Texas A&M track and field were up the highway in Waco on Saturday to compete in the Michael Johnson Invitational. The meet, hosted by Baylor, was suspended with a two-hour rain delay in the morning, but it did not stop the Aggies from producing several stand out performances.
“The day started off bad with the delay, then ended up being pretty good,” Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said to 12thman.com. “I’m pleased with the group today. We’re doing some things I expected us to be able to do right now. Some things we’re doing a little bit better.”
The men’s 4×400 relay squad ended the meet on a high note for the Aggies, winning with a time of 3:02.19. It was a tight race, as Baylor held a slight lead heading into the anchor lap, but Devin Dixon’s split of 45.5 was enough to catch the Bears and win the event for Texas A&M.
“It felt like a routine run for us,” Dixon said to 12thman.com. “It was a good run from all of us.”
The first three legs were run by Mylik Kerley (44.6), Kyree Johnson (46.1) and Ilolo Izu (46.0).
Dixon also ran in the 400m earlier in the day, where place second with a time of 45.22 behind Baylor’s Wil London. The time was a career best, over his 45.96 than he set in March.
“It was wonderful,” Dixon added to 12thman.com. “I never expected myself to run that fast. It just came out of nowhere. I felt good and just took it out. If I keep this up I may change people’s perception of me being an 800m runner. They even called me the 800 runner during introductions to the race. Then after the race they noted that Devin Dixon ran 45.2, and he’s an 800 runner.”
Henry was asked if the sophomore was almost becoming a quarter-miler for the Aggies. The head coach’s response was short and to the point.
“The key word there is almost,” Henry told 12thman.com.
The women’s team won both of their relays on Saturday, with times of 44.19 in the 4×100 relay and 3:32.78 in the 4×400 relay.
On track for Texas A&M in the 4×100 were Amber Ivy, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson and Julia Madubuike. The Aggies’ season best time in the 4×400 was run by Madubuike, Glorilisha Carter, Jazmine Fray and Sammy Watson. Texas A&M put up a fight to hold off Baylor who finished less than a tenth of a second behind the Aggies.
There were several other Aggie women who had winning performances on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Maddie Vondra and sophomore Lauryn Barrientos claimed a 1-2 finish for the maroon and white in the 5,000m with times of 17:43.79 and 17:58.59, respectively. Senior Lauren Lawless ran a career best time of 58.82 to finish on top in the 400m hurdles, while Spaulding was the top collegian in the 100m with a time of 11.37.
On the men’s side of the competition, the Aggies had two highlights in the distance races. Senior Jacob Perry won the 5,000m in what was an exciting back-and-forth race. Perry held the lead for several of the latter laps, however, Longhorn Conor Hendrickson took the lead on the final couple of laps. On the last 200 meters of the race, Perry turned up the heat to claim victory with a time of 14:55.94.
In another distance race, redshirt junior Taylor Clayton was the top collegiate finisher in the 1,500m with a time of 3:54.52.
The Aggie men had one winner in the field events this weekend. It was Tahar Triki who won the triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 16.08. Earlier in the day, the sophomore finished runner-up in the long jump with a distance of 7.68.
Winners on the women’s side included senior Carissa van Beek who won the hammer throw by nine feet with a distance of 56.63. Senior Madalaine Stulce was the top collegian in the javelin throw with a heave of 49.80, while sophomore Serena Brown won the shot put invite with a distance of 52.06 on her first throw.
The Aggies’ next action will come on April 28 when they will head to Baton Rouge to compete in the LSU Invitational. The meet will be their last tune-up before the postseason starts, with the SEC Championships beginning on May 11.