Aggies collect 14 victories on second day of Castillo Invitational

Friday, March 16

Tempe, Ariz.

All Day

Texas A&M

Arizona State Baldy Castillo Invitational

Photo by: Errol Anderson

Mar 17, 2018 | Track and Field

Baldy Castillo Results Baldy Castillo results - pdf

TEMPE, Arizona – Texas A&M collected a total of 14 victories during the second day of the Baldy Castillo Invitational hosted by Arizona State. In addition the Aggies had 12 runner-up performances on Saturday, three of which where they were the top collegian finisher in that particular event.

Sam Hardin established a career best of 240-10 (73.42) to claim victory in the javelin and remains the No. 8 performer on the Texas A&M all-time list. Runner-up in the event with a toss of 223-7 (68.16) was Austin Schmidt of North Dakota State. Aggie William Peterson placed third with a 209-11 (64.00) effort while decathlete Nathan Hite finished eighth (172-9).

"My main focus was to come out here and be consistent as well as get around that 70-meter mark," said Hardin, who improved upon his previous best of 240-9 from last year's SEC Championships. "Being able to do that today was a great start.

"I wasn't thinking so much about winning, but I wanted to work on myself and be consistent with the throws. For me to also get a win was a bonus. Everything went as planned. I want build each meet into how I want my season to go. The consistency was the main focus this week, so I was happy with the throws more so than the win."

The series for Hardin included marks of 227-2 (69.24), 233-2 (71.08), 230-7 (70.30), 226-4 (69.00), 228-6 (69.66), and 240-10 (73.42).

Serena Brown won the discus with a leading toss of 168-8 (51.40) in the third round while teammate Celine Markert produced her best effort in the final round with a 153-8 (46.84) to place fifth. Arizona State's Maggie Ewen, a 2017 Bowerman finalist, had three fouls in the competition.

"It seemed most of the field was having a bad day, but I probably had it together the most, I guess," noted Brown, who finished second in this meet at year ago with a 167-8. "With it being the first outdoor meet, I didn't feel the greatest, but considering I threw nearly the same I did exactly the same time last year means a lot. I've gotten stronger, now I just need to get the technical aspect back with it. Over time it will come."

Brown's series included a 158-4 (48.28), foul, 166-9 (50.84), 168-8 (51.40), 160-9 (49.00) and 165-8 (50.50). Runner-up to Brown was a throw of 158-4 (48.26) by Arizona State's Samantha Noennig.

A pair of career best times in the 400m were generated by Devin Dixon and Bryce Deadmon as they finished 1-2 among collegians in the field. Dixon, the SEC 800m champion, won the second section in 45.96 to better his previous outdoor best of 46.91 he set as a prep.

"It's crazy, I didn't expect myself to run this fast this early in the outdoor season," stated Dixon, who ranks No. 17 on the Aggie all-time 400m list, just behind a 45.93 by Ted Nelson from 1965. "I just felt good, so I took it out.

"Running on the 4x400 relays have helped build endurance and speed for the 400. They also build up confidence in myself when I run fast relay splits. Running that time today is a big confidence boost. It lets me know where I'm at and what I can do for the 4x400 team."

In the first section of the 400m Deadmon clocked 46.12 as runner-up to professional Paul Dedewo, the overall winner in 45.21. Another Aggie, Kyree Johnson, finished fourth in the opening section with a 47.78 that placed seventh overall.

A 1-2 finish in the women's 400m had Kadecia Baird claiming the victory in 53.87 as Jarra Owens posted a 54.57 as runner-up.

Texas A&M newcomer Tahar Triki, of Algeria, made his debut in an Aggie uniform in winning the triple jump with a mark of 52-0 ½ (15.86). Runner-up in the event with a 50-10 ¼ (15.50) was Sammie Houston of Minnesota.

The women's 4x100 relay squad won in 43.47 with a line-up of Amber Ivy, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson and Julia Madubuike. Runner-up in the race with a time of 45.15 was Long Beach State with UNLV third at 45.26.

