Texas A&M track and field competed in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Friday, Feb. 3, and Saturday, Feb. 4, in Albuquerque, N.M.
The maroon and white got off to a hot start on the field in Day 1 of the two-day competition, freshman Landon Helms and sophomore Caleb Murdock tied for first in the men’s pole vault with 17-0/5.18m.
Meanwhile, in the women’s pole vault, sophomore Heather Abadie placed eighth, clearing 13-5/4.09m. Abadie has placed in the top ten in the last two meets for the women.
The Aggie women also dominated in the 200-meter dash with freshman Camyrnn Dickson placing first with a time of 23.30, and sophomore Kennedy Wade in fourth at 23.54 seconds.
In the men’s 200-meter, sophomore Devante Mount ran a 21.21, which earned him fourth place and a new personal best.
Junior G’Auna Edwards finished in sixth place in the women’s long jump, with a leap of 20-3/6.17m.
In the women’s 400-meter dash, sophomore Jermaisha Arnold led her fellow Aggies to finish fourth with a time of 52.50, which made her the eighth fastest on the all-time list. Arnold was closely followed by senior Tierra Robinson-Jones, who clocked 52.96 to earn eighth place, and freshman Sanu Jallow finished in tenth with a time of 53.52.
To wrap up Day 1, senior Lamara Distin dominated in the women’s high jump, clearing 6-4.5/1.94m to claim the all-time school record and the national lead, and tied for the 11th best jump in collegiate history. Sophomore Bára Sajdoková also placed second in the same event with a jump of 6-4.5/1.87m to become third-best on the all-time school record, and No. 4 in the country.
Day 2 began with freshman Jaiya Covington placing sixth in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.27. Sophomore Maci Irons continued the success for the women in shot put with a new personal record of 49-4.5/15.05m, that throw also made her the fourth best in school history.
The men’s 4×400 relay Team A ran the seventh fastest all-time school record in 3:02.98. The team consisted of sophomore Auhmad Robinson, freshman Eric Hemphil, sophomore Demarco Escobar and sophomore Ashton Schwartzman.
Coach Pat Henry on the success in Albuquerque.
“This is the kind of competition we needed. We came in with expectations that it would be a step up from last week and our athletes really rose to the occasion. They’re getting better every time they step onto the track. Our young athletes are learning how to compete at this level, and they’re impressing. I’m extremely pleased with the way things went at this competition, and we’re looking forward to another step up next weekend.”
Next meet the maroon and white will split up with the men traveling to Nashville, Tenn. to compete in the Music City Challenge, taking place in the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility on Feb. 10-11. Meanwhile, the women will travel to Clemson, S.C. to take part in the Tiger Paw Invitational on Feb. 10-11.