Aggies ready for challenge of nationally ranked field in SEC Championships
May 09, 2018 | Track and Field
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Texas A&M enters the SEC Track & Field Championships this weekend as the defending men's team champion while the women's crew seeks to improve upon a sixth-place finish.
The top conference meet in the nation will include numerous national event leaders combined with quality depth in a variety of events. The SEC Championship field features eight men's teams ranked among the top 20, with the top five schools ranking among the top 10. The women's field has 10 women's squads ranked among the top 25 this season, including six of the top 10.
"It's a great meet, and the best team meet we go to," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "Our team is prepared. We talk about this all season long, we're going to try to do as well as we can. I don't think anybody in the league knows exactly how to look at this thing this year. It's this way most of the time.
"It's just about us going in, going through the process and doing absolutely the best we can do. This is an exciting week and we will try line it up to see what we can do."
The Florida men and LSU women are each ranked No. 1 in the country entering the three-day meet that will be held on the University of Tennessee campus. Competition starts Friday and concludes Sunday evening with live TV window on the SEC Network.
Coverage of the meet will be available on SEC Network + on Friday (10 a.m. CT) and Saturday (9:15 a.m. CT). Sunday's coverage starts on the SEC Network + at 1:30 p.m. and moves to the SEC Network at 5 p.m.
Ranked schools following the Gators in the men's field are No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Kentucky and No. 20 Mississippi State. Ranked behind LSU women are No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Alabama, No. 18 Missouri and No. 23 Mississippi.
The Aggies have one national leader in SEC defending champion Jazmine Fray at 800m with her school record performance of 2:01.18 along with five other conference leaders. The SEC leaders among the Texas A&M entries include a pair of defending champions in Devin Dixon (800m, 1:45.62) and Audie Wyatt (pole vault, 18-4 ½).
Will Williams, the SEC Indoor and NCAA Indoor long jump champion, leads the long jump field with a mark of 26-4 ½. On the women's side Aggie throwers Serena Brown (discus, 198-1) and Kristen Clark (javelin, 184-4) have each set career best marks to lead the SEC in their respective events.
One defending champion for the Aggies, three-time SEC javelin winner and 2018 NCAA champion John Kyriazis, will be competing for the first time this season. Another victory for Kyriazis would make him the first four-time men's champion in the SEC javelin.
"I haven't thrown yet this season due to an injury with my groin," explained Kryiazis, who broke the conference meet record a year ago. "I've been waiting to get into competition mode. I'll check out how my groin feels and hopefully I'll be healthy at the end of the meet."
Henry noted: "We have two or three injuries as well as two or three people who are question marks going into the meet. John can throw and is ready to go, but Bobby and Mylik are a bit of a question mark right now."
Robert Grant, a 400m hurdler who finished second in 2016 and third in 2017, and Mylik Kerley, fifth in the 400m a year ago and third at the NCAA Indoor, haven't been able to compete in their respective individual events during the outdoor season. Kerley managed to run relays at three different outdoor meets while Grant has been sidelined during the whole outdoor campaign.
Kerley and Grant were both part of the 4x400 relay when Texas A&M won the SEC title last season as well as when the Aggies produced a world record at the NCAA Indoor meet in March. The women also return as defending champions in the 4x400 relay, which Fray was part of a year ago.
Fray headlines a strong event area for Texas A&M as three Aggies rank among the top four in the SEC 800m with Sammy Watson (2:02.49), the conference indoor champion, and Brittany Parker (2:05.92). A fourth Aggie, Jean Jenkins (2:08.13) ranks 12th in the league.
"The dynamic of Sammy and I has been working great, we love working out together," said Fray. "It's really fun to work out with someone who wants the same goals and achieve the same things. We can help each other as well as rely on each other, we don't have to do the workouts by ourselves."
"We have Brittany Parker and Jean Jenkins training with us, and our 800m group has been on fire lately. I feel their success has made them want even more. It's been great for us to train together and share experiences with one another.
Dixon leads the men's U.S. 800m list for the outdoor season while ranking second among collegians and is 10th on the current world list. This outdoor season he has been named SEC Runner of the Week three times. At one point during the outdoor campaign, Dixon led the conference in both the 400m and 800m.
"I'm excited for this weekend and I know everybody is ready to compete at the SEC Championships," stated Dixon. "I've been training hard to prepare for the competition and to defend my title."
Wyatt claimed his first SEC outdoor pole vault title last season, following a pair of runner-up finishes, as the Aggies totaled 22 points in the event. Wyatt leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation while teammate Jacob Wooten (17-10 ½) ranks second in the SEC.
