Friday, February 11
Albuquerque, N.M.
Texas A&M
at
Don Kirby Elite Invitational
Connor Schulman
Track & Field Splits Travel to Albuquerque, Nashville
Feb 10, 2022 | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Texas A&M track & field program splits locations, sending its men's and women's teams to the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., and the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 11-12.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on the team splitting locations…
"Philosophically, I am really against splitting up teams. I think it hurts everything we do, the team members are not all in the same location and that hurts the team atmosphere. At times I have disadvantaged ourselves because I always want to travel a full team. But, this is the way the game is played sometimes. Our athletes need the same advantage as everyone else. We have a few distance runners that need to go to an oversized track, which is easier to qualify and at least gives them a better opportunity to qualify. If we continue to compete on banked 200m tracks, then they don't have the same opportunity as those competing on an oversized track. That's why we are doing it this weekend."
on the top 4x400m relays not running…
"This is an open event weekend for us. We've ran relays and their open events for a number of weeks now, I wanted to give the athletes the opportunity to run one race and run their absolute best and that's what we are going to try to do. We know that the SEC Championships is the best indoor meet in the world, if you can't get it done at SECs maybe you just can't get it done."
on visiting Albuquerque, N.M.…
"I have four brothers there, my wife is from there and her family is there. My grandfather, father and brother all coached at New Mexico so of course its fun to go home to Albuquerque. It is a different environment, it's a mile high just like Denver and that's another reason why distance runners have a disadvantage when you have high altitude."
Don Kirby Invitational Preview
Texas A&M travels with a group of sprinters, jumpers and throwers west to the Land of Enchantment. Notable Aggies with national top 16 rankings entered include Bára Sajdoková (high jump), Charokee Young (400m) Lamara Distin (high jump), Deborah Acquah (long jump/triple jump), Tierra Robinson-Jones (400m) and Laila Owens (200m), while Jake Lamberth and Carter Bajoit enter the men's high jump. Omajuwa Etiwe and Chevannie Hanson enter the open 400m, while dual-sport standouts Devon Achane (200m) and Bryce Foster (shot put) enter their respective events.
Live results will be provided through liverunningresults.com, while the live stream can be seen on flotrack.org. Friday's events begin at 5 p.m. CT, while Saturday starts at 10:30 a.m. CT.
Music City Challenge Preview
Aggies traveling to The Music City include members of the men's and women's half-milers and distance groups. Headlining the travel party is NCAA men's 800m leader Brandon Miller. Miller attempts the distance for just the second time this season after clocking 1:47.48 on Jan. 15. Since then, he has won an individual 600m (1:15.94) and anchored two winning 4x400m relays, including a recent 400m split of 46.20. Others making the trip include Julia Black (5000m), Annie Fuller (mile), Gemma Goddard (3000m), Bailey Goggans (800m), Gavin Hoffpauir (mile) and Abbey Santoro (5000m), all who registered Aggie all-time top-12 marks a week ago.
Friday's action is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m., while Saturday is set to start at 9:30 a.m. Live results will be provided through pttiming.com, while a live stream can be seen on SEC Network +.
The Best in the SEC
Sajdoková and Young earned Southeastern Conference weekly honors, Sajdoková was named the women's freshman of the week and Young the women's co-runner of the week. Sajdoková won the Charlie Thomas Invitational high jump with a clearance of 5-11.5/1.82m, which ranks No. 6 in the SEC and No. 12 in the NCAA. Young debuted in the 400m (52.00), which is No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the NCAA. The recognitions marked the first career weekly honor for the duo, as well as the third and fourth for Texas A&M this season.
Last Time Out
Texas A&M won six events while hosting the Charlie Thomas Invitational. The quarter-milers highlighted the meet as Young clocked 52.00, equaling the second fastest time in the nation. Robinson-Jones finished in second at 52.23 and Kennedy Wade in third at 53.52, both indoor personal best performances. The men's 4x400m relay of Hanson, Etiwe, Miller and Emmanuel Bamidele clocked the nation's fourth fastest time at 3:04.84. Texas A&M recorded nine Aggie all-time top 12 marks, including six by the distance group. In total over the two-day meet, 24 personal bests were set.
