Tyra Gittens Celebrates
Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
Gittens, Acquah Claim SEC Titles, 17 Aggies Advance to Saturday’s Finals
May 15, 2021 | Track and Field
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Tyra Gittens and Deborah Acquah claimed Southeastern Conference event titles, while 17 Aggies punched their tickets to Saturday's finals Friday night at E.B. Cushing Stadium.
After finishing Thursday with a personal best day one performance in the heptathlon at 3,920 points, Gittens success continued turning in a world-leading heptathlon score of 6,418 points to claim the title. Acquah won the long jump title at 22-3.75 (6.80m). She became the first SEC female athlete to sweep the indoor and outdoor long jump titles since Arkansas' Quanesha Burks did so in 2016.
Bryce Deadmon recorded the fastest preliminary time in the men's 400m (45.06), while Athing Mu ran the fastest preliminary time in the women's 400m (50.04) to highlight the group of nearly 20 Aggies moving on to Saturday's finals. Mu became the fourth fastest collegian all-time in the 400m.
Gittens started day two with a record-breaking performance in the heptathlon long jump. After fouling her first attempt, Gittens bounced back to an incredible leap of 22-10 (6.96m). Her mark exceeded the Olympic qualifying standard and she became the fourth best performer in collegiate history in the event, while setting an SEC meet record.
The junior finished the last two events of the heptathlon placing second in the javelin at 131-10 (40.18m) for 671 points and 10th in the 800m at 2:31.97 for 668 points to end the two-day event at 6,418 points. Her score broke a six-year old heptathlon conference record by 168 points, held by Erica Bougard of Mississippi State.
Shortly after, the women's open long jump featured Gittens and Acquah. Acquah set the tone early for the Maroon & White with an opening round jump of 21-8 (6.60m). She turned it up a notch in the second round with a mark of 22-3.75 (6.80m), which held up as the competition's best mark claiming the SEC long jump title.
Gittens placed fourth with a series best mark of 21-6.25 (6.56m), as the Aggie duo added 15 points to the team total.
After a slow start on the track, Texas A&M found its groove advancing four in the 400m and 100m.
Deadmon won heat four at 45.06, earning the automatic qualifier. Mu followed suit in the women's 400m winning heat four at 50.04. Charokee Young clocked the fourth fastest 400m qualifying time at 51.46, an outdoor personal best. Tierra Robinson-Jones also punched her ticket as the seventh fastest qualifier at 51.98.
The men's 400m final is set for Saturday at 6:05 p.m., while the women's race follows at 6:15 p.m.
Zhane Smith (11.50) and Immanuela Aliu (11.62) each advanced to the women's 100m finals, while Ryan Martin (10.32) and Emmanuel Yeboah (10.36) punched their ticket to the men's 100m finals. The women's 100m final is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., following the men's 100m final at 6:25 p.m.
Texas A&M men's team scored points in the men's high jump as Carter Bajoit and Mason Corbin finished tied for sixth, Bajoit and Corbin each scored two points. The high flyers cleared heights of 6-7.5 (2.02m), 6-9.5 (2.07m) and 6-11.5 (2.12m), all on first attempts. The duo bowed out at 7-1.5 (2.17m). Fellow Aggie, Jake Lamberth also cleared 6-11.5 (2.12m) placing ninth due to failed first two attempts at the height.
Day three action includes the finals of the racing events beginning at 5:05 p.m. with the men's 4x100m. Field events begin with the men's discus at 2:30 p.m.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on Tyra Gittens:
"Tyra is a talented young lady, she's worked hard and things are starting to pay off for her. I'm proud of her and she's doing very well. Everybody is acting like this is her last competition, she's got a multi at the national championships and that's the one that's really going to count. I think she's going to get better at the national championships than what she did right here."
on Deborah Acquah:
"Deborah [Acquah] looked really good and she jumps far enough to win. If Tyra would've jumped 22-10 again in the open competition, Acquah might have done so as well. She is just that good of a competitor."
on the 400m group:
"Athing [Mu] and Bryce [Deadmon] both looked good, right where we anticipated them being at. I think Tierra [Robinson-Jones] and Charokee [Young] ran well to advance to those finals. Despite not advancing, Jaevin [Reed] ran a season best and that's Laila Owen's first 400m of her career."
on the men's 100m group:
"Ryan [Martin] and Emmanuel [Yeboah] didn't necessarily run fast, but they ran competitively and ran with the people that they had to get in and qualify with. You never know what can happen in the finals."
on the final day of competition:
"We have to be ready to line up and do our absolute best. When you get through running and if you don't have a PB next to your name, that means you're not going to do very well. That's the kind of event it's going to be tomorrow, it's going to be everybody having great days and that's what these championships are about."
Junior Tyra Gittens
on competing in front of her family:
"It meant the world to me. I'm the sixth of seven kids and my parents have never missed any one of our sports events or recitals. When COVID happened and they weren't able to the big meets, it was definitely sad. I know how much they wanted to come down and I know how much I love seeing them in stands. They are the wind under my wings. My siblings, they surprised me. I knew my parents were coming. Seeing them and then the shirts, it was overwhelming, but they gave me energy. They give me energy. They are the best support system anyone could ever ask for. Seeing them in the stands and my mom, I'm pretty sure you heard her. Every time I hear her, I'm like let's go. Let's put on a show. It wasn't everything that I wanted, but I couldn't ask for a better SEC so far."
