Photo by: Errol Anderson
Acquah, Deadmon Claim Event Titles on Day One of Tyson Invitational
Feb 12, 2021 | Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In one of the most competitive meets in the country, the Texas A&M track & field programs recorded seven top five finishes, including two event titles on the first day of action at the Tyson Invitational on Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Deborah Acquah started things off for Texas A&M by winning the long jump with a leap of 6.58m/21-7.25. The winning mark came on the fifth round of jumps. Her leap is the third best performance in Aggie history, only behind her own school record of 6.65m/21-10 and Tyra Gittens' personal best of 6.62m/21-8.75.
The Prestea, Ghana, native, owns four of the top five all-time performances in Texas A&M history.
Bryce Deadmon, a Missouri City, Texas, native, followed suit winning the men's 400m with an indoor personal best time of 45.22. His mark ranks No. 2 in the NCAA, .01 seconds behind North Carolina A&T's Randolph Ross. It is the seventh time in Deadmon's career that he has recorded a sub 46-second indoor 400m. He is currently No. 3 in the world according to World Athletics.
Five other Aggies recorded top five finishes in their respective events. Sean Clarke placed second in the pole vault with a season best clearance of 5.15m/16-10.75. Gittens finished third in the women's long jump at 6.43m/21-1.25 and Darius Clark placed fourth in the men's long jump with a personal best mark of 7.70m/25-3.25. Clark moved up to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time performer list and is No. 9 in the NCAA.
Josh Brown and Jon Bishop each recorded fifth place finishes. Brown recorded a personal best in the weight throw with a toss of 20.84m/68-4.5, the second best performance in Texas A&M history and it was the fourth time Brown has bettered his personal record this season. Bishop ran a season best 3000m time of 8:13.20.
Other notable performances include Julia Black clocking 9:45.38 in the 3000m. She bettered her personal record by 12-seconds and moved up to No. 11 on the Aggie all-time performer list. Syaira Richardson recorded a season best 400m of 52.51, she moved to eighth fastest in the NCAA this season.
Aggie sprinters Connor Schulman and Immanuela Aliu each advanced to the finals of their events. Schulman ran 7.97 in the 60m hurdles prelims before finishing sixth in the finals at 8.00. Aliu placed eighth in the 60m finals (7.54), after running a preliminary time of 7.40.
Brady Grant and Jake Lanier each recorded personal bests in their respective events. Grant stopped the clock at 8:17.10 in the 3000m and Lanier ran 47.35 in the 400m.
Day two action begins Saturday at noon with the women's high jump and men's triple jump, the women's 800m kicks of the track events at 1 p.m.
Coaches Box
Head Coach Pat Henry
On the 400m group:
"Our quarter-milers looked good. Bryce just wins, he goes out and beats the people he runs against and that's what you're supposed to do. His times are getting better each time and he had a very good day. Syaira [Richardson] did a good job and she is developing more confidence in herself and she improved once again. Jake [Lanier] ran a personal best as well."
On the elevated runways:
"It took the long jumpers a while to get adjusted to the runways, they're a little bit different than ours because they're elevated. In the end, Deborah [Acquah] had a really good jump and Tyra [Gittens] still jumped over 21-feet. Darius [Clark] hit a descent jump in probably one of the best long jump competitions in the country to happen this season."
On the distance crew:
"Julia [Black] had a 12-second PR and Jon [Bishop] was a little bit off his PR but ran well. Eric [Casarez] is just coming back and he felt good about his run today. I think he is going to be better come conference meet time, it's just a matter of training and feeling better about himself."
On Joshua Brown:
I was happy with his performance. He just keeps getting better every time he gets in the ring and he's getting closer to having a really big throw."
Deborah Acquah started things off for Texas A&M by winning the long jump with a leap of 6.58m/21-7.25. The winning mark came on the fifth round of jumps. Her leap is the third best performance in Aggie history, only behind her own school record of 6.65m/21-10 and Tyra Gittens' personal best of 6.62m/21-8.75.
The Prestea, Ghana, native, owns four of the top five all-time performances in Texas A&M history.
Bryce Deadmon, a Missouri City, Texas, native, followed suit winning the men's 400m with an indoor personal best time of 45.22. His mark ranks No. 2 in the NCAA, .01 seconds behind North Carolina A&T's Randolph Ross. It is the seventh time in Deadmon's career that he has recorded a sub 46-second indoor 400m. He is currently No. 3 in the world according to World Athletics.
Five other Aggies recorded top five finishes in their respective events. Sean Clarke placed second in the pole vault with a season best clearance of 5.15m/16-10.75. Gittens finished third in the women's long jump at 6.43m/21-1.25 and Darius Clark placed fourth in the men's long jump with a personal best mark of 7.70m/25-3.25. Clark moved up to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time performer list and is No. 9 in the NCAA.
Josh Brown and Jon Bishop each recorded fifth place finishes. Brown recorded a personal best in the weight throw with a toss of 20.84m/68-4.5, the second best performance in Texas A&M history and it was the fourth time Brown has bettered his personal record this season. Bishop ran a season best 3000m time of 8:13.20.
Other notable performances include Julia Black clocking 9:45.38 in the 3000m. She bettered her personal record by 12-seconds and moved up to No. 11 on the Aggie all-time performer list. Syaira Richardson recorded a season best 400m of 52.51, she moved to eighth fastest in the NCAA this season.
Aggie sprinters Connor Schulman and Immanuela Aliu each advanced to the finals of their events. Schulman ran 7.97 in the 60m hurdles prelims before finishing sixth in the finals at 8.00. Aliu placed eighth in the 60m finals (7.54), after running a preliminary time of 7.40.
Brady Grant and Jake Lanier each recorded personal bests in their respective events. Grant stopped the clock at 8:17.10 in the 3000m and Lanier ran 47.35 in the 400m.
Day two action begins Saturday at noon with the women's high jump and men's triple jump, the women's 800m kicks of the track events at 1 p.m.
Coaches Box
Head Coach Pat Henry
On the 400m group:
"Our quarter-milers looked good. Bryce just wins, he goes out and beats the people he runs against and that's what you're supposed to do. His times are getting better each time and he had a very good day. Syaira [Richardson] did a good job and she is developing more confidence in herself and she improved once again. Jake [Lanier] ran a personal best as well."
On the elevated runways:
"It took the long jumpers a while to get adjusted to the runways, they're a little bit different than ours because they're elevated. In the end, Deborah [Acquah] had a really good jump and Tyra [Gittens] still jumped over 21-feet. Darius [Clark] hit a descent jump in probably one of the best long jump competitions in the country to happen this season."
On the distance crew:
"Julia [Black] had a 12-second PR and Jon [Bishop] was a little bit off his PR but ran well. Eric [Casarez] is just coming back and he felt good about his run today. I think he is going to be better come conference meet time, it's just a matter of training and feeling better about himself."
On Joshua Brown:
I was happy with his performance. He just keeps getting better every time he gets in the ring and he's getting closer to having a really big throw."
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Multi-event
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
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