Texas A&M
SEC Championships
Aggie Men and Women Each Finish Second in SEC Championships
May 16, 2015 | Track and Field
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORES
Men: 1. Florida, 130.5; 2. tie, Arkansas & Texas A&M, 95; 4. LSU, 92; 5. Georgia, 71.5; 6. Kentucky, 58; 7. Mississippi 53; 8. Mississippi State 52; 9. Alabama, 47.5; 10. Auburn, 40; 11. South Carolina, 36; 12. Tennessee, 28.5; 13. Missouri, 20.
Women: 1. Arkansas, 127.5; 2. Texas A&M, 104; 3. Kentucky, 99; 4. LSU, 84; 5. Florida, 83; 6. Georgia, 64; 7. Alabama, 55.5; 8. Mississippi State, 51; 9. Missouri, 42.66; 10. Auburn, 28; 11. Vanderbilt, 25.33; 12. Mississippi 21; 13. South Carolina, 19; 14. Tennessee, 15.
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – Texas A&M men and women each finished second in team scoring during the SEC Championships hosted by Mississippi State this weekend. The No. 1 Aggie men scored 95 points to tie with Arkansas behind Florida's winning tally of 130.5 points. Meanwhile, the No. 9 A&M women totaled 104 points as runner-up to Arkansas' 127.5.
"I'm pleased with the efforts of the vast majority of the group," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "We left a lot of points on the table, especially on the men's side. I think the ladies performed at a pretty high level. Once again to be second in the Southeastern conference is a huge accomplishments for both of these groups."
Saturday's final day of action included a sweep of the 100 meters by Shavez Hart and Aaliyah Brown, a sweep of the 4x100 relays for the Aggies while Shamier Little ran a world-leading time of 54.68 to capture the 400 hurdles and Deon Lendore posted a collegiate-leading 44.41, second fastest in the world, to achieve his fourth consecutive outdoor conference title.
Hart earned the SEC commissioner's trophy as the high-point scorer among the men, totaling 21 ¾ points from his victory in the 100 (10.13), runner-up finish in the 200 (20.23), running on the winning 4x100 along with a fourth-place 4x400.
"This was my goal coming into the meet, to be honest, and I got it," said Hart. "I was confident in all of my events, so I knew I was capable of having a great performance, but to actually do it was pretty awesome watching everything unfold."
Runner-up efforts by the Aggies included Latario Collie with SEC meet and A&M school record the triple jump, Audie Wyatt in the pole vault, Kamaria Brown in the 200 and the women's 4x400 relay. Earning third-place points for A&M was Kristen Clark in the javelin.
Little has already won a pair of SEC titles in the 400 meters at the 2014 SEC Outdoor and 2015 SEC Indoor meets. Focusing on the 400 hurdles the weekend, Little battled Kendra Harrison of Kentucky, who came into the meet with a collegiate leading time of 54.94.
Following a couple of rain and lightning delays, Little challenged Harrison and held the edge coming into the home stretch. Little drove to the finish line to break her school record of 55.07 set in winning the NCAA Championship last season as a freshman. She challenged the SEC Championship record of 54.50 set in 2004 by Lashinda Demus of South Carolina.
"It was pretty exciting considering the weather conditions," noted Little. "I was a little worried with the rain, mainly with my glasses and my vision. Once I got to the line and the gun went off I just had to set all of that behind. In the beginning of the race I didn't want to let Harrison get too far away from me. By the eighth hurdle, where the race really starts, is when I felt like I had it and I kicked in to bring it home."
The 54.68 by Little becomes the world leader for the 2015 season as it overtakes a 54.90 set by South Africa's Wenda Nel at altitude. Finishing behind Little was the Kentucky duo of Harrison (55.60) and Leah Nugent (56.47) with Chanice Chase (57.01) of LSU fourth.
Lendore produced the second fastest time in the world, trailing only a 44.22 by Kirani James, as he delivered a time of 44.41 to secure his fourth consecutive title in the outdoor conference meet. The time by Lendore is the second fastest in Aggie history, trailing only the school record of 44.36 he set in winning the 2014 SEC title.
Lendore established himself early in the final as he cruised to a 44.41 clocking with LSU's Vernon Norwood, the NCAA Indoor champion and collegiate leader at 44.44 coming into the meet, placing second a stride back in 44.76. Najee Glass of Florida finished third in 45.28 with Alabama's Steven Gayle fourth in 45.67. A&M's Bralon Taplin did not finish the race, stopping near the 200m mark.
Texas A&M women's 4x100 relay claimed a ninth consecutive conference title in record fashion as their winning time of 42.61 broke the meet record of 42.80 set in 2008 by LSU. A 42.80 today only merited third place in a fantastic finish.
Behind the Aggies record performance was Florida in 42.72, LSU with a 42.80 and Kentucky at 42.85. The Gators and Wildcats each set school records, bettering previous marks of 43.12 (1992) for Florida and 43.21 by Kentucky (2014).
Running for A&M were Jennifer Madu, Ashton Purvis, Kamaria Brown and Aaliyah Brown as they produced the third fastest time in the world for 2015 and lowered their collegiate leading best from a 43.03.
The 42.61 by the Aggies equals the ninth-fastest performance on the all-time collegiate list as Florida's 42.72 moves them to the No. 3 school with the No. 13 performance. LSU's 42.80 is equal to the No. 17 performance while Kentucky's 42.85 makes them the No. 5 school. On the Aggie all-time list the 42.61 is the No. 5 performer and No. 6 performance.