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@aggietfxc).
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on the team splitting locations…
"Philosophically, I am really against splitting up teams. I think it hurts everything we do, the team members are not all in the same location and that hurts the team atmosphere. At times I have disadvantaged ourselves because I always want to travel a full team. But, this is the way the game is played sometimes. Our athletes need the same advantage as everyone else. We have a few distance runners that need to go to an oversized track, which is easier to qualify and at least gives them a better opportunity to qualify. If we continue to compete on banked 200m tracks, then they don't have the same opportunity as those competing on an oversized track. That's why we are doing it this weekend."
on the top 4x400m relays not running…
"This is an open event weekend for us. We've ran relays and their open events for a number of weeks now, I wanted to give the athletes the opportunity to run one race and run their absolute best and that's what we are going to try to do. We know that the SEC Championships is the best indoor meet in the world, if you can't get it done at SECs maybe you just can't get it done."
on visiting Albuquerque, N.M.…
"I have four brothers there, my wife is from there and her family is there. My grandfather, father and brother all coached at New Mexico so of course its fun to go home to Albuquerque. It is a different environment, it's a mile high just like Denver and that's another reason why distance runners have a disadvantage when you have high altitude."
Don Kirby Invitational Preview
Texas A&M travels with a group of sprinters, jumpers and throwers west to the Land of Enchantment. Notable Aggies with national top 16 rankings entered include Bára Sajdoková (high jump), Charokee Young (400m) Lamara Distin (high jump), Deborah Acquah (long jump/triple jump), Tierra Robinson-Jones (400m) and Laila Owens (200m), while Jake Lamberth and Carter Bajoit enter the men's high jump. Omajuwa Etiwe and Chevannie Hanson enter the open 400m, while dual-sport standouts Devon Achane (200m) and Bryce Foster (shot put) enter their respective events.
Live results will be provided through liverunningresults.com, while the live stream can be seen on flotrack.org. Friday's events begin at 5 p.m. CT, while Saturday starts at 10:30 a.m. CT.
Music City Challenge Preview
Aggies traveling to The Music City include members of the men's and women's half-milers and distance groups. Headlining the travel party is NCAA men's 800m leader Brandon Miller. Miller attempts the distance for just the second time this season after clocking 1:47.48 on Jan. 15. Since then, he has won an individual 600m (1:15.94) and anchored two winning 4x400m relays, including a recent 400m split of 46.20. Others making the trip include Julia Black (5000m), Annie Fuller (mile), Gemma Goddard (3000m), Bailey Goggans (800m), Gavin Hoffpauir (mile) and Abbey Santoro (5000m), all who registered Aggie all-time top-12 marks a week ago.
Friday's action is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m., while Saturday is set to start at 9:30 a.m. Live results will be provided through pttiming.com, while a live stream can be seen on SEC Network +.
The Best in the SEC
Sajdoková and Young earned Southeastern Conference weekly honors, Sajdoková was named the women's freshman of the week and Young the women's co-runner of the week. Sajdoková won the Charlie Thomas Invitational high jump with a clearance of 5-11.5/1.82m, which ranks No. 6 in the SEC and No. 12 in the NCAA. Young debuted in the 400m (52.00), which is No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the NCAA. The recognitions marked the first career weekly honor for the duo, as well as the third and fourth for Texas A&M this season.
Last Time Out
Texas A&M won six events while hosting the Charlie Thomas Invitational. The quarter-milers highlighted the meet as Young clocked 52.00, equaling the second fastest time in the nation. Robinson-Jones finished in second at 52.23 and Kennedy Wade in third at 53.52, both indoor personal best performances. The men's 4x400m relay of Hanson, Etiwe, Miller and Emmanuel Bamidele clocked the nation's fourth fastest time at 3:04.84. Texas A&M recorded nine Aggie all-time top 12 marks, including six by the distance group. In total over the two-day meet, 24 personal bests were set.
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@aggietfxc).
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and FieldNCAA West Preview: Pat Henry
Tuesday, May 27
Pluckers Playmakers: Episode 5
Wednesday, May 07
44 Farms Preview: Pat Henry
Thursday, April 10
44 Farms Preview: Auhmad Robinson
Thursday, April 10
