Friday, February 9
Boston, Mass.
Texas A&M
at
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
Distin Captures National Lead to Conclude Impressive Weekend
Feb 10, 2024 | Track and Field
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M's track & field's Lamara Distin dominated the women's high jump on the final day of the Tiger Paw Invitational, solidifying her position as the No. 1 high jumper in the nation and ranking third in the world.
Tiger Paw Invitational
Distin stole the show in the women's high jump as she cleared 1.97m/6-5.5 to capture the nation's leading mark. Her jump ranks her No. 1 in the country, third in the world and it broke the Clemson Indoor Track facility record.
A&M continued its strong relay performances, as both teams lowered their nationally-ranked times. The women's group consisting of Camryn Dickson, Jaydan Wood, Kennedy Wade and Jermaisha Arnold finished second in the event in 3:29.58, good for No. 7 on the A&M all-time performers list, while also securing the seventh-fastest time in the nation. The men immediately followed suit as Auhmad Robinson, Jevon O'Bryant, Ja'Qualon Scott and Kimar Farquharson entered at No. 11 in A&M history and logged the fifth-fastest time in the country as they placed second in 3:03.81.
Continuing success on the oval, Bailey Goggans secured a second-place finish running a personal best 2:02.98 in the women's 800m, which ranked as the seventh-best performance in A&M history. The mark also stands as the 13th-best in the nation. On the men's side, Sam Whitmarsh and Kimar Farquharson secured a 2-3 finish in 1:47.18 and 1:48.22, respectively.
Other standouts on the day included Ushan Perera, as he claimed second in the men's high jump, leaping 2.15m/7-0.5. Jack Mann III added a season-best clearance of 5.28m/17-3.75 in the men's pole vault for a third-place finish. Camryn Dickson ran a personal best in the women's 200m, finishing in 23.13.
Coach's Quotes
Head coach Pat Henry on Lamara Distin's dominant day…
"Lamara [Distin] really stepped up today and put on an outstanding performance. She cleared 1.97m/6-5.5 again to take the national lead and did so on her third attempt at the height which was very impressive.
"Overall, I thought our team performed very well at the invitational, we continued to get better in a lot of the areas which is important as we progress towards the conference and national meets."
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
Victor Kibiego and Jonathan Chung set the tone as they led Ol' Sarge's charges with a pair of all-time performances in the men's 5,000m. Kibiego ran in the evenings heats and landed sixth all-time with his time of 13:55.42, while Chung placed sixth in Aggie history as he ran 14:13.87.
Eric Casarez had an impressive day in the 3,000m as he ran the sixth-best time in school history, finishing the event in 7:59.70. Jack Johnston and Zack Munger also added times of 8:23.25 and 8:28.07, respectively.
A trio of Aggies competed in the men's mile. Cooper Cawthra paced the group, completing his race in 4:04.21. Ondrej Gajdos finished right behind his teammate in a time of 4:04.38, while Carter Gordy ended his day in 4:11.89.
Coach's Quotes
Assistant coach Wendel McRaven on the first day of the invitational…
"I'm really proud of how our guys performed today in the 5,000m. Victor [Kibiego] keeps getting fitter and it's nice for him to get a personal best today and move into our all-time list. Jonathan [Chung] also had a great day, I thought he raced really maturely and aggressively.
"Eric has bounced back really well from being out of commission these past couple of weeks. He's starting to round into form, this was his first 3,000m of the year and the second-fastest time of his career so we will take that."
To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.
Tiger Paw Invitational
Distin stole the show in the women's high jump as she cleared 1.97m/6-5.5 to capture the nation's leading mark. Her jump ranks her No. 1 in the country, third in the world and it broke the Clemson Indoor Track facility record.
A&M continued its strong relay performances, as both teams lowered their nationally-ranked times. The women's group consisting of Camryn Dickson, Jaydan Wood, Kennedy Wade and Jermaisha Arnold finished second in the event in 3:29.58, good for No. 7 on the A&M all-time performers list, while also securing the seventh-fastest time in the nation. The men immediately followed suit as Auhmad Robinson, Jevon O'Bryant, Ja'Qualon Scott and Kimar Farquharson entered at No. 11 in A&M history and logged the fifth-fastest time in the country as they placed second in 3:03.81.
Continuing success on the oval, Bailey Goggans secured a second-place finish running a personal best 2:02.98 in the women's 800m, which ranked as the seventh-best performance in A&M history. The mark also stands as the 13th-best in the nation. On the men's side, Sam Whitmarsh and Kimar Farquharson secured a 2-3 finish in 1:47.18 and 1:48.22, respectively.
Other standouts on the day included Ushan Perera, as he claimed second in the men's high jump, leaping 2.15m/7-0.5. Jack Mann III added a season-best clearance of 5.28m/17-3.75 in the men's pole vault for a third-place finish. Camryn Dickson ran a personal best in the women's 200m, finishing in 23.13.
Coach's Quotes
Head coach Pat Henry on Lamara Distin's dominant day…
"Lamara [Distin] really stepped up today and put on an outstanding performance. She cleared 1.97m/6-5.5 again to take the national lead and did so on her third attempt at the height which was very impressive.
"Overall, I thought our team performed very well at the invitational, we continued to get better in a lot of the areas which is important as we progress towards the conference and national meets."
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
Victor Kibiego and Jonathan Chung set the tone as they led Ol' Sarge's charges with a pair of all-time performances in the men's 5,000m. Kibiego ran in the evenings heats and landed sixth all-time with his time of 13:55.42, while Chung placed sixth in Aggie history as he ran 14:13.87.
Eric Casarez had an impressive day in the 3,000m as he ran the sixth-best time in school history, finishing the event in 7:59.70. Jack Johnston and Zack Munger also added times of 8:23.25 and 8:28.07, respectively.
A trio of Aggies competed in the men's mile. Cooper Cawthra paced the group, completing his race in 4:04.21. Ondrej Gajdos finished right behind his teammate in a time of 4:04.38, while Carter Gordy ended his day in 4:11.89.
Coach's Quotes
Assistant coach Wendel McRaven on the first day of the invitational…
"I'm really proud of how our guys performed today in the 5,000m. Victor [Kibiego] keeps getting fitter and it's nice for him to get a personal best today and move into our all-time list. Jonathan [Chung] also had a great day, I thought he raced really maturely and aggressively.
"Eric has bounced back really well from being out of commission these past couple of weeks. He's starting to round into form, this was his first 3,000m of the year and the second-fastest time of his career so we will take that."
To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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