The No. 1 ranked Texas A&M women’s track team won its third Big 12 Indoor Championship at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium Saturday. The No. 6 ranked men placed third.
The women became the first women’s track team to win the championship three consecutive years by accumulating 130 total team points. Texas Tech came in second with 103.5 and Nebraska finished third with 96.5.
“I think any time you win a Big 12 Championship, it takes a total team effort and you can see it took scoring in lots of places here this evening to win a championship, and our ladies got it done,” said A&M Head Coach Pat Henry.
A&M sophomore Gabby Mayo and junior Porscha Lucas have battled throughout the year in the 60-meter dash, but Mayo edged Lucas with a personal record of 7.28 seconds, coming in first place. Lucas finished third with a time of 7.33 and senior Allison George was right behind her in fourth with a time of 7.42.
“I was very surprised. I got out, and I was like, where is everybody else,” Mayo said. “I know we are coming back for nationals; it was just one race, it is behind me so I have to get ready for the next.”
Mayo also won the women’s 60-meter hurdles by more than two tenths of a second over Oklahoma Senior Latoya Heath with a time of 8.20. Mayo accumulated 23 of the team’s points for the meet and Henry referred to her as the athlete of the meet at the team’s meeting afterward.
“Anytime somebody has that kind of a performance, it is tremendous for the entire program,” Henry said.
Lucas responded by taking first in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 22.94 seconds and Mayo came in sixth with a seasonal personal best time of 23.49. Sophomore Jessica Beard took fourth with a time of 23.35, another season best.
“It is so great winning at home, having the Aggie crowd behind us while we are running,” Lucas said. “I felt confident coming in today and I have been working well in practice and ran well yesterday.”
Aggie junior Sandy Wooten won the women’s 600-yard run with a seasonal best time of 1:21.50 just edging out Kansas senior Charity Stowers’ time of 1:21.80.
“Yesterday I went out too fast, so my coach told me if I took a little bit off and paced myself, I had a shot at winning it, and I did that,” Wooten said.
Wooten also set a new Gilliam Stadium Record with her first place finish.
“That’s really exciting,” Wooten said. “The 600 is new to me. I ran the 400, but coach wanted more options for me.”
The A&M women’s 4×400-meter relay finished the women’s events off right, taking first place with a total time of 3:38.08 just in front of Baylor who came in second with a time of 3:38.34.
On the men’s side, Texas took the Big 12 Championship title with 115 total team points with Nebraska coming in second with 102.5 and A&M third with 84.
“I’m extremely pleased with our men as well,” Henry said. “They were third in the Big 12 after placing ninth two years ago and fourth last year. We ran without a healthy Chris Dykes and Gerald Phiri didn’t have the kind of meet he is accustomed to having.”
A&M junior Zuheir Sharif was the lone event winner for the men, taking the triple jump with a mark of 16.38. The performance also helped automatically qualify Sharif for the NCAA Championships at Gilliam Stadium beginning on March 13.
“When you come out here, you do the same stuff in practice, but you come out here hoping for the best and hoping that all the work you put in comes out and is displayed when you compete,” Sharif said.
In the men’s 60-meter dash A&M sophomore Gerald Phiri came in second, with a time of 6.76, just two hundredths of a second behind Baylor junior Trey Harts. A&M senior Justin Oliver came in fifth and sophomore Tran Howell finished just behind him in sixth. Howell and Phiri also took fifth and sixth place in the 200-meter dash.
Senior Justin Oliver finished fifth with a season best in the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.97.
The Aggie men took third in their 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:08.80 while Baylor finished first and Texas Tech in second.