his career best of 239-6. In second place was Sam Humphreys, an Aggie NCAA champion in 2013 and 2012 Olympic Trials winner, who threw 243-8 (74.28).
“I was really confident coming into this meet, since I've been training hard for the past seven months,” said Kyriazis. “I felt that I could throw close to my PR. I'll try my full approach at the Texas Relays, so hopefully I can throw even further.”
On the track Texas A&M also produced collegiate leading marks of 38.98 in the men's 4x100, 44.12 in the women's 4x100, and 3:06.67 in the men's 4x400.
The foursome of Devin Jenkins, Shavez Hart, Bralon Taplin and Deon Lendore matched the time the Aggies ran in the first outdoor meet of the 2014 season. The Aggies defeated a field of schools that included Iowa (40.07), New Mexico (40.34), Minnesota (40.83), Washington (41.39), and a second group from A&M (41.76).
In the women's race the crew included Shamier Little, Ashton Purvis, Jennifer Madu and Aaliyah Brown. They also put a full second between them and a field that included Washington (45.22) and Iowa (45.42).
The men's 4x400 line-up had Josh Hernandez (48.4), Bralon Taplin (45.6), Deon Lendore (45.3) and Hector Hernandez (47.4) cruising to a comfortable victory over Minnesota (3:10.14), Iowa (3:11.57), UC Riverside (3:13.67), and a second A&M squad (3:14.67).
Individual races had Madu claiming the 100 meters, Little winning the 200 meters in 23.45, Hart placing first in his 400 meter with a career best 46.43 and Aikan Graham clocking a PR of 51.99 to earn the victory in the 400 hurdles.
Madu eased ahead of the field in the 100 meters to post a winning time of 11.43 (1.5 wind) as Washington's Haley Jacobson placed second in 11.77 and Asha Giles of UC Riverside finished third in 11.88.
Little edged ahead of Oklahoma's Daye Shon Roberson in the final stages of the 200 to post a 23.45 (1.4 wind) to 23.55 victory with another pair of Sooners placing third and fourth. Hart's foray into the open 400m had him winning by half a second over a 46.93 by former Sun Devil Keith Cleveland while A&M's H. Hernandez placed fourth in 47.69.
Graham won the 400 hurdles from lane eight over a 52.22 from Iowa State's Derek Jones and a 52.64 by South Dakota's Lukas Bernard. A&M's Kenneth Minkah placed sixth in 53.93.
Isaac Spencer led a crew of Aggies in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in placing second with a hand-time of 5:54.0 behind a 5:36.0 by Nike's Matt Hughes. The A&M crew also placed fifth and sixth with Colin Stoeber (6:02.0) and Ryan Teel (6:05.0).
The Aggies swept the long jump and triple jump with twins Latario Collie (25-1 ¾) and Lathone Collie (52-4 ¾) while teammates claimed second place in each event with Olabanji Asekun (24-9) and Jeffrey Prothro (50-0). Lathone's effort is No. 10 on the A&M all-time list.
Running in separate sections of the 800 meters, Gaines Kinsey (1:50.44) and Efrain Hernandez (1:50.60) finished second and third. Kinsey improved his outdoor best from 1:51.74 from May of last season while Hernandez won the second section with his first outdoor race at A&M.
Brea Garrett finished second in the shot put with a mark of 49-11 ¼ (15.22) as Emily Lesser of North Dakota won at 51-9 ¾ (15.79).
In the men's discus a career best toss of 173-7 (52.90) placed Jeff Bartlett third behind a 181-2 (55.22) by Gabe Hull of Iowa and a 173-7 (52.91) by Minnesota's Luke Johnson. Only a centimeter separated Bartlett from second place. Aggie Ben Skrla placed sixth in the discus with a 170-0 (51.81) effort.
The Aggie women had six javelin throwers place among the top 12 amid a field of 26 throwers. They were led by freshman Ashtin Zamzow, who added 10 feet to her previous career best with a mark of 162-0 (49.37). Zamzow's series included foul, foul, 151-2 (46.08), 154-5 PR (47.08), 153-9 (46.86), 162-0 (49.37). Oklahoma claimed first and second place with Elizabeth Herrs (177-9) and Avione Allgood (177-4).
Kendall Munoz placed fourth in the javelin at 159-1 (48.50) with newcomer Maggie Malone fifth with a 158-7 (48.34). Kristen Clark hit 154-3 (47.01) for eighth place, Audrey Malone placed ninth with a 147-4 (44.90) and Krystyn Bradley placed 12th at 141-8 (43.19).
Audie Wyatt placed third in the pole vault as teammates Carl Johansson and Chase Wolfle tied for fourth. All three Aggie vaulters cleared 17-0 ¾ (5.20). The women's vault had Sara Kathryn Stevens finishing sixth with a clearance of 13-1 ½ (4.00) that moves her to No. 4 on the A&M all-time list.
Players Mentioned
