Texas A&M
SEC Indoor Championships
Four more titles highlight final day of SEC Indoor Championships
Feb 25, 2018 | Track and Field
Alabama men won the men's team title with 91 points, to defeat two-time defending champion Arkansas by three points. The Razorbacks scored 88 and were followed by Florida (83.5), Texas A&M (75.5), Georgia (71), Kentucky (45), Tennessee (44), Auburn (37), South Carolina (34), and Mississippi (34).
Arkansas women totaled 108 points for their fourth consecutive title, followed by Georgia (84.5), Kentucky (74), LSU (63), Texas A&M (62), Florida (61), Mississippi (42), Alabama (37), Missouri (35.5) and Mississippi State (31).
"We left some points out there, but so did other folks," stated Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "The men's side was closer than the women's side. I'm happy for Dan Waters at Alabama. We're going to get a little better as we go. We just have to wait and see what happens with our nationals people."
SEC titles were claimed by Jacob Wooten in the pole vault, Devin Dixon in the 800m, Sammy Watson in the 800m as well as the men's 4x400 relay. Earning a SEC runner-up were Alex Riba in the mile, Audie Wyatt in the pole vault, Alison Ondrusek in the weight throw and Jazmine Fray in the 800m.
The Aggie foursome of Ilolo Izu (46.56), Robert Grant (44.61), Devin Dixon (45.66) and Mylik Kerley (45.52) broke the SEC Indoor meet record, Texas A&M school record and Gilliam facility record, that were all set last season, with a 3:02.35 victory.
Ranked third on the all-time collegiate list, the Aggie 4x400 crew now holds the American collegiate record. Finishing behind Texas A&M in the 4x400 were Florida (3:02.65), Arkansas (3:04.53), Auburn (3:06.09), Tennessee (3:06.49) and Mississippi State (3:07.99).
"My thought was, they're going to put me into position and I just have to finish this for them," said Kerley, who anchored Texas A&M to victory at the NCAA Indoor in 2017. "We already know this isn't the end of it, the national meet is coming up. The goal for me and these guys is to get qualifying marks for the national meet.
"It's probably the fastest 4x4 ever, there's like 15 guys under 46, so the goal was just to get qualifying marks, and we did that. This race was similar because it was us and Florida, I got the baton in the front, and used the momentum from our home crowd at A&M—it was similar to NCAA's last year and we're going to prepare to do that again in two weeks."
Sammy Watson defeated defending champing Jazmine Fray in the women's 800 and Jean Jenkins added a seventh place for Texas A&M as the Aggies accumulated 20 points in the event. Watson clocked 2:04.25 for the victory with Fray runner-up in 2:05.42 as Jenkins ran 2:09.84.
Fray led the first half of the race, splitting 28.64 and 31.26 on the first two laps, crossing 400m at 59.90. Watson ran 31.90 on the next lap and took over the lead at 600m at 1:32.00, then closed with a 32.25 on the final circuit.
"I'm a frontrunner type of person," stated Watson. "That's what I like to do. I love just looking at the big screen and seeing Jazmine with me when we are racing. We just want to be better than ever, just be our best.
"Our workouts are always meticulous and headed toward the NCAA meet. We all want to win, and there are never any hard feelings between us. I'm amazed that I'm here and competing at the highest level."
In the men's 800m Devin Dixon added an indoor title to his 2017 conference outdoor win as he ran 1:49.32. Efrain Hernandez finished seventh in the race with a 1:52.22.
The Texas A&M sweep of the 800m was the first to occur since LSU won the men's and women's in 2007 and 2008.
"I'm really proud of the half-milers," noted Henry. "We didn't run fast, but we won the races. That's all that matters. It just didn't happen that we ran fast."
The Aggie men went 1-2 for 18 points in the pole vault with Jacob Wooten claiming his first conference title over Audie Wyatt, the two-time defending champion. Both cleared 17-3 ¾ (5.28) as Wooten was awarded the victory based on fewer misses at that height. Wooten made it on his first attempt while Wyatt needed a second attempt. Both raised the bar to 18-3, but neither was able to clear it.