Thompson later won the 100m in 11.45 as Ivy (11.58) and Spaulding (11.67) were fourth and fifth. In the 200m, Madubuike rallied late in the race to secure a victory in 23.30 over a 23.31 by Courtne Davis of Long Beach State and a 23.33 from professional Candace Davis while Aggie teammate Glorilisha Carter placed fourth in 24.01.

In the 4x800 the Aggie men clocked 7:37.75 to defeat Northern Arizona (7:39.80) and Arizona State (7:50.29). The Texas A&M squad includes Ian Cazares, Blake Chiuminetta, Cameron Villarreal, and Taylor Clayton.

Texas A&M completed a sweep of each relay they contested with the men winning the 4x400 in 3:07.37 while the women claimed their race in 3:37.84. The men's foursome included Richard Rose, Kyree Johnson, JaQwae Ellison and Bryce Deadmon. The women's crew included Madubuike, Owens, Thompson and Baird.

The open 800m for women had a 1-2 effort from Brittany Parker and Jean Jenkins. Parker won the event in 2:08.28, the No. 7 performer on the Texas A&M all-time list, while Jenkins clocked 2:10.74 as runner-up. Finishing a well-back third with a 2:14.54 was Kylie Goo of Northern Arizona.

A similar 1-2 finish followed in the men's 800m as JaQwae Ellison won the race in 1:49.22 with teammate Efrain Hernandez runner-up at 1:50.02.

Professional hurdler Jeshua Anderson won the 400m hurdles in 50.49 over a pair of Aggies. DeWitt Thomas clocked 51.64 as runner-up with Jackson Davis third in 51.68. Lauren Lawless ran 1:00.07 for first place in the women's 400m hurdles.

Tyra Gittens finished as the top collegian in the long jump, and second overall, with a leap of 20-0 ½ (6.11) in the final round. The winner of the event was Canadian Christabel Nettey with a mark of 21-11 ¾ (6.70).

Lajarvia Brown, who placed third with her lone mark in the event, overcame two fouls to start the second flight of the long jump and hit a mark of 19-3 ½ (5.88) in the third round to move into third place prior to the final three rounds.

Ciynamon Stevenson won the triple jump with a distance of 40-11 ¾ (12.49) over a 40-3 ½ (12.28) from Ashley Thompson of South Dakota. Stevenson rallied from two fouls to start the first flight of the long jump. Her third attempt measured 18-10 ¾ (5.76) to move her into the lead of the 12 jumper flight and she finished fifth overall.

Celine Markert finished third in the shot put with a toss of 50-0 ¾ (15.26), moving to No. 6 on the Texas A&M all-time list.

Tyler Guillory won his section of the 110m hurdles in 14.18 (1.7 wind) and placed second overall to a 14.16 (0.2 wind) by South Dakota's Teivaskie Lewin in the second section.

An Aggie trio placed 2-3-4 in the first section of the 100m hurdles. Gabrielle McDonald led the Texas A&M hurdlers in running 13.89 (-0.4 wind) to place second overall. Zharia Moore (14.24) and Taryn Milton (14.28) finished fifth and sixth.

Garrett Cragin tied for third place in the high jump with a clearance of 6-9 ¾ (2.08) behind the winning height of 6-11 (2.11) by Jerin Allen of Louisville. Audie Wyatt cleared 17-4 ½ (5.30) in the pole vault for third place as Jacob Wooten finished fourth with a 17-0 ¾ (5.20) clearance. South Dakota's Chris Nilsen won the pole vault at 18-0 ½ (5.50).

Placing fourth in the discus, Gabriel Oladipo's best throw measured 180-6 (55.02). The winning toss of 186-11 (56.98) was turned in by John Kolb of Louisville. Aggies in the field included Brody Gowing (166-3), who placed eighth, and Josh Brown (160-7), who finished 10^th.

Augusta Thomason and Sara Kathryn Stevenson both cleared 12-1 ½ (3.70) in the pole vault. Based on misses, Thomason finished fourth and Stevenson placed seventh. A clearance of 5-7 placed Shaina Burns second and Kirby Matocha third in the pole vault.