Pair of Aggie silver medal performances highlight first day of SEC Indoor Championships

Photo by: Bryan Byerly/ISI Photos

Feb 22, 2019 | Track and Field

FAYEYTTEVILLE, Ark. – Texas A&M senior Jacob Wooten produced his second best pole vault with a clearance of 18-6 (5.64) to earn the silver medal during the first day of the SEC Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Arkansas.

Meanwhile, Aggie newcomer Deborah Acquah moved from sixth place to silver medal position with a final round leap of 20-8 ½ (6.31) while Taryn Milton finished sixth with a 20-1 (6.12) effort. Acquah's mark moves her No. 4 performer and equal to No. 7 performance on the A&M all-time list.

"I'm really happy and excited," said Acquah. "I wasn't as good during the first three rounds. But I know what I can do, so I'm happy I was able to produce a big jump at the end."

Qualifying also went very well for Texas A&M as 12 advanced to finals in seven events for Saturday. The breakdown for the women includes three sprinters in the 400m, a pair in the 200m and one each in the 800, mile and 60 hurdles. On the men's side a pair qualified in the 400m as well as the 800m.

"We had a pair of silver medalists with Jacob in the pole vault and Deborah in the long jump," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "We were also fourth and sixth in the women's 5,000m as well as fourth in the men's distance medley relay. That's big time for us.

"The ladies advanced very well, it was a good day. On the men's we advanced well and overall we got as much out of ourselves as we could today."

Team scores through the first day of finals have Alabama leading both the men and women. On the men's side Alabama has 38 points in six finals while LSU is second with 36 and Arkansas is third at 26. The Aggie men have 17 points and currently are in eighth place.

The Alabama women totaled 35 points with five events scored and lead Akransas, who has 30, along with Florida and Texas A&M, who are tied for third with 19.

As defending champion in the SEC Indoor pole vault, Wooten had a challenge on his hands from LSU freshman Mondo Duplantis, who won the competition with a SEC record vault of 19-5 (5.92).

Wooten, who improved his school record to 18-9 ½ (5.72) earlier this season, missed three attempts at 19-0 (5.79) after Duplantis made it over on his first attempt. After a very close first attempt clearance at 19-5, Duplantis wasn't able to navigate over the bar at 19-8 ½ (6.01). Wooten's clearance of 18-6 is the No. 2 performance on the Aggie all-time list.

Texas A&M picked up 11 points in the pole vault as Robin Nool (17-6 ¼) placed seventh and Carl Johansson (17-2 ¼) finished eighth.

Another sterling effort for the Texas A&M women came in the 5,000m as Kelsie Warren knocked 10 seconds off her previous best with a 16:36.05 that placed her fourth while teammate Ashley Driscoll scored in sixth place with a 16:54.90. Warren moved to No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list.

In the distance medley relay the Aggie men ran 9:51.74 to place fourth behind Mississippi (9:43.91), Arkansas (9:48.67) and Florida (9:50.82). The A&M foursome included Wes McPhail (3:02.85), DeWitt Thomas (46.49), Carlos Rodriquez (1:52.82) and Jon Bishop (4:09.58).

Tahar Triki (25-0 ½ | 7.63) placed eighth in the long jump while the Aggie women were 10^th in the distance medley relay, running 11:55.35 from a crew of Valarie Bradley, Jania Martin, Jean Jenkins and Hannah Campbell.

Alstian Walker tied for 11^th in the high jump, clearing a best of 6-11 (2.11) while teammates Jake Lamberth and Mason Farley placed 17^th and 18^th with a clearance of 6-8 ¾ (2.05). Gabe Oladipo finished 12^th in the shot put with a mark of 55-9 (16.99) from his first round attempt. In the women's shot put a mark of 46-6 ¼ (14.18) placed Celine Markert 17^th.

Nathan Hite, who placed third in the SEC heptathlon and decathlon last year, finished day one of this year's SEC Indoor heptathlon in third place with 3,149 points. Gabe Moore of Arkansas leads the field with 3,329 points followed by Johannes Erm of Georgia with 3,296 points.

Hite started the day with a 7.02 in the 60m for 875 points. Then he added 755 points from a 22-1 ¾ (6.75) long jump. A shot put effort of 47-8 ½ (14.54) picked up 761 points while a clearance of 6-4 ¾ (1.95) earned 758 points to wrap up day one of the event.

