Hankins Punches Ticket to Eugene; 11 Aggies Advance to Quarterfinals

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M track & field’s Sam Hankins punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, while 11 Aggies advanced to the quarterfinals after day one action of the NCAA West Regionals at E.B. Cushing Stadium Wednesday night.

Hankins placed 10th in the javelin after registering a mark of 214-7 (65.31m). The freshman’s qualifying mark came on his first attempt toss. It is the 11th straight season that an Aggie has qualified in the men’s javelin for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Devon Achane highlighted the day on the track for the Aggies. The freshman advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals in the 100m and 200m. Achane clocked 10.04 (w/2.7) in the 100m, the fourth fastest all-conditions time in Aggie history. He finished as the second fastest overall qualifier. An hour later he won his heat in the 200m with a time of 20.56 (w/1.3), the sixth fastest overall qualifying time.

Teammates Emmanuel Yeboah and Lance Broome advanced to the Friday’s quarterfinals. Yeboah ran the fifth fastest qualifying time in the 100m at 10.09 (w/2.7), while Broome won his heat in the 200m with the second fastest qualifying time in the 200m at 20.42 (w/2.1).

The 100m quarterfinals are scheduled for Friday at 7:05 p.m., followed by the 200m quarterfinals at 8:10 p.m.

Aggies Bryce Deadmon (400m), Brandon Miller (800m) and Moitalel Mpoke (400m hurdles) each won their heat to automatically advance to the quarterfinals in their respective events. Deadmon ran 45.95, Miller clocked 1:47.00 and Mpoke finished at 50.01. 

The quarterfinals for the 400m are set for Friday at 7:20 p.m., followed by the 800m at 7:35 p.m. and the 400m hurdles at 7:55 p.m.

Omajuwa Etiwe (400m, 46.63), James Smith II (400m hurdles, 50.87) and Kirk Collins, Jr. (400m hurdles, 51.30) each placed in the top three to automatically advance to the quarterfinals. While Devin Dixon (800m, 1:48.58) and Connor Schulman (110m hurdles, 13.85 (w/3.4)) advanced to the quarterfinals by time. Schulman is scheduled to run the 110m hurdles quarterfinals at 6:45 p.m.

Sean Clarke placed 13th in the pole vault at a clearance of 17-8.5 (5.40m), failing to advance to Eugene by one position.

Day two of the NCAA West Regionals continue as running events start at 6 p.m. Field events start the day at 1:30 p.m.

Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on hosting the NCAA West Regionals:

“Our facility is one of the best and our people are really good. I think we’re going to show lots and lots of people that this is a great place to run. We run an efficient meet and I hope fans will enjoy this and come back.”

on Lance Broome and Devon Achane:
“Lance ran fast tonight and he looked good doing it. It’s fun to watch those two guys. Lance gets a little more quarter mile work now, which is tough on a sprinter. He’s starting to understand that, and so is Achane. They are understanding why we’re doing it. That’s what fun to see, especially as a coach. It’s fun to see their training starting to make a difference and I feel good about that right now.”