"We've been looking forward to the SEC Championships, it's always a great environment and we'll be trying to perform for our team," said Wyatt. "Our training has been going well, Jacob and I are ready to jump some high bars. The main goal is to go have some fun and achieve what I know I can do."
Williams also ranks fifth among collegians while leading the SEC long jump list. He placed second two years ago and was fifth last season. However, Williams will likely be the main target after claiming the SEC and NCAA Indoor titles earlier this season when Texas A&M hosted both meets.
"Being the indoor SEC and NCAA champion has its pros and cons," explained Williams. "There is definitely a target on my back every meet. Even the guy with the lowest mark is trying to beat me.
"Every meet before conference is about a progression and consistency. Heading into conference, my body just goes into championship mode. I'm always ready to compete at the big meets."
Another strong event area for the men is the 400m hurdles where four Aggies rank among the top nine in the conference. That group is led by Ilolo Izu, who ranks second with a career best of 50.00 from winning the Texas Relays, and includes Infinite Tucker (50.59), Jackson Davis (51.11) and Tyler Hart (51.20).
On the women's side the tandem of Tyra Gittens (5700) and Shaina Burns (5464) rank third and fifth in the conference heptathlon. Gittens also ranks sixth in the high jump (5-9 ¾).
In the distance events, Karis Jochen ranks fifth in the SEC with her season best of 34:07.95 in the 10,000m. Following a redshirt season in 2017, Jochen will attempt to score in the 10k for a fourth time. She placed eighth in 2014 and then finished fifth in 2015 and 2016.
Alex Riba became the first Aggie to score in a SEC 1,500 final last season when he placed seventh. This year he has lowered the school record twice and ranks fourth in the conference with his career best of 3:40.66.
Other Texas A&M men ranking among the top five this outdoor season in the SEC include Tahar Triki, third in the triple jump (52-9 ½), Nathan Hite, third in the decathlon (7491), William Petersson, fourth in the javelin (231-10), and Efrain Hernandez, fifth in the 800m (1:48.13).
On the women's side those ranking in the top five include Sara Kathryn Stevens, equal fourth in the pole vault (13-9 ¼), Lajarvia Brown, fourth in the triple jump (44-6 ¾) and Maddy Stulce, fourth in the javelin (173-6).
The top conference meet in the nation will include numerous national event leaders combined with quality depth in a variety of events. The SEC Championship field features eight men's teams ranked among the top 20, with the top five schools ranking among the top 10. The women's field has 10 women's squads ranked among the top 25 this season, including six of the top 10.
"It's a great meet, and the best team meet we go to," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "Our team is prepared. We talk about this all season long, we're going to try to do as well as we can. I don't think anybody in the league knows exactly how to look at this thing this year. It's this way most of the time.
"It's just about us going in, going through the process and doing absolutely the best we can do. This is an exciting week and we will try line it up to see what we can do."
The Florida men and LSU women are each ranked No. 1 in the country entering the three-day meet that will be held on the University of Tennessee campus. Competition starts Friday and concludes Sunday evening with live TV window on the SEC Network.
Coverage of the meet will be available on SEC Network + on Friday (10 a.m. CT) and Saturday (9:15 a.m. CT). Sunday's coverage starts on the SEC Network + at 1:30 p.m. and moves to the SEC Network at 5 p.m.
Ranked schools following the Gators in the men's field are No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Kentucky and No. 20 Mississippi State. Ranked behind LSU women are No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Alabama, No. 18 Missouri and No. 23 Mississippi.
The Aggies have one national leader in SEC defending champion Jazmine Fray at 800m with her school record performance of 2:01.18 along with five other conference leaders. The SEC leaders among the Texas A&M entries include a pair of defending champions in Devin Dixon (800m, 1:45.62) and Audie Wyatt (pole vault, 18-4 ½).
Will Williams, the SEC Indoor and NCAA Indoor long jump champion, leads the long jump field with a mark of 26-4 ½. On the women's side Aggie throwers Serena Brown (discus, 198-1) and Kristen Clark (javelin, 184-4) have each set career best marks to lead the SEC in their respective events.
One defending champion for the Aggies, three-time SEC javelin winner and 2018 NCAA champion John Kyriazis, will be competing for the first time this season. Another victory for Kyriazis would make him the first four-time men's champion in the SEC javelin.
"I haven't thrown yet this season due to an injury with my groin," explained Kryiazis, who broke the conference meet record a year ago. "I've been waiting to get into competition mode. I'll check out how my groin feels and hopefully I'll be healthy at the end of the meet."
Henry noted: "We have two or three injuries as well as two or three people who are question marks going into the meet. John can throw and is ready to go, but Bobby and Mylik are a bit of a question mark right now."