In qualifying events Texas A&M women advanced three in the 400m as they recorded three of the top five times during the prelims. The Razorbacks also had three advance to the final.

Leading the way for the Aggie crew, from lane three in the opening heat, was Syaira Richardson with an indoor best of 52.55. She improved her previous best of 53.06 in moving to No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list.

"It's very exciting to see three of us advance to the final," noted Richardson. "Personally, I wanted to set the tone for them since I was racing in the first heat. I wanted to get them motivated and put us in a good position mentally.

"I wanted to send a message with the time I ran, that our hard work in practice is paying off. We didn't come here to just be average or run in another meet. This is a championship, so we have to perform like it."

Career best times were also generated by Tierra Robinson-Jones (52.72) and Julia Madubuike (52.75), who were both runner-up in two other heats, as they moved to No. 7 and No. 8 on the A&M all-time list. Robinson-Jones finished behind Georgia's Lynna Irby, the overall leader at 52.08, while Madubuike finished behind Florida's Sharrika Barnett, who ran 52.67.

Jaevin Reed ran a best of 53.40, which is now No. 11 on the Aggie all-time list, in placing 12^th overall as she bettered the 53.56 she has posted twice indoors. Jarra Owens ran 53.97 to finish 21^st overall.

Hannah Campbell produced a career best time of 4:50.74 in the mile, placing fifth in her section and ninth overall to reach Saturday's final. Campbell is the No. 6 performer with the No. 7 performance on the Aggie all-time list. Rachel Bernardo finished ninth in the first heat with a 4:58.35 and placed 15^th overall.

A career best of 8.28 allowed Kennedy Smith to become the final time qualifier in the 60m hurdles. She moves to No. 7 on the A&M all-time list ahead of alums Anjanette Kirkland (8.29) and Rose Jolivet (8.30).

"I had a perfect warm-up today and it set me up for a perfect race," noted Smith, who had a previous career best of 8.46. "I was ranked last in my heat, so when I crossed the finish in third I thought I went blind or something. It took me a second to register the 8.28. It's the best feeling ever, I immediately started crying.

"Now I look forward to wearing the maroon uniform in the final. That's what I wanted to do. I'm just excited that I get to score points for my team, because that's what it's really all about."

Gabrielle McDonald also posted a career best in the prelims of the 60m hurdles with an 8.33 while Milton ran 8.46. They finished sixth and seventh racing in the same heat and were 11^th and 15^th overall. In the men's 60m hurdles, Tyler Guillory ran 7.99 to place 12^th overall.

Devin Dixon and Carlton Orange both won their respective heats of the 800m prelims as they produced the top two times in qualifying. Dixon clocked 1:48.50 as he cruised in the first heat while Orange ran 1:48.90 to finish ahead of the 1:48.96 by Marco Arop of Mississippi State.

In the women's 800m, Jazmine Fray won her heat in 2:06.66, which was fourth best in qualifying. Jean Jenkins (2:10.57) and Brittany Parker (2:11.25) were 11^th and 12^th overall.

A time of 46.29 by Bryce Deadmon earned him a heat win in the men's 400m prelims and was the second fastest time overall behind a 45.89 from Quincy Hall of South Carolina. Ilolo Izu ran in the same heat as teammate Deadmon and produced a runner-up time of 46.50 that was sixth best overall.

"It was very beneficial for both of us to be in the same heat," said Deadmon. "It gave us a sense of confidence running with each other, especially since we practice together every day. I was pleased with the time, but felt I could have run a little better. But I live to fight another day."

Kyree Johnson placed ninth overall with a 46.98 with the top eight times advancing to the final. Other Aggies competing in the prelim included DeWitt Thomas (47.20), Roger Ethridge (47.30), Colby Zamzow (47.45) and Richard Rose (47.68).

Diamond Spaulding and Brenessa Thompson were the seventh and eighth qualifiers in the 200m with times of 23.21 and 23.32. Thompson edged out the ninth sprinter by 0.002 of a second. Other Aggies racing in the 200m prelims included Danyel White (23.46), Amber Ivy (23.82), and Jania Martin (23.91).

In the 60m prelims, Brenessa Thompson (7.47) and Amber Ivy (7.50) both fifth seventh in their respective heats to place 18^th and 21^st overall. Jace Comick also placed seventh in the men's 60m prelim with a time of 6.92, placing 24^th overall. IN the 200m, Comick ran 20.17 to win his heat and placed 11^th overall.