Nationally ranked Aggies part of elite field at Tiger Paw Invitational

Friday, February 9

Clemson, S.C.

All Day

Texas A&M

Tiger Paw Invitational

Feb 07, 2018 | Track and Field

CLEMSON – Texas A&M's next road journey this indoor season takes them to Clemson for the Tiger Paw Invitational on February 9-10, where the Aggies will be part of an 18-team field that includes nine schools from the SEC.

Teams scheduled to compete include host Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Miami, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Southern California, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Texas A&M enters the weekend with the men ranked No. 4 and the women No. 8 in national team computer rankings. Including the Aggies, eight men's teams and nine women's teams in the Tiger Paw Invitational are currently ranked among the top 25 this indoor season.

Other top 25 ranked men's teams in the field include Florida (No. 1), Georgia (No. 3), Alabama (No. 5), Virginia Tech (No. 9), USC (No. 15), Kentucky (No. 18), and Auburn (No. 24).

Top ranked women's teams include Georgia (No. 2), USC (No. 4), Kentucky (No. 5), Florida (No. 6), Alabama (No. 17), Tennessee (No. 18), South Carolina (No. 19), and Mississippi State (No. 20).

"The challenge is still what we are able to do ourselves," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "There is a great field again this year, and it gives us an opportunity to get on the track against competition from some more SEC schools. This is the kind of environment where athletes can improve their marks on the national lists.

"This is a deciding meet in a lot of regards of who we are actually going to have as our SEC team. We have a couple of difficult decisions to make about certain individuals. That's normal, that's the way it is each season."

Aggie athletes scheduled to return to competition in the their primary events this weekend include Mylik Kerley in the men's 400m, Sammy Watson in the women's 800m, Alex Riba in the men's mile, Will Williams in the 60m and long jump, along with Lajarvia Brown in the long jump and triple jump.

The Bowerman Mid-Indoor Watch List
Texas A&M's freshman Sammy Watson remains as one of the 10 athletes named to the women's mid-indoor watch list for The Bowerman. Another SEC freshman, Georgia's Lynna Irby, joined the list along with Watson and Kentucky's Sydney McLaughlin.

Others on the mid-indoor watch list include Mikiah Brisco (LSU), Maggie Ewen (Arizona State), Olivia Gruver (Kentucky), Dior Hall (USC), Ednah Kurgat (New Mexico), Keturah Orji (Georgia), and Karissa Schweizer (Missouri). Of those 10 on The Bowerman watch list, seven are from SEC schools.

SEC Academic Honor Roll
A total of 1,018 student-athletes were named to the 2017 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll, announced by the conference office. The sports include cross country, football, soccer and volleyball.

A total of 26 Aggies in cross country were named to the 2017 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Texas A&M – Cross Country – Major

MEN (10)
Jonathon Bishop – Applied Mathematical Sciences
Johnathon Blaine – Economics
Elijah Canal – Biochemistry
Nicholas Enochs – Computer Science
Samuel Erickson – Biochemistry
Christian Farris – Renewable Natural Resources
Raymond Gonzales – Business Administration
Zachariah Martin – Economics
Jacob Perry – Physics
Alexander Riba – Land Economics & Real Estate

WOMEN (16)
Olivia Arriaza – Nutrition
Lauryn Barrientos – Business Administration
Rebecca Bonta – Animal Science
Valarie Bradley – Marketing
Hannah Campbell – Supply Chain Management
Lizette Chapa – Kinesiology
Ashley Driscoll – Biomedical Sciences
Ashton Hutcherson – Biomedical Sciences
Nicolette Keys – Kinesiology
Amelia McElhinney – Civil Engineering
Shelby McNeel – Communication
Erica Moorhead – Interdisciplinary Studies
Devin Norton – Psychology
Sarah Odneal – Interdisciplinary Studies
Kelsey Persyn – Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences
Kaitlin Tanner – Turfgrass Science