Texas A&M
Penn Relay Carnival
A&M adds win, three runners-up on final day of Penn Relay Carnival
Apr 25, 2015 | Track and Field
“We beat all the college teams we faced in the men's 4x100 and women's 4x200, so I'm extremely pleased with our performance,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “We did some things today that we needed to do at this track meet. The conditions were a lot better today, but still not real good.”
As A&M faced LSU and Penn State in the college division of the women's 4x400 a strong anchor leg by Shamier Little moved the Aggies into first place within the first 150m into her carry. Little split 51.6 to hold off the challenge from LSU's Chanice Chase to secure the win in 3:35.10. LSU ran 3:35.41 as runner-up with Penn State third in 3:37.59.
“I haven't run anchor leg that much, so it was a good race to teach me how to get out,” noted Little. “My team prepared me for it, getting us out to an early lead and then keeping us in the mix.”
The first three legs for the Aggies included Kamaria Brown (53.4), Olivia Ekpone (55.1), and Ebony Crear (55.0). The top times in the Championship of America 4x400 included Texas (3:29.46), UTech (3:31.34), Clemson (3:34.24), Duke (3:35.67) and Florida State (3:36.35).
“It was a good race and we're trying to get the order right with Olivia just coming back,” said Brown. “I wanted to make sure I gave Olivia a good enough lead, because I know she hasn't had enough races in just yet. So there was some good competition even though it wasn't in the faster section. We still ran really good.”
Texas A&M men closed out the Penn Relays with a 3:04.99 in the 4x400 to finish behind a 3:02.61 by LSU with Clemson a well back third at 3:07.68. It was the third time since 2007 for A&M to finish as runner-up in the 4x400 with the others coming in 2007 and 2010.
The Aggie foursome in the 4x400 included Deon Hickey (48.6), Shavez Hart (45.2), Gregory Coleman (46.16) and Deon Lendore (44.87). LSU ran Vernon Norwood, the current collegiate leader at 44.44, on the third leg and he supplied a 44.85 split as Tiger anchor leg Darrell Bush finished off the relay with a 45.33.
Other teams in the field for the 4x400 included St. Augustine's (3:08.16), Western Kentucky (3:08.36), G.C. Foster (3:09.98), Texas (3:11.03), Pittsburgh (3:13.04) and South Carolina (3:13.51).
“We went out there and tried something new with the line-up, putting people on different legs to test them out and see what they will do,” said Lendore. “We learned a lot about each other and what we are capable of doing. So that will give coach more options when it comes to other track meets.
“We didn't win today, but we're still satisfied with the run. We had a good run with some good legs.”
In the 4x100 the Aggie men finished second to UTech in a close finish, with the Jamaica squad claiming the win in 39.27 over A&M's 39.56. The Aggie foursome included Devin Jenkins, Hart, Elijah Morrow and Lendore.
The rest of the field included G.C. Foster (40.26), Clemson (40.31), Texas (40.44), South Carolina (40.55) and Johnson C. Smith (40.78). LSU and St. Augustine's did not finish.
“We were pushing people to the limit to see what they could do in a big meet,” stated Lendore. “I think we ran well with that line-up and had some nice handoffs. We know what we need to work on. All of this is just preparing us for conference in a couple of weeks.”
Texas A&M women produced a collegiate leading time of 1:31.17 as runner-up in the 4x200, finishing behind a 1:30.80 for UTech of Jamaica. The Aggie crew of Ashton Purvis, Aaliyah Brown, Little and K. Brown produced the ninth best time on the A&M all-time list.
The rest of the women's 4x200 field included LSU (1:32.38), Duke (1:33.83), G.C. Foster (1:34.63), Penn State (1:35.52), Indiana Tech (1:35.72), Northern Illinois (1:35.98) and Marshall (1:36.49).
“I'm disappointed because I wish the end of the race would have come out differently for us,” said K. Brown. “I'm happy with the effort everyone gave in the race.”
A strong effort in the 4x800 placed the Aggie men fourth in the Championship of America final with a time of 7:20.60, the fourth best time on the A&M all-time list. The Aggie foursome included Efrain Hernandez (1:51.69), Josh Hernandez (1:49.13), Gaines Kinsey (1:50.62) and Hector Hernandez (1:49.18).
The race had various leaders, including the Aggies at different stages among the first three legs. Kinsey moved the to the front of the pack with 220m left on his carry, but Villanova's Pat Williams reclaimed the lead in the final 110m of the third leg. At the final exchange the Wildcats held a 15m edge over A&M.
On the anchor leg Elliot Slade (1:49.62) of Villanova led the field until the final 90m of the race. Slade was passed by Georgetown's Joseph White (1:47.37), who in turn was out-leaned by Brandon Lasater of Georgia Tech (1:47.06) at the line. Georgia Tech claimed the victory in 7:18.84 to 7:18.86 for Georgetown with Villanova, the defending champion, third at 7:19.35.
H. Hernandez held the Aggies position in fourth place, turning back the challenge from Stanford (7:21.17), Columbia (7:21.59), Oklahoma (7:25.09) and Duke (7:25.39).
Audie Wyatt tied for third place in the pole vault, clearing 17-0 ¾ (5.20), while Chase Wolfle finished 11th with a clearance of 16-6 ¾ (5.05). Tennessee's Jake Blankenship claimed his third consecutive title with a height of 18-0 ½ (5.50).
In the USA vs. the World relay races Texas A&M alum Porscha Lucas anchored the American 4x200 to a very narrow victory over Jamaica as both teams finished in 1:31.98. The edge went to Lucas over Jamaica's Natasha Morrison by 0.007 of a second.
A hiccup with the final baton exchange from Cambrya Jones to Lucas had the US squad trailing Jamaica with Sheniqua Ferguson of the Caribbean All-Stars challenging as well. Lucas rallied to earn the victory with a strong anchor leg.
The Caribbean squad ran 1:32.40 in third while Nigeria, with Dominique Duncan running second leg, clocked 1:32.53 in fourth. Duncan also ran third leg on Nigeria's 4x100 relay as they placed third in 44.22 behind Jamaica (43.70) and USA (43.79).
Ameer Webb ran the third leg of the men's winning effort by Team USA handing off the baton to Wallace Spearmon. The Americans posted a time of 1:20.64 to defeat Jamaica (1:21.45), Guyana (1:24.42) and Nigeria (1:24.43).
Demetrius Pinder ran the opening leg for Bahamas in the 4x400 as they placed second in 3:01.63 behind a 3:00.86 by Team USA and finished ahead of Jamaica's 3:03.02.
During Friday's action Prezel Hardy, Jr. and Michael Bryan were part of a 4x100 relay that won the Olympic Development division in 40.16.
Players Mentioned
