Texas A&M men’s 4×400 relay team’s historic performance was the talk of the day for the Aggies in day three of the 2019 NCAA Outdoor National Championships.
In the 4×400 relay final, the Aggie’s four-man squad of Bryce Deadmon, Robert Grant, Kyree Johnson (45.24), and Devin Dixon (44.11) put together a school record performance to take home the title.
The men combined for a time of 2:59.05, which is the second-fastest collegiate time ever, coming just short of the 2:59.00 set by University of South California last season.
“Bryce [Deadmon] had his fastest lead-off leg ever on the 4×40, and the rest of the guys ran fast to get a 2:59.05,” A&M head coach Pat Henry told 12thman.com. “I’m pretty pleased with that. We lose Bobby Grant of that group, but nobody else.”
Henry continued with praise and said Dixon is a runner a team wants in the last stretch of the relay because of his undeniable speed.
“Devin [Dixon] knows how to run the anchor leg, and in the last 110m you’re not going to catch him,” Henry told 12thman.com. “The guy is phenomenal and he knows how to win.”
For the women’s team, Maddy Stulce was the first Aggie to place on the day, after her throw of 149-6 (45.56) in the NCAA javelin final placed her at 18th.
Two Aggie men added to their already storied careers as Dixon and Carlton Orange each finish in the top-five of the NCAA 800m final.
Dixon took home the silver medal with his run of 1:44.84. Orange finished in fourth behind his career-best time of 1:46.40. Dixon’s time is the No. 3 performance, and Orange is the No. 4 performer on the Aggie all-time list.
Deadmon had a strong final outing on the season as he ran a 45.18 to finish sixth overall in the NCAA 400m final. His performance in the 400m moves him to the No. 10 performer on the Aggie all-time list.
Tyra Gittens had a busy day as the first round of the heptathlon began in Austin. She started out the heptathlon by winning her heat of the 100m hurdles with a 13.49 (2.0 wind) to get-off to a fast start.
After successful attempts in the following three field events, Gittens headed into the last event of the day, leading the rest of the field by 126 points. Gittens won the last event of the day with a 23.86 (+1.1 wind) in the 200m to bring her first day total to 3,872 points.
Heading into the final day, Gittens leads the field by 161 points coming off of her career-best first day score.
The Aggie men finish the outdoor championships in sixth place with a point total of 29.
The final day of the tournament will begin Saturdayat 1:30 p.m. with the NCAA long-jump final starting the day off. The event will be broadcasted on ESPN2.