FAYETTEVILLE – Texas A&M's Heather Abadie claimed the first conference title of her career in the women's pole vault on the opening day of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
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Abadie set the tone for the Aggies in the women's pole vault, as she claimed the first conference title of her career and captured the first gold medal of the championships with a clearance of 4.32m/14-2. Sevanna Hanson also added key points for the Maroon & White with a personal best vault of 4.22m/13-11, this landed the senior fourth in the event and moved her up to No. 4 on A&M's all-time performers list. Ella Vajdos also had a career day with a clearance of 4.12m/13-6.25 to place No. 7 all-time.
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The pole vault group continued their stellar day, as Jack Mann III won bronze with a clearance of 5.35m/17-6.5. His successful attempt secured back-to-back years with a third-place finish at the conference indoor championships, and propelled him to No. 9 on the all-time performers list.
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Joniar Thomas recorded a double bronze-medal outing in the women's pentathlon and long jump. She opened her day in the pentathlon with a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles (8.54), fourth in the high jump (1.68m/5-6), fifth in the shot put with a personal best toss of 11.33m/37-2.25, third in the long jump (5.88m/19-3.5) and finally fifth in the 800m with a time of 2:27.18. Her performances earned her a personal best total of 3997 points which ensured her first podium of the day. She immediately doubled her medal tally in the individual long jump, leaping 6.40m/21-0 for her second medal of the day.
Eric Casarez led the men's distance group, as the senior finished sixth in the men's 5,000m with a time of 13:46.18. His time ranks as the second fastest in school history, trailing only his own school record of 13:42.54.
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Concluding the point scoring for the day was the men's distance medley relay. The quartet of Gilbert Rono, DeMarco Escobar, Cooper Cawthra and Ondrej Gajdos placed sixth in 9:47.09 to garner three points for the team total.
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In a preliminary heavy day, the Aggies booked eight spots to Saturday's finals. Cawthra was the first to claim his spot in the men's mile, as he ran 4:03.47 to win his heat. Semira Killebrew followed suit in the women's 60m, crossing the line in 7.23 to advance. Jermaisha Arnold punched her ticket to the women's 400m final following a prelim run of 51.79. Bailey Goggans joined the finals group after crossing the line second overall in the women's 800m prelim in 2:04.20. Sam Whitmarsh and Kimar Farquharson ensured their spots in the men's 800m finals, as the pair ran times of 1:48.04 and 1:50.95, respectively. Wrapping up the day's qualifiers was Connor Schulman (7.68) and Ja'Qualon Scott (7.70) who secured a 1-2 finish in the 60m hurdles, heading into tomorrow's finals as the top qualifiers.
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Kennady Fontenot added a top-12 all-time performance in the women's 5,000m, as the sophomore moved up from No. 12 to No. 9 with a time of 16:28.84. Camryn Dickson logged the final all-time performance of the day in the women's 200m, running 23.01 to debut at No. 10 in the record books.
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Landon Helms opened his heptathlon campaign with a personal best performance in the 60m, finishing third in 7.02. He followed that up with sixth in the long jump (6.90m/22-7.75), 10th in the shot put (11.93m/39-1.75) and a personal best clearance of 1.83m/6-0 in the high jump for ninth. He starts the second day of events in eighth place with a total of 2920 points.
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Entering the final day of the championships, the Aggie women sit third in the team standings with 27 points, while the men are tied for sixth with 12.
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Up Next
The Maroon & White return to the Randal Tyson Track Center tomorrow for the final day of the SEC Indoor Championships.
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Coach's Quotes
Head coach Pat Henry on the opening day of the SEC Indoor Championships…
"We had some ups and downs, but I thought we did have a lot of really good things happen. Heather [Abadie] looked really good and won her first championship which was great, and she just keeps getting better and better. Jack [Mann III] on the men's side had his best indoor day ever and it was great to see him back on the podium.
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"Joniar [Thomas] had a tough task today, and the schedule didn't help her, However, she did a great job in both the pentathlon and the long jump. Today was both a physical and mental challenge and I think she handled it well."