In the men's 4x100 the A&M crew included Devin Jenkins, Hart, Elijah Morrow and Lendore as they lowered their collegiate leading best to 38.74 to edge LSU (38.78), Alabama (38.87), Florida (39.08), and Arkansas (39.12). It was the second SEC title for the Aggies and fourth conference title in the past five years.
Hart and Jalen Miller of Mississippi each posted a 10.12 (0.4 wind) in the men's 100, but Hart claimed the title by a 0.007 margin (10.113 to 10.120). Florida's Dedric Dukes (10.18) and LSU's Aaron Ernest (10.19) were third and fourth in the close finish.
In the 200, Dukes posted a world-leading time of 19.99 (0.6 wind) to better Hart's career best of 20.23, which moves him to No. 5 on the A&M all-time list with an equal No. 7 performance. In third and fourth place was a pair of LSU Tigers in Tremayne Acy (20.52) and Ernest (20.53).
The women's 100 was another close affair with A. Brown posting a career best of 11.30 (0.9 wind) to edge Alabama's Remona Burchell (11.31) and Kentucky's Dezerea Bryant (11.33) as LSU's Mikiah Brisco (11.36) finished fourth. Brown's time equals the No. 8 performer on the A&M all-time list.
While Florida's Marquise Dendy won the triple jump with a windy 56-11 ¼ (17.35), Latario Collie finished second with a wind-aided 56-7 ¼ (17.25) and broke the SEC Championship record with a wind-legal 56-4 ½ (17.18) in the final round. Dendy produced the best all-conditions mark in the SEC meet, breaking the 56-6 ¾ (17.24) set by Florida's Will Claye in winning the 2011 title.
Collie bettered the SEC meet record of 56-3 ¼ (17.15) set by runner-up Christian Taylor of Florida in 2011 and also toppled the Aggie school record of 55-8 ½ (16.98) set by Julian Reid in 2009. Collie moves to No. 4 on the Bahamas all-time list. Under all-conditions Collie's 56-7 ¼w also bettered Reid's windy best of 56-1 ¼ (17.10) set in 2009.
A 22.64 by K. Brown placed her second to a 22.39 from Kyra Jefferson of Florida while Kentucky's Bryant finished third in 22.65 (0.9 wind). Additional points for A&M came from Purvis (23.33) and A. Brown (23.45) as they placed seventh and eighth.
Brown split 50.58 on the second leg for the Aggies on the 4x400 relay, which placed second in a season best of 3:32.40 behind Florida's winning effort of 3:27.84. Joining Brown on the relay were Olivia Ekpone, Ebony Crear and Little, who anchored in 51.79. The relay field included LSU (3:33.92), Kentucky (3:34.38) and Vanderbilt (3:34.74).
Wyatt, a freshman, challenged for the win in the pole vault as he scaled to a career best of 17-11 ¾ (5.48) to place second to Jake Blankenship of Tennessee, who cleared 18-3 for the victory. Wyatt was clean with first attempt makes at 16-7 ½, 17-1 ½, and 17-5 ½. Then he needed a second try to clear 17-8 ½ (5.40).
Only one attempt was needed for Wyatt and Blakenship to make 17-11 ¾ as both dealt with rain and lightning delays. While Blankenship made 18-3 on his first try, Wyatt missed on three attempts. Wyatt moves to No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list. Also scoring for the Aggies in the vault was another frosh in Carl Johansson, who placed sixth at 16-7 ½.
In the women's javelin a pair of impressive improvements for freshman Kristen Clark had her placing third with a career best of 170-8 (52.02), which is No. 8 on the A&M all-time list.
"I've never cried before from being so happy," stated Clark. "At the beginning of the year I made a deal with Coach De La Garza that I would throw 170 this season. I thought it could happen, but didn't really think it would. I've always been a first throw thrower, with my best mark always coming on my first throw. Getting it on my last throw, I literally cried. That was the best thing that could have happened."
Clark entered the meet with a best of 154-11 that ranked her 13th in the SEC. Throwing in the first flight she improved to 162-6 (49.54) to lead that group of throwers. Advancing to the final with the fifth best mark, Clark unleashed another eight foot improvement in the sixth round. She placed third behind Rebekah Wales of LSU (177-0) and Georgia's Freya Jones (176-9) while A&M teammate Maggie Malone finished fourth with a 163-9 (49.93).
"Even with the 162 I knew that anything could happen in the second flight and I may not even make the finals," noted Clark. "I would have been content with 162, but I wanted to score for the team. I'm so glad that happened. We have another two weeks for the NCAA meet, I'm pumped now."
The men's 4x400 placed fourth in 3:03.25 as their remarkable streak of 11 consecutive conference victories, indoor and outdoor combined, ended. The relay crew consisted of Gregory Coleman (47.99), Shavez Hart (44.81), Deon Hickey (46.26) and Lendore (44.19), who moved A&M from seventh to fourth on his carry. Florida won the race in 3:01.60 over a 3:01.63 by LSU with South Carolina third in 3:03.13.Distance points were added by Hillary Montgomery and Isaac Spencer in the 5,000 meters. Montgomery placed fourth with a 16:25.19 after finishing third in the 10,000 meters on Thursday evening. Spencer set a career best of 14:10.31 for fifth place as he moved to No. 9 on the A&M all-time list and rebounded from an off day in the steeplechase on Friday.
Gregory Coleman ran 50.36 for sixth place in the 400 hurdles while Aikan Graham produced a career best of 51.14 from lane one in finishing seventh. Brea Garrett placed seventh in the shot put (51-4 ¼) while Dalton Rowan was ninth in the discus (171-6). Sam McSwain cleared 6-8 ¼ in the high jump to place 12th as he matched the height of six others for places seventh through 12th.
Players Mentioned