After finishing Thursday with a personal best day one performance in the heptathlon at 3,920 points, Gittens success continued turning in a world-leading heptathlon score of 6,418 points to claim the title. Acquah won the long jump title at 22-3.75 (6.80m). She became the first SEC female athlete to sweep the indoor and outdoor long jump titles since Arkansas' Quanesha Burks did so in 2016.
Bryce Deadmon recorded the fastest preliminary time in the men's 400m (45.06), while Athing Mu ran the fastest preliminary time in the women's 400m (50.04) to highlight the group of nearly 20 Aggies moving on to Saturday's finals. Mu became the fourth fastest collegian all-time in the 400m.
Gittens started day two with a record-breaking performance in the heptathlon long jump. After fouling her first attempt, Gittens bounced back to an incredible leap of 22-10 (6.96m). Her mark exceeded the Olympic qualifying standard and she became the fourth best performer in collegiate history in the event, while setting an SEC meet record.
The junior finished the last two events of the heptathlon placing second in the javelin at 131-10 (40.18m) for 671 points and 10th in the 800m at 2:31.97 for 668 points to end the two-day event at 6,418 points. Her score broke a six-year old heptathlon conference record by 168 points, held by Erica Bougard of Mississippi State.
Shortly after, the women's open long jump featured Gittens and Acquah. Acquah set the tone early for the Maroon & White with an opening round jump of 21-8 (6.60m). She turned it up a notch in the second round with a mark of 22-3.75 (6.80m), which held up as the competition's best mark claiming the SEC long jump title.
Gittens placed fourth with a series best mark of 21-6.25 (6.56m), as the Aggie duo added 15 points to the team total.
After a slow start on the track, Texas A&M found its groove advancing four in the 400m and 100m.
Deadmon won heat four at 45.06, earning the automatic qualifier. Mu followed suit in the women's 400m winning heat four at 50.04. Charokee Young clocked the fourth fastest 400m qualifying time at 51.46, an outdoor personal best. Tierra Robinson-Jones also punched her ticket as the seventh fastest qualifier at 51.98.
The men's 400m final is set for Saturday at 6:05 p.m., while the women's race follows at 6:15 p.m.
Zhane Smith (11.50) and Immanuela Aliu (11.62) each advanced to the women's 100m finals, while Ryan Martin (10.32) and Emmanuel Yeboah (10.36) punched their ticket to the men's 100m finals. The women's 100m final is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., following the men's 100m final at 6:25 p.m.
Texas A&M men's team scored points in the men's high jump as Carter Bajoit and Mason Corbin finished tied for sixth, Bajoit and Corbin each scored two points. The high flyers cleared heights of 6-7.5 (2.02m), 6-9.5 (2.07m) and 6-11.5 (2.12m), all on first attempts. The duo bowed out at 7-1.5 (2.17m). Fellow Aggie, Jake Lamberth also cleared 6-11.5 (2.12m) placing ninth due to failed first two attempts at the height.
Day three action includes the finals of the racing events beginning at 5:05 p.m. with the men's 4x100m. Field events begin with the men's discus at 2:30 p.m.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on Tyra Gittens:
"Tyra is a talented young lady, she's worked hard and things are starting to pay off for her. I'm proud of her and she's doing very well. Everybody is acting like this is her last competition, she's got a multi at the national championships and that's the one that's really going to count. I think she's going to get better at the national championships than what she did right here."
on Deborah Acquah:
"Deborah [Acquah] looked really good and she jumps far enough to win. If Tyra would've jumped 22-10 again in the open competition, Acquah might have done so as well. She is just that good of a competitor."
on the 400m group:
"Athing [Mu] and Bryce [Deadmon] both looked good, right where we anticipated them being at. I think Tierra [Robinson-Jones] and Charokee [Young] ran well to advance to those finals. Despite not advancing, Jaevin [Reed] ran a season best and that's Laila Owen's first 400m of her career."
on the men's 100m group:
"Ryan [Martin] and Emmanuel [Yeboah] didn't necessarily run fast, but they ran competitively and ran with the people that they had to get in and qualify with. You never know what can happen in the finals."
on the final day of competition:
"We have to be ready to line up and do our absolute best. When you get through running and if you don't have a PB next to your name, that means you're not going to do very well. That's the kind of event it's going to be tomorrow, it's going to be everybody having great days and that's what these championships are about."
Junior Tyra Gittens
on competing in front of her family:
"It meant the world to me. I'm the sixth of seven kids and my parents have never missed any one of our sports events or recitals. When COVID happened and they weren't able to the big meets, it was definitely sad. I know how much they wanted to come down and I know how much I love seeing them in stands. They are the wind under my wings. My siblings, they surprised me. I knew my parents were coming. Seeing them and then the shirts, it was overwhelming, but they gave me energy. They give me energy. They are the best support system anyone could ever ask for. Seeing them in the stands and my mom, I'm pretty sure you heard her. Every time I hear her, I'm like let's go. Let's put on a show. It wasn't everything that I wanted, but I couldn't ask for a better SEC so far."
Players Mentioned
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Multi-event
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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