Texas A&M ready to contend for NCAA Championship titles at Hayward Field

EUGENE – Texas A&M's bid to complete a sweep of national championship titles in men's track and field begins on Wednesday at Hayward Field. The Aggies, who won the NCAA Indoor title by half a point on its home track and mid-March, have been nationally ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA national team computer rankings since late April.
 
The Texas A&M men advanced a national best 18 entries with 18 athletes in 14 events for the NCAA Championship weekend from the NCAA West Preliminary rounds in Austin. The No. 7 Aggie women advanced 14 entries from 12 athletes in nine events. Combined, Texas A&M will have a total of 30 athletes with 32 entries amid 23 events this weekend.
 
"I'm pleased with where we are, we advanced well," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "But the NCAA Championships is a very unpredictable meet with a lot of unpredictable situations. You go there with the intent of doing the best you can with each athlete, just like any other sport.
 
"With this group I feel pretty good. We've been very consistent with our level of performances. We showed that during the meet in Austin in advancing to the national meet."
 
Coverage of the NCAA Championships, which begin Wednesday and conclude on Saturday, will be available live on various ESPN outlets as well as the Watch ESPN app.
 
Following are start times and channels for coverage each day: Wednesday (6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2), Thursday (6:30 p.m. on ESPN2), Friday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN, men's trophy presentation 11 p.m. on ESPN3), and Saturday (5:30 p.m. on ESPN, women's trophy presentation 10 p.m. on ESPN 3).
 
Over the past 52 years, when the men's NCAA Indoor meet started in 1965, seven schools have accomplished the feat of winning the men's NCAA indoor and outdoor team titles in the same year, and it has been achieved a total of 20 times.
 
Oregon was the most recent school to sweep in 2014 and 2015, while Arkansas has done it the most times at nine. Two Texas schools have swept both men's team titles, SMU in 1983 and UTEP five times (1975, 78, 80, 81 and 82).
 
Texas A&M has claimed the men's NCAA Outdoor championship four times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013) and captured the program's first-ever NCAA Indoor championship this past March, claiming the title by half a point over Florida by winning the final event of the meet, the 4x400 relay.
 
Among the Aggie men's crew are a pair of collegiate record holders in Fred Kerley (400m) and Lindon Victor (decathlon) along with Ioannis Kyriazis (javelin), who has the second best throw in collegiate history. In addition, the Aggies also have the fastest 4x400 relay this season as they have set world-leading times on four occasions this outdoor season.
 
Victor is the defending NCAA decathlon champion and has produced a pair of collegiate record scores this season. First he won the Texas Relays with a tally of 8,472 and then improved to 8,539 to defend his SEC title.
 
In the process of those two collegiate records, Victor also established the best ever first day score by a collegian in March with a 4,516 total at the Texas Relays. Then he generated the best ever second day score by a collegian in May with a 4,174 score during the SEC meet.
 
Two other athletes have surpassed 8,000 points this season, Georgia's Devon Williams (8,345) and Minnesota's Luca Wieland (8,201).
 
Kerley has had a stellar senior campaign at 400m, winning SEC and NCAA Indoor titles, and establishing three of the fastest times among the all-time top 10 collegiate performances during the outdoor season.
 
In the SEC Outdoor prelims, Kerley motored to a then world-leading time of 44.09 to break the conference meet record of 44.29 which was set by LSU's Derrick Brew in 1999. He then claimed the final in 44.30.
 
Then at the NCAA West Preliminary rounds in Austin, Kerley ran his quarterfinal round in a world-leading 43.70 to break the collegiate record of 44.00, which was also set in Austin by USC's Quincy Watts in 1992.
 
Joining Kerley in the 400m fray is his younger brother, Mylik, who has produced a career best of 45.48 this season.  
 
Kyriazis has only thrown the javelin three times in competition this season, winning the Texas Relays title with a meet record 288-9 (88.01), claiming a third consecutive SEC title with a meet record 262-11 (80.15), and advancing from the NCAA West with a 249-8 (76.09).
 
In each of those attempts, Kyriazis used a short approach. However, Kyriazis plans to utilize a full approach while in Eugene.
 
Of note, the NCAA meet record in the javelin is 268-7 (81.86) set in 1998 by Esko Mikkola of Arizona while the Hayward Field record is 286-7 (87.37) set in 2016 by Ihab Abdelrahman of Egypt during the Prefontaine Diamond League meet. The collegiate record in the javelin is 292-4 (89.10) set by Patrik Boden of Texas in 1990.
 
In previous NCAA Championships, Kyriazis placed fifth as a freshman (239-11) and finished as a runner-up (253-5) last year. Teammate Sam Hardin, who had produced a career best of 240-9 (73.38) this season also returns for a second NCAA Championship, having placed 22^nd a year ago in the javelin.
 
Mississippi State's Curtis Thompson won the 2016 NCAA javelin title with a throw of 254-9 and returns to defend his title. This season, though, Thompson has thrown a best of 243-0 while placing runner-up in five meets and he finished fourth at the SEC Championships. The second best collegiate throw this season behind Kyriazis is a 255-4 by Gennard Paul of Southeast Louisiana.
 
Wednesday will include three field event finals for the Aggie men. In addition to the javelin, the pole vault and long jump will also be contested. The pole vault and long jump supplied key points for Texas A&M during NCAA Indoors when Audie Wyatt and Will Williams each finished second in their respective events to supply the Aggies with a combined 16 points.
 
Wyatt leads a crew of three Aggies in the NCAA Outdoor pole vault as he is joined by Carl Johansson and Jacob Wooten. Williams will have some company from the Texas A&M jumps crew as Jeffrey Prothro advanced in the triple jump and Garrett Cragin is in the high jump field. Prothro and Cragin will compete on Friday.
 
