FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An initial road trip for Texas A&M track and field this indoor season has the Aggies competing among a field of 10 nationally-ranked schools in the Razorback Invitational hosted by Arkansas on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27.
With Texas A&M men ranked No. 3 and the women No. 7 in the latest national team computer rankings from USTFCCCA, the Aggies are among four men's teams and seven women's teams ranked among the top 10 who will compete inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Teams scheduled for the Razorback Invitational include Arkansas (Men No. 7, Women No. 2), Florida (M 1, W 5), Florida State (M 23), Georgia (M 2, W 3), Iowa State (W 22), Kansas State (W 24), LSU (W 9), Mississippi (W 10), Oklahoma State, and Southern California (M 13, W 4).
"This meet is another step up in the progression towards conference and nationals," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It's going to be a great competition, so you should be able to get the best out of yourself in this kind of meet. It's always about the level of completion and who shows up.
"Taking a trip at this stage of the season and competing in a different venue makes you focus on a few different things that you have to learn how to do. We're fortunate to have both the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships at home this year, but we will have to travel for those two meets outdoors."
On Saturday there will be a live TV window on the SEC Network from 1 to 4:30 p.m. featuring Invitational events in the 60m, 400m, 800m, Mile, 3,000m, 4x400 relay along with the triple jump and shot put.
Aggies selected for the Invitational section of track events include the trio of Mylik Kerley (46.10), Robert Grant (46.22) and Ilolo Izu (46.34) in the 400m. They currently rank 2-3-4 among collegians this indoor season.
"It was great for Mylik and I to open up together in the same race last weekend," noted Grant. "When you practice together, it's always fun to race one another as well. Running a PR in the 400m shows a lot of promise for what I can do outdoors in the 400m hurdles. I'm hoping to drop my time some more at Arkansas.
"I like competing in our facility, but it's also great to race against other people on a different track. You can get comfortable at home a little bit with the fan support, so it's nice to get out of that comfort zone and face challenges on the road. Arkansas should be a great meet and we're excited for it."
Texas A&M will also have teams among the Invitational sections of the 4x400 relays. The Aggies improved their collegiate record in the men's 4x400 at the Razorback Invitational last season with a 3:02.52 clocking.
Devin Dixon makes his season debut in the Invitational 800m while Jazmine Fray runs the event for the second consecutive week. Dixon ran 1:47.85 indoors during his 2017 freshman campaign and improved to 1:45.71 outdoors when he won the SEC title.
Fray, the indoor collegiate record holder with a 2:00.69 from 2017, posted a winning time of 2:04.97 this past weekend to produce the second fastest collegiate time for 2018.
Following a 33-second PR of 9:34.85 in her victory last weekend, Ashley Driscoll races in the 3,000m again. Alex Riba contests the men's 3,000m, where he sports a best of 8:23.38 from the 2016 Razorback Invitational.
Friday's portion of the meet includes a heptathlon for the men and a pentathlon for the women, which starts at 12:45 p.m. The Friday evening session, beginning at 6 p.m., will include distance medley relays and 200m races. Field events held on the first day include the pole vault, long jump, high jump, and weight throw.
Currently, Texas A&M is the lone school to have two pole vaulters clear 18-feet this indoor season. Jacob Wooten, who has won three consecutive home meets to start the indoor campaign, and Audie Wyatt both went over 18-1 ¼ (5.52) for an Aggie 1-2 finish during the Texas A&M Quadrangular. Wyatt, a silver medalist at the 2017 NCAA Indoor meet, has won SEC Indoor titles the past two years.
Another Aggie returning as a NCAA Indoor silver medalist is long jumper Will Williams. Last weekend Williams improved his best time in the 60m to 6.75 while reaching a mark of 25-9 ¼ (7.85) as he finished second in both events.
Among a field of 20 long jumpers, Williams will face challenges from Florida's duo of KeAndre Bates, the defending SEC and NCAA Indoor champion, and Grant Holloway. Williams earned a silver medal in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor last year and a bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor.
"Having Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M in the field events at the same meet, it's going to be deep," said Williams. "It's very competitive and it's a lot of fun going against guys like Bates and Holloway, who are some of the most talented jumpers in the nation right now.
"I was satisfied with my marks from last weekend. It was one of my best openers in the long jump. I ran career best in the 60 and that felt real good. I'm trying to translate some of that speed to the long jump runway. I've been training more with the sprinters this season, working on my sprint mechanics as well as my take off mechanics in the long jump. Everything is starting to come together."
Danyel White brings a collegiate leading 23.10 in the 200m into the meet. Challengers among a field of 44 sprinters include the USC tandem of Kendall Ellis and Anna Cockrell, who are both among the top five collegians this season. Aggies joining White include Amber Ivy, Julie Madubuike, Jarra Owens, Diamond Spaulding and Brenessa Thompson.
Tyra Gittens, a freshman who has won the high jump twice and long jump once in three meets so far this indoor season, competes in her first pentathlon as an Aggie. She will be joined by teammates Shaina Burns and Lajarvia Brown.
The pentathlon field includes Taliyah Brooks of Arkansas and Georgia's Louisa Grauvogel, who placed second and fifth in the SEC Indoor last year. Brooks also earned a silver medal at the NCAA Indoor meet.
In the heptathlon, Nathan Hite is the lone Aggie entry. The field includes Karl Saluri, who finished third in the event at both the 2017 SEC Indoor and NCAA Indoor meets, along with Georgia newcomer Johannes Erm and Gabe Moore of Arkansas, who placed fourth in the 2017 SEC Indoor.
