The Texas A&M track and field team kicked off its spring season by capturing six wins at the McFerrin-12 Degree Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 13.
This was the inaugural event for the new R.A. “Murray” Fasken ‘38 Indoor Track and Field. The state-of-the-art facility measures 130,000 square feet and contains improvements for the athlete and spectator experience.
Sophomore Camryn Dickson was the star of the show in the women’s 60-meter dash, as her qualifying time of 7.22 was a personal best while also being the third fastest time in the nation. Junior Semira Killebrew wasn’t far behind with a third-place qualifying time of 7.31. Dickson won gold while Killebrew took silver in the final event, both achieving times of 7.26 with Dickson prevailing in the narrow victory.
Kennedy Wade was the fastest finisher for the Aggies in the women’s 200-meter, placing seventh with a time of 24.27. A string of Aggies took the fifth through seventh spots in the women’s 1-mile while all running their personal bests, with junior Elise Smoot running, freshman Maddie Jones and freshman Austin Owen finishing in 4:55.21, 5:03.89 and 5:04.55.
Senior Madison Brown won the Maroon and White’s second event in the women’s 3000-meter with a time of 9:40.51. Sophomore Kennedy Fontenot ran a personal best of 9:47.58, making the podium by placing third.
Sophomore Jaiya Covington took second place in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.25.
The A&M women’s 4×400-meter relay team consisting of junior Kennedy Wade, junior Jaydan Wood, graduate Nissi Kabongo and senior Jermaisha Arnold claimed victory with a time of 3:35.62, the sixth fastest time in the nation.
A duo of Aggies won silver in their respective field events, with Kabongo achieving a height of 1.81 meters in the women’s high jump and junior Heather Abadie getting to a height of 4.26 meters in the women’s pole vault.
The Maroon and White’s mid-distance runners showed out, with junior Auhmad Robinson and junior Bryce Mccray taking the top two spots in the men’s 400-meter with times of 47.33 and 47.82.
When it came to the men’s 1-mile, a pair of Aggies won gold and silver with freshman Ondrej Gajdos leading the pack with a personal best 4:04.80. Senior Eric Casarez finished just behind him with a time of 4:05.17.
The Maroon and White won second and third place in the men’s 3000-meter with excellent performances from Zack Munger and junior Jonathan Chung, achieving times of 8:19.09 and 8:20.18.
Junior Kimar Farquharson won the Aggies’ final event of the day by finishing first in the men’s 600-meter with a time of 1:16.69.
A&M returns to action at the Ted Nelson Invitational at Fasken Indoor Track and Field next Saturday, Jan. 20.
