No. 3 Aggie men finish second at Razorback Invitational, A&M women ninth

Friday, January 29

Fayetteville, Ark.

All Day

Texas A&M

Razorback Invitational

Photo by: Errol Anderson

Jan 30, 2016 | Track and Field

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas swept the team titles at the Razorback Invitational they hosted at the Randal Tyson Complex as No. 3 Texas A&M men totaled 105.5 points to finish second in team scoring with the No. 20 Aggie women placing ninth with 28.5 points.

"As far as the team goes, on the men's side we did some things very good," stated Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "We ran well and field event people did a good job, particularly in the triple jump. We still have some things we definitely have to work on, but the group is getting better.

"On the ladies side, we didn't look very good as a whole but we had some individuals who did look good today. We have a lot of work to do and we'll see how this team responds. We're going to have to get much better and it's going to take a lot of work to get there."

The Arkansas men claimed the team title with 122.2 points while the Razorback women produced a tally of 127.5 points. Following Arkansas and Texas A&M in men's scoring were Oregon (87.7), LSU (65), Georgia (57), Florida (47), UCLA (41.5), Oklahoma (35.7), Iowa State (32.2), Iowa (24), Oklahoma State (20) and Florida State (14.2).

In women's team scoring the Ducks (102) were second to the Razorbacks and followed by Georgia (76), Florida (70), Oklahoma State (57), LSU (50), Iowa State (44), Oklahoma (34), Texas A&M (28.5), Florida State (28), Iowa (16) and UCLA (15).

Fred Kerley lowered his indoor best to 46.48 in placing second in the Invitational 400m behind a 45.78 by Michael Cherry of LSU. Florida's Kunle Fasasi placed third in 46.68 while Gator Najee Glass was disqualified in the second section.

The time by Kerley moves him to No. 10 on the Aggie all-time list and he's currently fifth on the 2016 world list.

"I'm just getting into a groove now after tearing my quad last year," noted Kerley. "I'm glad I'm at A&M. I just feel blessed with the opportunity to run at A&M."

A&M women's 4x400 ran 3:35.86 and finished second to Oregon's 3:33.34. Third in the race was LSU at 3:35.99 followed by Arkansas in 3:36.86. The Aggie foursome included Jarra Owens (55.31), Briyahna Desrosiers (53.89), Jazmine Fray (54.61) and Shamier Little (52.05).

The men's 4x400 produced a world-leading time of 3:04.46 for LSU as Florida (3:08.44) and Arkansas (3:08.86) gave chase in second and third. The Aggies placed fourth with a 3:10.77 from the quartet of Robert Grant (48.04), Kerley (46.56), Efrain Hernandez (47.90) and JaQwae Ellison (48.27).

"We're a young team in the relay, I think this was the fourth different line-up in the 4x400 I've raced with so far this season," said Kerley. "Coach knows what he is doing and is getting us ready. I'm learning and know I'll be ready when the right time comes for me to strike."

The Aggies picked up 10 team points in the triple jump from a trio of jumpers. Latario Collie placed third with a leap of 52-3 ¼ (15.93) as Lathone Collie (51-6 ¼) and Jeffrey Prothro (51-2 ¼) finished sixth and eighth.

Iowa State's Alexandru Mitirica moved into the lead with a final round mark of 52-4 ¾ (15.97), but event leader Clive Pullen of Arkansas, who posted marks of 51-11 twice along with three fouls, answered with a 52-7 ½ (16.04) on the final jump to secure the win.

Jennfier Madu advanced to the final of the 60 meters with a 7.37 in the prelims, then improved to 7.30 to claim fourth place in the final. Aggies Diamond Spaulding and Brenessa Thompson both ran 7.61 in the same prelim heat of the 60.

Florida's Shayla Sanders won the 60 final in 7.17 over the Oregon combo of Jasmine Todd (7.20) and Hannah Cunliffe (7.29). Finishing behind Madu's 7.30 were Florida's tandem of Kyra Jefferson (7.33) and Robin Reynolds (7.38).

After winning the 200 in a career best of 20.77 on Friday, Devin Jenkins advanced to the final of the 60 with a prelim time of 6.77. In the final, though, a 6.80 placed Jenkins seventh. Oklahoma State's John Teeters cruised to the victory in 6.54 seconds over the Razorback duo of Jarrion Lawson (6.62) and Kenzo Cotton (6.68) with Florida's Ryan Clark (6.70) fourth.

The Invitational 3,000m had Cameron Villarreal placing seventh with a time of 8:14.02 as he challenged the leaders a few times during the race. Villarreal split 2:45.30 in his first 1,000m, and then came through 2k at 5:35.24 (2:49.94). Over the final 1,000m Villarreal split 2:38.78 with 29.75 and 30.58 on the final two circuits of the track.

Alex George of Arkansas won the race in 8:09.79 as he passed Oregon's Jake Leingang (8:10.11) in the final 60m of the race. A&M's Alex Riba ran 8:23.38 to place third in the 3,000m section that was contested earlier in the day.

Efrain Hernandez won his section of the 800m in a career best of 1:50.36, bettering the field by over two seconds, as he placed fifth overall among the four sections that included 33 entrants. Hernandez moves to No. 10 on the A&M all-time list.

JaQwae Ellison claimed the fourth 800m section in 1:52.90, placing 19^th overall, with teammate Ian Cazares clocking 1:53.38 to place fifth in the heat. Racing in the same section as Hernandez was Gaines Kinsey, who posted a time of 1:53.65.

Laura Craig led a trio of Aggies in the women's mile as she recorded an indoor best of 5:00.53 to place third in her section and 10^th overall. Katie Willard finished 11^th in 5:05.07 while Katie Watson was 15^th in 5:07.91.

Ryan Teel clocked 4:10.90 to place third in his section of the mile and finished 11^th overall while Aaron Murray finished 16^th with a 4:14.23. Teel led the field early while Murray took his turn in front of the pack with a lap and a half remaining.

Shaina Burns placed 10^th in the shot put as she set an indoor best of 47-7 ¾ (14.52), which would produce 829 points in a pentathlon. The best shot put mark in the pentathlon held during the Razorback Invitational on Friday was 42-8 ¾, which scored 729 points.

The Aggie multi-eventers will contest a heptathlon and pentathlon next weekend during the Texas A&M Charlie Thomas Invitational.