Robert Grant, a 400m hurdler who finished second in 2016 and third in 2017, and Mylik Kerley, fifth in the 400m a year ago and third at the NCAA Indoor, haven't been able to compete in their respective individual events during the outdoor season. Kerley managed to run relays at three different outdoor meets while Grant has been sidelined during the whole outdoor campaign.
Kerley and Grant were both part of the 4x400 relay when Texas A&M won the SEC title last season as well as when the Aggies produced a world record at the NCAA Indoor meet in March. The women also return as defending champions in the 4x400 relay, which Fray was part of a year ago.
Fray headlines a strong event area for Texas A&M as three Aggies rank among the top four in the SEC 800m with Sammy Watson (2:02.49), the conference indoor champion, and Brittany Parker (2:05.92). A fourth Aggie, Jean Jenkins (2:08.13) ranks 12th in the league.
"The dynamic of Sammy and I has been working great, we love working out together," said Fray. "It's really fun to work out with someone who wants the same goals and achieve the same things. We can help each other as well as rely on each other, we don't have to do the workouts by ourselves."
"We have Brittany Parker and Jean Jenkins training with us, and our 800m group has been on fire lately. I feel their success has made them want even more. It's been great for us to train together and share experiences with one another.
Dixon leads the men's U.S. 800m list for the outdoor season while ranking second among collegians and is 10th on the current world list. This outdoor season he has been named SEC Runner of the Week three times. At one point during the outdoor campaign, Dixon led the conference in both the 400m and 800m.
"I'm excited for this weekend and I know everybody is ready to compete at the SEC Championships," stated Dixon. "I've been training hard to prepare for the competition and to defend my title."
Wyatt claimed his first SEC outdoor pole vault title last season, following a pair of runner-up finishes, as the Aggies totaled 22 points in the event. Wyatt leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation while teammate Jacob Wooten (17-10 ½) ranks second in the SEC.
"We've been looking forward to the SEC Championships, it's always a great environment and we'll be trying to perform for our team," said Wyatt. "Our training has been going well, Jacob and I are ready to jump some high bars. The main goal is to go have some fun and achieve what I know I can do."
Williams also ranks fifth among collegians while leading the SEC long jump list. He placed second two years ago and was fifth last season. However, Williams will likely be the main target after claiming the SEC and NCAA Indoor titles earlier this season when Texas A&M hosted both meets.
"Being the indoor SEC and NCAA champion has its pros and cons," explained Williams. "There is definitely a target on my back every meet. Even the guy with the lowest mark is trying to beat me.
"Every meet before conference is about a progression and consistency. Heading into conference, my body just goes into championship mode. I'm always ready to compete at the big meets."
Another strong event area for the men is the 400m hurdles where four Aggies rank among the top nine in the conference. That group is led by Ilolo Izu, who ranks second with a career best of 50.00 from winning the Texas Relays, and includes Infinite Tucker (50.59), Jackson Davis (51.11) and Tyler Hart (51.20).
On the women's side the tandem of Tyra Gittens (5700) and Shaina Burns (5464) rank third and fifth in the conference heptathlon. Gittens also ranks sixth in the high jump (5-9 ¾).
In the distance events, Karis Jochen ranks fifth in the SEC with her season best of 34:07.95 in the 10,000m. Following a redshirt season in 2017, Jochen will attempt to score in the 10k for a fourth time. She placed eighth in 2014 and then finished fifth in 2015 and 2016.
Alex Riba became the first Aggie to score in a SEC 1,500 final last season when he placed seventh. This year he has lowered the school record twice and ranks fourth in the conference with his career best of 3:40.66.
Other Texas A&M men ranking among the top five this outdoor season in the SEC include Tahar Triki, third in the triple jump (52-9 ½), Nathan Hite, third in the decathlon (7491), William Petersson, fourth in the javelin (231-10), and Efrain Hernandez, fifth in the 800m (1:48.13).
On the women's side those ranking in the top five include Sara Kathryn Stevens, equal fourth in the pole vault (13-9 ¼), Lajarvia Brown, fourth in the triple jump (44-6 ¾) and Maddy Stulce, fourth in the javelin (173-6).
"This is about us doing what we're capable of doing."
— Texas A&M Track and Field (@aggietrk) May 8, 2018
Coach Henry looks ahead to the SEC Outdoor Championships ??#12thMan pic.twitter.com/TIB6jbaUd7
Will Williams, Jazmine Fray & Devin Dixon preview the SEC Outdoor Championships ??
— Texas A&M Track and Field (@aggietrk) May 8, 2018
The Aggies compete Friday through Sunday in Knoxville. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/sAvBI8gijL
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