Two more school records fall as Aggies sweep team titles at Charlie Thomas Invitational

Friday, February 5

College Station

All Day

Texas A&M

Charlie Thomas Invitational

Photo by: Russell James/Texas A&M Athletics

Feb 06, 2016 | Track and Field

COLLEGE STATION – Another pair of Aggie school records were broken on the second day of the Charlie Thomas Invitational as Texas A&M swept the team titles at Gilliam Indoor. Lindon Victor won the heptathlon with a school record score of 5,646 points while Katie Willard bettered the 800m record with a winning time of 2:05.79.

In team scoring the Aggie men tallied 176 points to defeat Clemson (89.5), Baylor (69), South Plains (55), Texas-Arlington (53.5), Houston (46), and UTSA (42). The A&M women totaled 144 points to finish ahead of Arkansas (102.2), Clemson (93), Baylor (66.6), UTEP (64), Rice (52), and Houston (36).

Texas A&M totaled nine wins in the two-day meet and delivered three school records. Annie Kunz set the pentathlon school record on Friday and came back to win the open high jump on Saturday with a 5-8 ½ clearance.

"Our two multi-eventers, Annie Kunz and Lindon Victor just had tremendous efforts," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "Those were tough records to break. Having three school records at one meet is pretty great.

"Each one of these indoor meets is a contributor to what we are going to do in the future and we're trying to run fast in June. We want to run fast indoors because it helps us get where we want to go."

Victor's score of 5,646 points improved the previous school record of 5,499 points set by Trinity Otto in 2009. A 60m hurdle time of 8.34 scored 898 points while a 14-11 pole vault added 775. Then Victor ran the 1,000m in 2:53.90 for 725 points.

"The hurdles and pole vault were the big difference today," stated Victor. "I was a little disappointed with the 1000. I didn't trust my fitness. I went out pretty slow, but it is a good start for the year. I had my brother (Kurt Felix) here to push me. He flew down just to compete with me so I could get a good score and try to qualify for nationals.

"The SECs is one of the hardest conferences. I just want to compete and have fun again. I threw three feet under my best in the shot put, but I made that up in the pole vault and the hurdles here. If I can get my shot back where it should be I think I can be a contender in the SEC."

Runner-up to Victor was teammate Nathan Hite, who produced a score of 5,301 which is No. 7 on the A&M all-time list. Hite's marks included 7.23 in the 60m, 21-6 ¼ in the long jump, 42-10 ¼ in the shot put, a 6-5 high jump for first day score of 2,951 points. Hite then added an 8.45 60m hurdle time, 15-3 pole vault and 2:59.06 in the 1,000m.

Daniel Martin placed fourth with a tally of 5,282 points, which is No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list. Martin closed out the heptathlon with a 2:29.13 win in the 1,000m, recording one of the top five times in the event by a collegian in a multi-event.

Willard's strong kick in the final stages of the 800m pushed her past Baylor's Olicia Williams (2:06.98), who placed third in the 2015 NCAA Indoor 800m final, and kept her ahead of A&M teammate Jazmine Fray (2:07.05). Willard covered the final 200m in 30.96 compared to 33.48 by Williams and 32.49 by Fray.

The previous A&M record of 2:07.27 was set in 2002 by Angeles Pantoja was bettered by Willard and Fray as they moved into the top two positions on the Aggie all-time list.

"I mostly concentrated on what I needed to do today," said Willard, whose previous indoor best was 2:08.48. "This has been a goal since coming in my freshman year, and my mindset today was to break the school record. It was an added bonus to win. Running miles in earlier meets has been helpful. Coach Francique and I talked about getting some more mileage in and just relaxing the first few meets to get ready for a really good 800. Coming down to the 800 is a lot better because it's exciting to run shorter, and work more on speed.

"I got over on the back stretch and felt really good, and I knew I could catch her (Olicia Williams). I was just waiting for the right moment. I knew when I came into the straightaway I could curve out and pass people, and I did. I was really happy with it."

In recording her school record time of 2:05.79, Willards splits at each 200m were 30.10, 31.94 [62.04], 32.79 [1:34.83] and 30.96. Williams led the field over the first three laps of 29.65, 31.66 [61.31], and 32.19 [1:33.50]. Fray, a freshman who split 2:05.74 in a distance medley the previous week, lowered her best from 2:09.13 this season with splits of 29.85, 32.02 [61.87], 32.69 [1:34.56] and 32.49.

"Jazmine is probably the best training partner I have ever had," stated Willard. "I love training with her because we make each other better. I thought today we would both go 2:05. I'm really proud of how she did today."

