Though the grand opening of Texas A&M track and field’s new E.B. Cushing Stadium was marred by a three-hour lightning delay in the middle of the Reveille Meet, the No. 2 Aggie men and No. 3 women earned 183- and 186.5-point wins in their first home outdoor meet in 15 seasons.
“First, we were blessed today with a tremendous dedication for the building this morning,” A&M head coach Pat Henry said. “Then, on the track our athletes lined up in adverse conditions, and then had to sit around during the delay. Our people came out and competed very well.”
With all the eyes on the opening of the new stadium, Nokuthula Dlamini from Texas Tech stole the show with her performance in the 5,000-meter race.
The senior from South Africa set off in lane eleven to pace the group for the first 3,000 meters before breaking away and eventually lapping three of her competitors to finish a full 30.17 seconds ahead of Olivia Thompson from the University of Texas.
Nonetheless, both A&M teams utilized stellar performances in the running events to build healthy leads over their competitors in front of a crowd of 2,269.
Both 4×400 relay teams capped off the night with wins. The women’s team — comprised of Jarra Owens, Jaevin Reed, Jania Martin and Tierra Robinson-Jones — earned a 3:34.28 victory. Bryce Deadmon, Kyree Johnson, Devin Dixon and Robert Grant combined for the men’s 3:04.63 win.
Dixon also won a neck-and-neck battle against Jonathon Jones from Texas in the 400-meter with a time of 45.87, just ahead of Jones’s 45.95.
Syaira Richardson earned the women a win in the 400-meter race with a time of 51.87 in the third section, which was a career best for the sophomore and puts her at No. 8 on A&M’s all-time list.
“It’s happening in training for Syaira as she does the things I ask her to do,” Henry said. “We’re running some intervals in training where she is showing me she is ready to run even faster. Syaira needs great competition to run faster. Tonight that race was hers from the start.”
Carlton Orange also had a huge victory for the men’s team as he came from behind to take first place in the 800-meter event with a time of 1:48.48.
Zephyr Seagraves added a spectacular performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, winning the event for A&M in 9:03.01, almost three seconds ahead of Jesse Reiser from Illinois in second place. Seagraves started the race in third, but overcame his competitors in the second lap to notch the win for the Aggies.
The Aggies kicked off the meet with early wins in the field events to quickly take control of the meet.
A&M notched a 1-2 finish in the triple jump with Ciynamon Stevenson and LaJarvia Brown topping the competition with tied jumps of 42-11 3/4.
Sam Hardin earned the first win for the Aggie men with a distance of 239-9 feet in the javelin throw. Madalaine Stulce’s season-best and first place performance of 174-7 in the javelin gave the women their first victory.
Tyra Gittens added a win in the high jump with a height of 5-11 ¼ for the women.
The Aggies will return to the track and host the Texas A&M Invitational on April 12.