This week the Texas A&M Track and Field team took a trip to Austin to compete in the 90th Texas Relays. The Aggies came away with 10 event titles and shattered several records over four days of competition. The men’s team was named the most outstanding team for the third consecutive year and seventh time in the last nine years.
The biggest story of the meet was Lindon Victor’s record breaking performance in the men’s decathlon. The senior scored 4,516 on the first day of competition followed by 3,946 points on the following day, breaking the long-standing collegiate record by 7 points. Victor is the first Aggie decathlon champion and received the top individual meet honors for his performance.
“We’re so proud of him setting a collegiate record,” Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said to 12thman.com. “Besides being the best ever, what else can you say. We’ve had a lot of decathlons in college for a long time and to say you’re the best that’s ever done it is a huge accomplishment. To beat Trey Hardee’s record is huge too. Trey is a fantastic athlete.”
Texas A&M had a strong showing in the field events too. Junior John Kyriazis won the men’s javelin throw with a distance of 288-9 (88.01), setting a new career best and breaking the meet record.
“I’m super excited,” Kyriazis told 12thman.com. “When I released my throw I didn’t think it would be 88 meters, it felt more like 84 or 85. I’m pleased since I threw the A standard for the World Championships this summer. Plus it’s a PR, so I’m super excited.”
Junior Garrett Cragin won the B section of the men’s high jump competition, setting a career best jump of 7-134 (2.18). For the women, freshman Lajarvia Brown won the triple jump competition, jumping 43-014 (13.11), while fellow freshman Ciynamon Stevenson finished runner-up with a jump of 42-4 (12.90). Freshman Serena Brown won the women’s discus with a throw of 169-7 (51.68).
The Aggies also had success on the track where the women’s sprint medley relay team won their race and broke the meet record with a time of 3:42.10. The relay was run by sophomore Diamond Spaulding, freshman Jaevin Reed, junior Kadecia Baird, and sophomore Jazmine Fray.
The men’s sprint medley relay team also won their race with a time of 3:15.57. In the line-up was senior Fred Kerley, junior Elijah Morrow, junior Mylik Kerley, and freshman Devin Dixon.
The women won the 4×200 relay and set a meet record with their 1:29.89 time. Running for the Aggies was Spaulding, sophomore Brenessa Thompson, Reed, and senior Aaliyah Brown. The ladies also won the 4×100 relay this week with a time of 42.82. In the line-up was Spaulding, freshman Danyel White, Thompson, and Brown. The team managed a second place finish in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:29.18.
“It was a great time here at the Texas Relays,” Brown said to 12thman.com. “I love this track. I just wanted to come out here and give everybody a great show. I finished strong on both of my legs in the 4×200 and 4×100. Our goal was to get the baton around as fast as we could.”
The men’s 4×400 relay team managed another first place finish with a time of 3:01.74. On track was sophomore Richard Rose, Fred Kerley, Devin Dixon, and Mylik Kerley. The men managed runner-up finishes in both the 4×200 and 4×800, running times of 1:22.28 and 7:29.16 respectively. They chose not to compete in the 4×100 relay.
“It’s a blessing to always win a race, but at the end of the day it’s still just a starting point for the outdoor season,” Kerley told 12thman.com. “We want to win at the end when it’s all said and done.
Head coach Henry was thrilled with how his teams performed this week in Austin.
“To open with a decathlon collegiate record, Lindon did a great job starting us off,” Pat Henry continued in his comments to 12thman.com. “I’m extremely pleased with the performances we had this weekend. We couldn’t have had too much better of a meet. Our kids did a great job.”
The next stop for the Aggies will be Tempe, Arizona where they will compete in the Sun Angel Classic starting on April 7.
