The Texas A&M track and field team’s home opener showed fans passion as the Aggies picked up 16 event wins, four all-time marks and 17 personal-best showings at the Texas A&M Invitational at E.B. Cushing Stadium on March 24.
“It was great to be back competing in front of our fans today,” coach Pat Henry said. “I thought our group did a really good job today as we were short-handed. It allowed a lot of our athletes to step up in different spots, which will be beneficial down the line.”
The Aggies started the day by winning eight field events. Junior Sam Hankins set the tone in the men’s javelin with an event-winning throw of 76.16 meters, his second-straight win. Freshman Abigail Martin debuted with a winning toss of 54.17 meters in the women’s discus to earn No. 3 in the A&M all-time performers list. Freshman Carlie Weiser won the women’s shot put with a throw of 15.51 meters, landing No. 5 in all-time performances. She also placed second in the women’s discus with a throw of 49.03 meters, placing her No. 12 in the all-time performance list. Sophomore Ethan Sanders won the men’s discus with a toss of 53.28 meters, a personal-best performance, and the men’s shot put with a throw of 16.57 meters.
Junior Heather Abadie and sophomore Jack Mann III took first-place wins in the men’s and women’s pole vault. Abadie cleared 4.07 meters, while Mann cleared 5.16 meters. The final win for the field events went to graduate senior Nissi Kabongo, who jumped a season-best of 1.75 meters in the women’s high jump.
The Aggies secured wins in eight running events, including the men’s 4×100 and women’s 4×400 teams. The women’s team of Kabongo, senior Jermaisha Arnold, sophomore Camryn Dickson and senior Joniar Thomas clocked in at 3 minutes and 37.14 seconds to secure first. The men’s team of senior Devante Mount, sophomore Pierre Goree, freshman Omarion Ferguson and senior Connor Schulman won first with a time of 39.82 seconds.
The Aggies continued winning in the 100-meter, 400-meter and short hurdle events. Dickson won the women’s 100-meter by six-thousandths of a second in front of the second-place finish with a time of 11.31 seconds (11.302/11.308). Goree won the men’s 100-meter in the second heat with a time of 10.43 seconds, which held on for first place until the final heat to secure the win. Junior Ja’Qualon Scott got his first outdoor win in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.64 seconds and placed No. 10 in the A&M all-time performances list. Sophomore Jaiya Covington finished first in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 13.43 seconds, her second-straight win of the outdoor season. Finally, the men’s and women’s 400-meters took first, with Arnold securing the win for the women with a time of 52.06 seconds and senior Jevon O’Bryant winning it for the men with a time of 46.33 seconds.
Aggie track and field will split into two squads March 29-30 for the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California.
Youngchan Kang is a journalism sophomore and contributed this article from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.
