Aggie pair currently second, third in Texas Relays heptathlon

AUSTIN – A pair of Aggie multi-event athletes are currently among the top three following the first day of the heptathlon at the 91^st Texas Relays as they competed during an overcast day that started with lightning and rain.
 
Texas A&M freshman Tyra Gittens scored 3,576 points through the first four events of the heptathlon and currently sits in second place just 11 points behind the leader. Aggie senior Shaina Burns produced 3,358 points and is in third place. The second day of the heptathlon will include the long jump, javelin and 800m starting at 11 a.m.
 
Day one leader, Taliyah Brooks of Arkansas with 3,587 points, rallied in the final day one event, the 200m, to reclaim the lead from Gittens.
 
"Today was very exhausting due to the rain and delays overall," noted Gittens. "But I'm ok with how I did today. I'm proud of myself, but not satisfied. The key thing with the delay was keeping my energy up, because it was dreary for a while. Everyone was just trying to stay up.
 
"This is going to be a great season, I already know I have room for improvement in a lot of events."
 
Burns added: "Last year I was the only hept out here, so it's really cool to have a teammate and we're both battling for the top spots. Individually, I started out strong with a PR in the hurdles but the rest of the day wasn't quite what I wanted. I'm still looking at a pretty good overall score if I can keep consistent with what I've been doing on the second day."
 
Aggie junior Nathan Hite is currently in seventh place with 3,965 points after the first five events of the decathlon. Day one leader is Hunter Veith of Wichita State with 4,398 points, followed by Rice's Scott Filip (4,386) and Wolf Mahler of Texas (4,159).
 
In the heptathlon 100m hurdles, which was delayed three hours, 15 minutes due to lightning, Gittens posted the third best time among the field of 25 with a 13.78 (1.6 wind) to score 1,010 points while Burns clocked a career best of 14.17 for 954 points. Brooks led the field with a 13.28 for 1,083 points.
 
"We're used to waking up, having a shake out and then waiting a couple of hours before going to the meet," explained Burns. "So, it kind of felt like that, having a shake out, and we warmed up. I think both of us ended up falling asleep for a little bit. So, we took and nap and had some food. It really wasn't too big of a problem."
 
Gittens cleared 5-8 ¾ (1.75) in the high jump for 916 points as Burns picked up 879 points with a 5-7 ¾ (1.72) clearance. Brooks also cleared 5-7 ¾ as Gittens closed the 73-point gap after the hurdles down to 36 points.
 
The shot put turned the tide briefly for the overall leader as Gittens moved into first place with a score of 2,622 points from a 41-1 ½ (12.53) shot put that gave her 696 points. Brooks added 643 points to her total off a 38-5 ½ (11.72) effort, leaving her 17 points behind Gittens.
 
Burns, meanwhile, had the third best mark in the shot put with a toss of 43-3 ¾ (13.20) for 741 points. With a total of 2,574 she moved into third place. Burns capped the first day with a 26.15 in the 200m (784) which gave her a tally of 3,358 and a seven-point cushion over UT Arlington's Alexus Henry in fourth place.
 
Brooks and Gittens raced in the same section of the 200m. A close finish had the Razorback leading the field with a 23.99 (0.9 wind) over a 24.28 by Gittens. Brooks picked up 982 points compared to 954 for Gittens.
 
Hite opened with a 10.95 in the 100m (0.9 wind) for 872 points, ranking sixth among the field of 17. He reached a distance of 22-9 (6.93) in the long jump for 797 points and scored 720 in the shot put with a third round toss of 45-6 ¼ (13.87).
 
Moving to the high jump Hite cleared 6-2 ¼ (1.89) for 705 points. He wrapped up the first day with a 48.80 in the 400m, scoring 871 points to reach his total of 3,965 points.
 
The second day of the decathlon will include the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m with a start time of 10 a.m.