The Texas A&M men’s and women’s track and field teams look to sustain their successes in the new year as the spring season continues.
The Aggies are set to compete in the Texas Aggie Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 1:30 p.m. at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in the McFerrin Athletic Center. The event will feature schools from across the state and beyond, with notable participants including TCU, SMU, Sam Houston State and San Diego State.
Saturday’s invitational will feature a host of field and running events, ranging from shot put and pole vault to hurdles and relay races. A&M proved to be successful in such events during last week’s Ted Nelson Invitational, in which the Aggies broke four total meet records.
“We look at the season like a ladder,” track and field coach Pat Henry said. “We took that first step and now we’ve got another one this upcoming weekend to get a little bit better in a few areas and tune some people up.”
Day one of the meet on Friday, Jan. 14 saw the quartet of sophomore Cooper Cawthra, graduate student Colby Zamzow, senior Gavin Hoffpauir and sophomore Jonathan Chung set a meet record time of 10:01:52 in the men’s distance medley relay, shattering the previous record by just under four seconds.
The next day, sophomore Lamara Distin won the women’s high jump with a meet record of 1.88 meters. Senior Jake Lamberth went on to win the men’s high jump with a meet record of 2.18 meters. With these victories, Distin and Lamberth took the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, respectively, on A&M’s all-time indoor performer list. Distin was named the Southeastern Conference women’s field athlete of the week for her performance.
“Today’s performance goes back to my training,” Lamberth said. “I placed 14th at regionals last year. After that, I knew this year was going to be different. I had to come in and stay devoted to my training and listen to my coaches. They know what they’re talking about. Texas A&M is the best university in the nation for track and field, so just to be here in this moment and take this in, it’s a very special day.”
Additionally, the invitational saw sophomore Brandon Miller named to the 2022 Bowerman Watch List, the third-fastest American under-20 all-time in the indoor 800m race after winning the event with a time of 1:47:48. Freshman Athing Mu, racing professionally for Nike, continued her illustrious collegiate career by winning the women’s mile with a time of 4:37:99, a meet record.
“Brandon [Miller] is a tough little nut,” Henry said. “That kid is good, he’s really good and he’s just going to continue to get better. As small of a guy that he is, to put together what he does is amazing.”
Given their recent individual and team success, the Aggies will have high expectations for Saturday’s competition.