Another throwing final on Wednesday is the men's hammer with Austin Cook, who improved his school record to 214-9 (65.45) to advance from the NCAA West meet. Prelim races on Wednesday will also include SEC champion Devin Dixon in the 800m, Alex Riba in the 1,500m and Robert Grant in the 400m hurdles. Grant finished fourth in the NCAA hurdle final last season.
 
Semifinal races will also be held in the men's relays on Wednesday. While the Aggie 4x400 is the current world leader with a 3:00.69 clocking, the 4x100 relay posted a season best of 38.78 during the NCAA West and ranks seventh among collegians this season.
 
Thursday is the first day of competition for the Texas A&M women where throwing finals include Audrey Malone and Madalaine Stulce in the javelin along with Alison Ondrusek in the hammer. Serena Brown competes in the discus on Saturday.
 
Semifinal races include the 100m with Aaliyah Brown and Brenessa Thompson, along with the 200m as Diamond Spaulding joins Brown and Thompson. In the 400m the Aggies will have Jaevin Reed and Briyahna Desrosiers while Jazmine Fray races in the 800m.
 
Fray, who broke the collegiate record indoors with a 2:00.69, swept SEC indoor and outdoor titles this season and placed fourth in the NCAA Indoor final. She will contend with four-time NCAA champion Raevyn Rogers of Oregon, who broke the collegiate record outdoors in the 800m this spring with a 1:59.10. Rogers has claimed two NCAA Indoor and two NCAA Outdoor titles.
 
In the relay events the Aggie women sport season best times of 42.82 in the 4x100 and 3:27.72 in the 4x400, which ranks them fourth in each relay this season.
 
NCAA Championships – Texas A&M Schedule – Eugene, Oregon (Pacific time listed)

 

Wednesday, June 7 (all times PT)
12:30 p.m.	Decathlon	100m		Lindon Victor
1:10 p.m.	Decathlon	Long Jump		Lindon Victor
2:00 p.m.	Men	Hammer	FINAL	Austin Cook
2:25 p.m.	Decathlon	Shot Put		Lindon Victor
3:40 p.m.	Decathlon	High Jump		Lindon Victor
4:32 p.m.	Men	4x100 Relay	Semifinal	Texas A&M
4:45 p.m.	Men	1,500m	Semifinal	Alex Riba
5:00 p.m.	Men	Pole Vault	FINAL	Audie Wyatt, Jacob Wooten, Carl Johansson
5:45 p.m.	Men	Javelin	FINAL	Ioannis Kyriazis, Sam Hardin
6:00 p.m.	Men	Long Jump	FINAL	Will Williams
6:00 p.m.	Men	400m	Semifinal	Fred Kerley, Mylik Kerley
6:14 p.m.	Men	800m	Semifinal	Devin Dixon
6:30 p.m.	Men	400 Hurdles	Semifinal	Robert Grant
6:56 p.m.	Decathlon	400m		Lindon Victor
7:48 p.m.	Men	4x400 Relay	Semifinal	Texas A&M
Thursday, June 8 (all times PT)
10:30 a.m.	Decathlon	110m Hurdles		Lindon Victor
11:20 a.m.	Decathlon	Discus		Lindon Victor
12:30 p.m.	Decathlon	Pole Vault		Lindon Victor
2:00 p.m.	Women	Hammer	FINAL	Alison Ondrusek
3:00 p.m.	Decathlon	Javelin		Lindon Victor
4:32 p.m.	Women	4x100 Relay	Semifinal	Texas A&M
5:45 p.m.	Women	Javelin	FINAL	Audrey Malone, Madalaine Stulce
5:46 p.m.	Women	100m	Semifinal	Aaliyah Brown, Brenessa Thompson
6:00 p.m.	Women	400m	Semifinal	Jaevin Reed, Briyahna Desrosiers
6:14 p.m.	Women	800m	Semifinal	Jazmine Fray
6:44 p.m.	Women	200m	Semifinal	Aaliyah Brown, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson
6:56 p.m.	Decathlon	1,500m		Lindon Victor
7:48 p.m.	Women	4x400 Relay	Semifinal	Texas A&M
Friday, June 9 (all times PT)
5:00 p.m.	Men	High Jump	FINAL	Garrett Cragin
5:32 p.m.	Men	4x100 Relay	FINAL	(Texas A&M)
5:40 p.m.	Men	Triple Jump	FINAL	Jeffrey Prothro
5:42 p.m.	Men	1,500m	FINAL	(Alex Riba)
6:32 p.m.	Men	400m	FINAL	(Fred Kerley, Mylik Kerley)
6:44 p.m.	Men	800m	FINAL	(Devin Dixon)
6:57 p.m.	Men	400 Hurdles	FINAL	(Robert Grant)
7:51 p.m.	Men	4x400 Relay	FINAL	(Texas A&M)
Saturday, June 10 (all times PT)
3:05 p.m.	Women	Discus	FINAL	Serena Brown
3:32 p.m.	Women	4x100 Relay	FINAL	(Texas A&M)
4:22 p.m.	Women	100m	FINAL	(Aaliyah Brown, Brenessa Thompson)
4:32 p.m.	Women	400m	FINAL	(Jaevin Reed, Briyahna Desrosiers)
4:47 p.m.	Women	800m	FINAL	(Jazmine Fray)
5:07 p.m.	Women	200m	FINAL	(Aaliyah Brown, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson)
5:51 p.m.	Women	4x400 Relay	FINAL	(Texas A&M)