Donavan Brazier ran his second 800m race in an Aggie uniform and promptly produced the No. 3 performance on the U.S. Junior all-time list with a 1:47.80 as teammate Hector Hernandez set an indoor PR of 1:48.02. They finished ahead of UTEP's Jonah Koech (1:49.14) and Clemson's John Lewis (1:49.93).

Brazier set the U.S. Junior record of 1:45.93 in his first 800m race with A&M in January. On the Aggie all-time list Brazier's winning time this weekend is the No. 2 performance while Hernandez moves to No. 4 with the No. 9 performance.

Another freshman in the event for A&M was JaQwae Ellison, who placed sixth overall with a 1:50.44, while Gaines Kinsey finished seventh with a 1:51.21.

Devin Jenkins posted another 200m win and his time of 20.58 is the second fastest in the world for the 2016 season, just behind a 20.57 by LSU's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake. Jenkins is the top American this season and he moves to No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list.

"I feel good on the track, but I have some little stuff I need to work on, like coming out of the curve," said Jenkins. "I'm healthy and just blessed to be here. The fields today were very competitive and I was glad to hold my own and be consistent."

Jenkins defeated TCU's Sam Watts (20.80) and Clemson's Tevin Hester (20.83) as he just missed the meet record of 20.57 set last season by A&M's Shavez Hart. In the 60m Jenkins posted a 6.69 to finish third behind Ronnie Baker of TCU (6.62) and Hester (6.65).

The women's sprints had Aaliyah Brown clocking a 7.33 to win the 60m while she produced an indoor best of 23.30 as runner-up in the 200m.

Brown defeated Clemson's Myasia Jacobs (7.39) and Aggie teammate Jennifer Madu (7.40) in the 60m. Taylor Ellis-Watson of Arkansas claimed the 200m victory in 23.25 ahead of Brown's PR as A&M also had sprinters placing 4-6-7 with Diamond Spaulding (23.47), Krystal Sparling (23.73) and Shamier Little (23.73).

"I just came into today wanting to focus on my race and not my competition," noted Brown. "I feel like I have been working hard, hard, hard in practice and everything came together today and that's why I was able to drop my times in my 60 and 200.

"I'm ready to run at Arkansas, I'm ready to run at Tyson (next week's meet in Fayetteville) because I know there is going to be some hot, hot competitors there."

Another pole vault victory for Jacob Wooten resulted in a PR of 17-11 and three more tries at 18-1 in an attempt to break the A&M school record of 18-0 ½. Carl Johansson cleared 17-1 for the first time this season as runner-up while Chase Wolfle placed third with a 17-1 make. Audie Wyatt entered the competition at 17-1, but three misses left him with a no height for the day.

Carissa van Beek led a 1-2-3 Aggie sweep in the weight throw as her mark of 61-3 led teammates Shelbi Vaughan (60-5 ¾) and Alison Ondrusek (59-7 ¾).

A 4:05.49 in the mile by Austin Wells placed second to a 4:04.42 by Houston's Brian Barraza with A&M's Alex Riba third in 4:08.09. Other Aggies in the race included Nathan Ricketts (6^th – 4:09.76), Elliott Farris (9^th – 4:12.40), Cameron Villarreal (11^th – 4:16.69) and Taylor Clayton (12^th – 4:18.90).

Wells moved to No. 8 on the A&M all-time list in the mile as he added a third indoor event in which he ranks among the top 10 all-time with the Aggies. Wells is currently No. 8 in the 3,000m and No. 6 in the 5,000m.

Runner-up performances for A&M included Fred Kerley in the 400 (46.72), Garrett Cragin in the high jump (6-11 ½) as he moved to No. 11 on the Aggie all-time list, and Will Williams in the long jump (24-11). Placing third in the meet were Briyahna Desrosiers in the 400 (54.65) and Jeff Bartlett in the shot put (56-0).

Desrosiers also generated a split of 52.74 as the second leg of A&M's 4x400 that finished second in 3:34.50 to a 3:34.45 by Arkansas. The anchor leg came down to Ellis-Watson with the Razorback and the Aggies Shamier Little. A split of 51.90 by Ellis-Watson kept Arkansas in front despite a 51.73 carry by Little. Clemson finished third in the race with a 3:38.44.

With Kerley suppling an anchor leg of 46.24 the Aggie men placed third in the 4x400 with a 3:08.10 as they finished behind Baylor's 3:06.79 and Clemson's 3:08.06. The first three legs for A&M included Robert Grant (47.33), Brazier (47.39) and Eric Age (47.14).

Emily Gunderson's 12-11 clearance to place fourth in the women's pole vault moved her to No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list while teammate Brittany Wooten finished fifth with a 12-11 make. In the women's mile the A&M crew was led by Katie Watson (4:57.86) and Arin Rice (4:59.41), who placed 13^th and 14^th.