With Texas A&M men ranked No. 3 and the women No. 7 in the latest national team computer rankings from USTFCCCA, the Aggies are among four men's teams and seven women's teams ranked among the top 10 who will compete inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Teams scheduled for the Razorback Invitational include Arkansas (Men No. 7, Women No. 2), Florida (M 1, W 5), Florida State (M 23), Georgia (M 2, W 3), Iowa State (W 22), Kansas State (W 24), LSU (W 9), Mississippi (W 10), Oklahoma State, and Southern California (M 13, W 4).
"This meet is another step up in the progression towards conference and nationals," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It's going to be a great competition, so you should be able to get the best out of yourself in this kind of meet. It's always about the level of completion and who shows up.
"Taking a trip at this stage of the season and competing in a different venue makes you focus on a few different things that you have to learn how to do. We're fortunate to have both the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships at home this year, but we will have to travel for those two meets outdoors."
On Saturday there will be a live TV window on the SEC Network from 1 to 4:30 p.m. featuring Invitational events in the 60m, 400m, 800m, Mile, 3,000m, 4x400 relay along with the triple jump and shot put.
Aggies selected for the Invitational section of track events include the trio of Mylik Kerley (46.10), Robert Grant (46.22) and Ilolo Izu (46.34) in the 400m. They currently rank 2-3-4 among collegians this indoor season.
"It was great for Mylik and I to open up together in the same race last weekend," noted Grant. "When you practice together, it's always fun to race one another as well. Running a PR in the 400m shows a lot of promise for what I can do outdoors in the 400m hurdles. I'm hoping to drop my time some more at Arkansas.
"I like competing in our facility, but it's also great to race against other people on a different track. You can get comfortable at home a little bit with the fan support, so it's nice to get out of that comfort zone and face challenges on the road. Arkansas should be a great meet and we're excited for it."
Texas A&M will also have teams among the Invitational sections of the 4x400 relays. The Aggies improved their collegiate record in the men's 4x400 at the Razorback Invitational last season with a 3:02.52 clocking.
Devin Dixon makes his season debut in the Invitational 800m while Jazmine Fray runs the event for the second consecutive week. Dixon ran 1:47.85 indoors during his 2017 freshman campaign and improved to 1:45.71 outdoors when he won the SEC title.
Fray, the indoor collegiate record holder with a 2:00.69 from 2017, posted a winning time of 2:04.97 this past weekend to produce the second fastest collegiate time for 2018.
Following a 33-second PR of 9:34.85 in her victory last weekend, Ashley Driscoll races in the 3,000m again. Alex Riba contests the men's 3,000m, where he sports a best of 8:23.38 from the 2016 Razorback Invitational.
Friday's portion of the meet includes a heptathlon for the men and a pentathlon for the women, which starts at 12:45 p.m. The Friday evening session, beginning at 6 p.m., will include distance medley relays and 200m races. Field events held on the first day include the pole vault, long jump, high jump, and weight throw.
Currently, Texas A&M is the lone school to have two pole vaulters clear 18-feet this indoor season. Jacob Wooten, who has won three consecutive home meets to start the indoor campaign, and Audie Wyatt both went over 18-1 ¼ (5.52) for an Aggie 1-2 finish during the Texas A&M Quadrangular. Wyatt, a silver medalist at the 2017 NCAA Indoor meet, has won SEC Indoor titles the past two years.
Another Aggie returning as a NCAA Indoor silver medalist is long jumper Will Williams. Last weekend Williams improved his best time in the 60m to 6.75 while reaching a mark of 25-9 ¼ (7.85) as he finished second in both events.
Among a field of 20 long jumpers, Williams will face challenges from Florida's duo of KeAndre Bates, the defending SEC and NCAA Indoor champion, and Grant Holloway. Williams earned a silver medal in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor last year and a bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor.
"Having Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M in the field events at the same meet, it's going to be deep," said Williams. "It's very competitive and it's a lot of fun going against guys like Bates and Holloway, who are some of the most talented jumpers in the nation right now.
"I was satisfied with my marks from last weekend. It was one of my best openers in the long jump. I ran career best in the 60 and that felt real good. I'm trying to translate some of that speed to the long jump runway. I've been training more with the sprinters this season, working on my sprint mechanics as well as my take off mechanics in the long jump. Everything is starting to come together."
Danyel White brings a collegiate leading 23.10 in the 200m into the meet. Challengers among a field of 44 sprinters include the USC tandem of Kendall Ellis and Anna Cockrell, who are both among the top five collegians this season. Aggies joining White include Amber Ivy, Julie Madubuike, Jarra Owens, Diamond Spaulding and Brenessa Thompson.
Tyra Gittens, a freshman who has won the high jump twice and long jump once in three meets so far this indoor season, competes in her first pentathlon as an Aggie. She will be joined by teammates Shaina Burns and Lajarvia Brown.
The pentathlon field includes Taliyah Brooks of Arkansas and Georgia's Louisa Grauvogel, who placed second and fifth in the SEC Indoor last year. Brooks also earned a silver medal at the NCAA Indoor meet.
In the heptathlon, Nathan Hite is the lone Aggie entry. The field includes Karl Saluri, who finished third in the event at both the 2017 SEC Indoor and NCAA Indoor meets, along with Georgia newcomer Johannes Erm and Gabe Moore of Arkansas, who placed fourth in the 2017 SEC Indoor.