NCAA West final day adds 11 more Aggies to NCAA Championship field

Thursday, May 24

Sacramento, Calif.

Texas A&M

NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

May 27, 2018 | Track and Field

Results

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Final day action at the NCAA West preliminary rounds produced a crew of 11 additional NCAA Championship qualifiers for the Aggies at Hornet Stadium on Saturday.

Texas A&M will have a total of 24 entries in Eugene, Oregon, amid 26 athletes in 17 events. The Aggie men will have 12 entries with 12 athletes in nine events, while the women have 12 entries from 14 athletes in eight events. The NCAA Championships will be held from June 6-9 at Hayward Field.

"We advanced a great group of athletes and we're extremely pleased with the numbers," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "Even with those numbers advancing, we are minus four people who are big points for us. There's nothing we can do about that now. We've had a couple of injuries and it's a situation that is unavoidable. We have a good group going to Eugene and we'll see what we can do."

Texas A&M women won their section of the 4x100 relay in 43.88 over Arkansas (43.90) with a crew of Amber Ivy, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson, and Julia Madubuike. The top relay time from the NCAA West was a 43.32 by Oregon with USC second best at 43.58.

The Aggie men were runner-up in their heat of the 4x400 with a time of 3:01.23 from a foursome of Bryce Deadmon (46.5), Kyree Johnson (45.2), Ilolo Izu (45.4), and Devin Dixon (44.1). USC won the heat in the final stages of the race in 3:01.11 as the Trojans and Texas A&M produced the two fastest times, followed by Houston's 3:03.67. The Aggies time ranks No. 13 on the school's all-time list.

"The mile relay tonight was indicative of what happen," said Henry. "We're minus the best two legs we have in Mylik Kerley and Robert Grant, and we have a couple of other legs step up. They run 3:01 and USC's anchor Michael Norman has to catch us to beat us right at the line. You never know what's going to happen the next time we meet, and that goes for every event."

In the women's 4x400 relay, Texas A&M posted a runner-up time of 3:31.55 to Oregon's leading time of 3:29.94. The Aggie crew included Madubuike (53.5), Glorilisha Carter (52.9), Sammy Watson (53.1) and Jazmine Fray (52.1).

With a time of 3:43.70 that placed him fifth in the second semifinal heat of the 1,500m, Alex Riba earned a return visit to Eugene. The time by Riba, who holds the school record with a 3:40.66, is the No. 4 performance on the Aggie all-time list.

Tahar Triki finished second in the men's triple jump, matching the leading mark of 53-0 ¾ (16.17). Triki will represent the Aggies in two events at the NCAA Championships – the long jump and triple jump.

The triple jump tandem of Lajarvia Brown and Ciynamon Stevenson both advanced in the triple jump. Brown finished third with a leap of 44-0 ½ (13.42) while Stevenson produced a career best of 43-6 (13.26), the No. 5 performer on the Aggie all-time list. The top mark was a windy 44-3 ½ (13.50) by Wyoming's Ja'la Henderson.

William Petersson advanced in the men's javelin, placing 11^th with a toss of 218-3 (66.52). However, defending NCAA champion John Kyriazis didn't advance as an injury limited him to one throw that measured 205-8 (62.70). Kyriazis placed 14^th in the third flight and was 24^th overall.

A career best of 13.91 (1.0 wind) placed Tyler Guillory sixth in his quarterfinal heat of the 110m hurdles and the final time qualifier to advance to Eugene was a 13.90 by Israel Nelson of Oral Roberts, who placed fourth in the final section with a 1.7 wind.

Chinyere Njoku just missed her career best with a 13.32 that placed her sixth in the first quarterfinal heat of the 100m hurdles. Njoku placed 13^th overall as the last time qualifiers were a pair of 13.27s.

"We had a couple of short hurdlers who were very close to advancing," said Henry. "They had great runs as did Madubuike in the 400m the day before, who just missed advancing as well."

In the women's 200m, Spaulding finished sixth in her heat with a time of 23.42 that placed her 16^th overall.

Garrett Cragin cleared 6-7 (2.01) and 6-9 (2.06) on first attempts, but three misses at 6-11 (2.11) knocked him out of the competition. Cragin finished in a tie for 29^th place overall. Carissa van Beek placed 13^th in the first flight of the women's hammer to finish 40^th overall.

NCAA Championships – Eugene, Oregon – Texas A&M Qualifiers
(Saturday additions in bold)

MEN (12 athletes, 9 events, 12 entries)
100m                                 Jace Comick
800m                                 Devin Dixon
1500m                               Alex Riba
400m Hurdles                  Infinite Tucker, Ilolo Izu
4x400 Relay                      Bryce Deadmon, Kyree Johnson, Ilolo Izu, Devin Dixon
Pole Vault                         Jacob Wooten, Audie Wyatt
Long Jump                        Tahar Triki
Triple Jump                      Tahar Triki
Javelin                               William Petersson
Decathlon                         Nathan Hite

WOMEN (14 athletes, 8 events, 12 entries)
800m                                 Jazmine Fray, Sammy Watson
4x100 Relay                      Amber Ivy, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson, Julia Madubuike
4x400 Relay                      Julia Madubuike, Glorilisha Carter, Sammy Watson, Jazmine Fray
Long Jump                        Tyra Gittens
Triple Jump                      Lajarvia Brown, Ciynamon Stevenson
Discus                                Serena Brown
Javelin                               Kristen Clark, Maddy Stulce
Heptathlon                       Tyra Gittens, Shaina Burns