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To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.
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Abadie set the tone for the Aggies in the women's pole vault, as she claimed the first conference title of her career and captured the first gold medal of the championships with a clearance of 4.32m/14-2. Sevanna Hanson also added key points for the Maroon & White with a personal best vault of 4.22m/13-11, this landed the senior fourth in the event and moved her up to No. 4 on A&M's all-time performers list. Ella Vajdos also had a career day with a clearance of 4.12m/13-6.25 to place No. 7 all-time.
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The pole vault group continued their stellar day, as Jack Mann III won bronze with a clearance of 5.35m/17-6.5. His successful attempt secured back-to-back years with a third-place finish at the conference indoor championships, and propelled him to No. 9 on the all-time performers list.
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Joniar Thomas recorded a double bronze-medal outing in the women's pentathlon and long jump. She opened her day in the pentathlon with a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles (8.54), fourth in the high jump (1.68m/5-6), fifth in the shot put with a personal best toss of 11.33m/37-2.25, third in the long jump (5.88m/19-3.5) and finally fifth in the 800m with a time of 2:27.18. Her performances earned her a personal best total of 3997 points which ensured her first podium of the day. She immediately doubled her medal tally in the individual long jump, leaping 6.40m/21-0 for her second medal of the day.
Eric Casarez led the men's distance group, as the senior finished sixth in the men's 5,000m with a time of 13:46.18. His time ranks as the second fastest in school history, trailing only his own school record of 13:42.54.
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Concluding the point scoring for the day was the men's distance medley relay. The quartet of Gilbert Rono, DeMarco Escobar, Cooper Cawthra and Ondrej Gajdos placed sixth in 9:47.09 to garner three points for the team total.
Â
In a preliminary heavy day, the Aggies booked eight spots to Saturday's finals. Cawthra was the first to claim his spot in the men's mile, as he ran 4:03.47 to win his heat. Semira Killebrew followed suit in the women's 60m, crossing the line in 7.23 to advance. Jermaisha Arnold punched her ticket to the women's 400m final following a prelim run of 51.79. Bailey Goggans joined the finals group after crossing the line second overall in the women's 800m prelim in 2:04.20. Sam Whitmarsh and Kimar Farquharson ensured their spots in the men's 800m finals, as the pair ran times of 1:48.04 and 1:50.95, respectively. Wrapping up the day's qualifiers was Connor Schulman (7.68) and Ja'Qualon Scott (7.70) who secured a 1-2 finish in the 60m hurdles, heading into tomorrow's finals as the top qualifiers.
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Kennady Fontenot added a top-12 all-time performance in the women's 5,000m, as the sophomore moved up from No. 12 to No. 9 with a time of 16:28.84. Camryn Dickson logged the final all-time performance of the day in the women's 200m, running 23.01 to debut at No. 10 in the record books.
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Landon Helms opened his heptathlon campaign with a personal best performance in the 60m, finishing third in 7.02. He followed that up with sixth in the long jump (6.90m/22-7.75), 10th in the shot put (11.93m/39-1.75) and a personal best clearance of 1.83m/6-0 in the high jump for ninth. He starts the second day of events in eighth place with a total of 2920 points.
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Entering the final day of the championships, the Aggie women sit third in the team standings with 27 points, while the men are tied for sixth with 12.
Â
Up Next
The Maroon & White return to the Randal Tyson Track Center tomorrow for the final day of the SEC Indoor Championships.
Â
Coach's Quotes
Head coach Pat Henry on the opening day of the SEC Indoor Championships…
"We had some ups and downs, but I thought we did have a lot of really good things happen. Heather [Abadie] looked really good and won her first championship which was great, and she just keeps getting better and better. Jack [Mann III] on the men's side had his best indoor day ever and it was great to see him back on the podium.
Â
"Joniar [Thomas] had a tough task today, and the schedule didn't help her, However, she did a great job in both the pentathlon and the long jump. Today was both a physical and mental challenge and I think she handled it well."
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To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.