Saturday, May 14
Oxford, Miss.
5:00 PM
Texas A&M
at
SEC Outdoor Championships
Moitalel Mpoke
Photo by: Aiden Shertzer/Texas A&M Athletics
Mpoke Wins Gold, Women’s 4x400m Breaks School Record to Finish SEC Championships
May 15, 2022 | Track and Field
OXFORD, Miss. – Texas A&M All-American Moitalel Mpoke won the 400m hurdles at 48.84, while the women's 4x400m relay broke the school record and ran the second fastest time in collegiate history at 3:22.01, Saturday night at the Southeastern Conference Championships at the Ole Miss Track & Field Complex.
The capacity crowd came to their feet as the women's 4x400m of senior Jania Martin, junior Tierra Robinson-Jones and sophomores Laila Owens and Charokee Young placed second at 3:22.01. Young led the group with the fastest split anchoring at 48.8, while Owens ran a third leg split at 49.5. Texas A&M was edged by Kentucky at 3:21.93.
In the men's relay, freshmen Emmanuel Bamidele and Cutler Zamzow and sophomores Chevannie Hanson and Omajuwa Etiwe combined to run a 3:02.31 to place third.
Led by Mpoke, the Aggies scored 18 points in the men's 400m hurdles finishing 1-2. Mpoke's winning time of 48.84 registered as the third fastest performance in Aggie history and junior James Smith II followed in second at 49.41 to become the sixth fastest performer all-time.
In the women's 400m hurdles, senior Deshae Wise clocked a personal best 55.99 to finish fourth and became the second fastest performer all-time.
Individuals earning runner-up finishes include senior Kaylah Robinson in the women's 100m hurdles at 12.60 (2.1w), sophomore Charokee Young in the women's 400m at 50.45 and freshman Sam Whitmarsh in the men's 800m at 1:46.09. Whitmarsh's time registered as the fourth fastest Aggie in school history.
The women's 4x100m relay of Robinson, Martin, Owens and junior Rachel Hall placed third with a time of 43.38.
In the team standings, the women placed fifth with 74 points and the men sixth with 70 points.
Next Up
Texas A&M takes a week off from competition before traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA West Regionals on May 26-28.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on the team's finish…
"We didn't finish as a team the way I wanted us to finish, but we had a lot of good efforts. It's similar like last season, we didn't finish well in this meet, but we still ended up in second on the women's side at the national championships and sixth on the men's side. The big meet is in front of us."
on Laila Owens and Charokee Young…
"Laila [Owens] did a good job today. I thought she could've finished third in the 200m but ended up in fourth but then she comes back and runs a 49-plus in the 4x400m relay. Charokee [Young] runs 50.45 but gets beat in this meet and that will be a situation that ends up helping her. She'll use what happened tonight to help her down the road."
on the half-mile group…
"Sam [Whitmarsh] looked fantastic in the 800m and probably had the surprise of the meet for everybody else, but not for us. We knew something good was coming, it was just a matter of when. Brandon [Miller] didn't look his best, he's been battling some sinus infection and just wasn't completely himself."
on some performances from Thursday and Friday…
"What Katelyn [Fairchild] and Lianna [Davidson] did in this competition speaks well for them as they move forward in their career. Those are two young athletes that don't fully understand how well they did in this meet. This is the SEC Championships and that doesn't happen very often. Lamara [Distin] clearing 6'4.75" is outstanding and she is out there jumping by herself. I thought Teddy [Radtke] finishing fourth in the steeplechase surprised a lot of people."
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@aggietfxc).
The capacity crowd came to their feet as the women's 4x400m of senior Jania Martin, junior Tierra Robinson-Jones and sophomores Laila Owens and Charokee Young placed second at 3:22.01. Young led the group with the fastest split anchoring at 48.8, while Owens ran a third leg split at 49.5. Texas A&M was edged by Kentucky at 3:21.93.
In the men's relay, freshmen Emmanuel Bamidele and Cutler Zamzow and sophomores Chevannie Hanson and Omajuwa Etiwe combined to run a 3:02.31 to place third.
Led by Mpoke, the Aggies scored 18 points in the men's 400m hurdles finishing 1-2. Mpoke's winning time of 48.84 registered as the third fastest performance in Aggie history and junior James Smith II followed in second at 49.41 to become the sixth fastest performer all-time.
In the women's 400m hurdles, senior Deshae Wise clocked a personal best 55.99 to finish fourth and became the second fastest performer all-time.
Individuals earning runner-up finishes include senior Kaylah Robinson in the women's 100m hurdles at 12.60 (2.1w), sophomore Charokee Young in the women's 400m at 50.45 and freshman Sam Whitmarsh in the men's 800m at 1:46.09. Whitmarsh's time registered as the fourth fastest Aggie in school history.
The women's 4x100m relay of Robinson, Martin, Owens and junior Rachel Hall placed third with a time of 43.38.
In the team standings, the women placed fifth with 74 points and the men sixth with 70 points.
Next Up
Texas A&M takes a week off from competition before traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA West Regionals on May 26-28.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on the team's finish…
"We didn't finish as a team the way I wanted us to finish, but we had a lot of good efforts. It's similar like last season, we didn't finish well in this meet, but we still ended up in second on the women's side at the national championships and sixth on the men's side. The big meet is in front of us."
on Laila Owens and Charokee Young…
"Laila [Owens] did a good job today. I thought she could've finished third in the 200m but ended up in fourth but then she comes back and runs a 49-plus in the 4x400m relay. Charokee [Young] runs 50.45 but gets beat in this meet and that will be a situation that ends up helping her. She'll use what happened tonight to help her down the road."
on the half-mile group…
"Sam [Whitmarsh] looked fantastic in the 800m and probably had the surprise of the meet for everybody else, but not for us. We knew something good was coming, it was just a matter of when. Brandon [Miller] didn't look his best, he's been battling some sinus infection and just wasn't completely himself."
on some performances from Thursday and Friday…
"What Katelyn [Fairchild] and Lianna [Davidson] did in this competition speaks well for them as they move forward in their career. Those are two young athletes that don't fully understand how well they did in this meet. This is the SEC Championships and that doesn't happen very often. Lamara [Distin] clearing 6'4.75" is outstanding and she is out there jumping by herself. I thought Teddy [Radtke] finishing fourth in the steeplechase surprised a lot of people."
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@aggietfxc).
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