Alex Riba became the first Aggie to medal in the SEC Indoor mile with a 4:08.18 performance that left him trailing a 4:07.14 by Mississippi's Sean Tobin, the defending champion. Aggie Taylor Clayton ran 4:12.53 to place eighth.
Alison Ondrusek used a sixth round heave of 69-8 ¾ (21.25) to move from third to second place in the weight throw. Carissa van Beek finished seventh with a mark of 61-11 ½ (18.88) to pick up a pair of points.
Nathan Hite wrapped up a solid effort in the heptathlon, earning a bronze medal with a career best score of 5,592. That score makes Hite the No. 2 performer with the No. 6 performance on the Aggie all-time list, trailing only Lindon Victor.
The men's 400m produced a fourth and seventh place finish for Robert Grant (46.14) and Mylik Kerley (46.38). Diamond Spaulding (23.28) and Brenessa Thompson (23.63) finished sixth and eighth in the women's 200m.
In the women's distance medley relay, the Aggies ran a time of 11:21.86 in placing fourth with a squad of Hannah Campbell (3:30.01), Jarra Owens (54.07), Brittany Parker (2:08.67) and Watson (4:49.11). Texas A&M women also placed fourth in the 4x400 with a time of 3:32.30 as they ran a foursome of Danyel White (52.60), Glorilisha Carter (53.28), Julia Madubuike (54.28) and Fray (52.14).
Lajarvia Brown produced a leap of 43-3 ¾ for fifth place in the triple jump as Tyra Gittens matched her indoor best of 5-10 ¾ for seventh place in the high jump. Karis Jochen ran 16:42.64 for seventh place in the 5,000m.
Alex Riba runner-up for the Aggies in the mile at SEC Indoor Championships. pic.twitter.com/1hjMwWnI8k
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Aggie junior Jacob Wooten claims his first SEC pole vault title. Whoop! pic.twitter.com/uHGkdPnUai
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Devin Dixon adds a SEC Indoor 800m title to his 2017 SEC Outdoor victory. Whoop! pic.twitter.com/xYt2HR00Dm
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Aggie frosh Sammy Watson wins the SEC Indoor 800m title. Whoop! pic.twitter.com/6cjRxW90f7
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
#SECITF18
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Aggie men break SEC Indoor meet record and Texas A&M school record while producing the third fastest collegiate time ever.
Texas A&M all-time list
3:02.35 SEC 18
3:02.39 SEC 17
3:02.52 Razorback 17
3:02.80 NCAA 17
3:02.86 NCAA 15
3:02.95 Clemson 18 pic.twitter.com/5PeIu5yIdS
Hear from Alex Riba after he finished as runner-up in the mile. #SECITF18 #12thMan pic.twitter.com/KCqtqBvKqK
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
We caught up with @BobGrant21 after he finished 4th in the 400m final.
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
"It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can score big points for us. That's what I came in to do this year."#SECITF18 #12thMan pic.twitter.com/xAw66WtKFo
Nathan Hite meets the media to discuss finishing third in the pentathlon.
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
"It took mental strength, just focus on what I knew I needed to do." #12thMan pic.twitter.com/qvDMH2AeDS
Alison Ondrusek on winning silver in the weight throw
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
"I'm super happy to do it at home, do it in our ring, and to have nationals here in two weeks." #12thMan pic.twitter.com/waCHFrwJYb
Hear from Jacob Wooten and Audie Wyatt, after the pair finished first and second in the pole vault on Sunday. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/GvaEKCqcU9
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Devin Dixon speaks about fighting for the 800m title on Sunday.
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
"Last straightaway I just tried to take it over, finish strong, and finish hard." #12thMan pic.twitter.com/yeFzD8LiN2
Sammy Watson and Jazmine Fray talk about pushing each other to be the best, as they earned the gold and silver medals on Sunday night. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/Olu0Bq2f5U
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Ilolo Izu, Robert Grant, Devin Dixon and Mylik Kerley discuss their win in the 4x400 relay to close out the night at the SEC Indoor Championships. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/qM0ZfWsndH
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Coach Henry recaps the 2018 SEC Indoor Championships. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/z83s6ttrot
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) February 26, 2018
Players Mentioned
