Nationally ranked Aggies travel to Waco for Saturday's Michael Johnson Invitational

Saturday, April 23

Waco, Texas

All Day

Texas A&M

Michael Johnson Classic

Photo by: Errol Anderson

Apr 21, 2016 | Track and Field

WACO – Texas A&M will have a large contingent of athletes competing Saturday in the Michael Johnson Invitational. This is the third and final meet in which the Aggies compete in state following outings in San Antonio and Austin last month.

Field events begin at 11 a.m. with an afternoon running session starting at 1 p.m. and the evening finals set for 5 p.m. The evening running session will also include post-collegians competing in various events at the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth, ages 2-17, and all tickets are general admission.

Teams competing in the Michael Johnson Invitational include Air Force, Angelo State, Butler CC, Cal State Fullerton, New Mexico State, Oklahoma Baptist, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, Stanford, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, Texas State and Texas Tech.

Shelbi Vaughan headlines a discus field that will include Stanford's Valarie Allman, Texas Tech's Hannah Carson, post-collegian D'Andra Carter, and A&M's Celine Markert. Vaughan's season best of 194-5 (59.25) currently ranks fourth among collegians while Allman is sixth with a mark of 190-7 (58.09) and Carson's 181-9 (55.39) ranks 14th.

After two weeks of racing over 400m hurdles, Shamier Little will contest the 200m in the evening session along with a trio of Aggie freshmen – Briyahna Desrosiers, Diamond Spaulding, and Glorilisha Carter. Jennifer Madu and Brenessa Thompson are in the evening session of the women's 100m along with Elijah Morrow and Aaron Sims in the men's 100m. Morrow will also run in the evening session of the 200m.

Aikan Graham and DeWitt Thomas are in the evening session of the 400m hurdles along with A&M alum Gregory Coleman and Puerto Rico's Javier Culson, a bronze medalist in the 2012 Olympics and twice a silver medalist in the World Championships.

JaQwae Ellison, the SEC Freshman of the Week, leads a trio of Aggies in the evening session of the 800m. Joining Ellison are Efrain Hernandez and Gaines Kinsey. Competing in the women's 800m are Jazmine Fray and Katie Willard, who recorded the second and third fastest times in A&M history a week ago, as they race in a field that includes post-collegians Laura Roesler, Kendra Chambers and Dana Mecke.

Latario Collie, the SEC Field Athlete of the Week and current collegiate leader, competes in the triple jump with his twin brother Lathone along with Baylor's Felix Obi and post-collegian Omar Craddock. Will Williams long jumps in a field that includes post-collegians Kevin Dilworth and A&M alum Olabanji Asekun.

Following her career best score of 5,904 in the heptathlon, Annie Kunz will compete in the long jump, shot put and javelin. The javelin field will also include three more Aggies with Kristen Clark, Madalaine Stulce and Shaina Burns. Throwing the hammer for A&M are Alison Ondrusek, Carissa van Beek and Markert.

Audie Wyatt set the school indoor record with an 18-1 mark this season and then claimed the outdoor school record with an 18-6 ½ effort, which qualified him for the Olympic Trials. Wyatt is still seeking to clear 18-8 ¼ (5.70) to lock in the Olympic qualifying standard as he leads a group of four Aggies in the pole vault. Joining him are Carl Johansson, Jacob Wooten and Chase Wolfle.

Texas Tech's Trey Culver, the current collegiate leader in the high jump at 7-5, is the top seed in a field that includes Aggies Sam McSwain, Garrett Cragin, Nathan Hite, Lindon Victor and Ben Zook.

Aaron Murray and Nathan Ricketts race in the evening session of the 1,500m. The Aggies will also have a group of seven competing in the 5,000m with Julian Castellano, Zach Martin, Jacob Perry and Juan Uribe in the men's race while Devin Norton, Kelsey Persyn and Katie Tanner are in the women's race.

Aggie post-collegians in the meet also include Carlyle Roudette in the men's 400m, along with Kanika Beckles in the women's 200m and 400m and Ibukun Mayungbe in the women's 400m.