Texas A&M junior Emily Gunderson broke the indoor and outdoor pole vault record this weekend with a height of 14.075 feet at the Texas A&M Aggie Twilight Invitational on Saturday and became the first Aggie female to clear 14 feet. Gunderson broke the original school record of 13-11.25 on her third attempt.
“When I stepped back on the runway, my mind was completely clear and I had never really felt that before,” Gunderson told 12thman.com. “I didn’t know the specific height when I broke the school record. My teammates were pushing me all the way, and to do this at home was really cool. I’ve been working on acceleration with Coach Anderson and carried that over today on the runway. To look up at that wall of indoor school records every day when we are in here practicing and knowing I’ll be up there with those great athletes is humbling and also very exciting.”
Alison Ondrusek continued the winning for field events by claiming first in the women’s weight throw with a toss of 65-8.25 feet. Ondrusek beat her previous best by over two feet, earning her a second place spot on the Aggie all-time list. Shaina Burns topped the women’s shot put with a toss of 44-2.5.
“The vaulters looked good and across the board we looked better. In the weight throw, Ondrusek was better, and there were a lot of things I was pleased with,” A&M head coach Pat Henry said. “We feel pretty good about ourselves and next week it comes down to everyone having a good day on the same day when we compete at the SEC Championships.”
On the track, three Aggies claimed the top three spots in the 800m. Donavan Brazier won the race in 1:47.17 with Hector Hernandez in second at 1:49.58 and Efrain Hernandez earned third in a time of 1:49.66.
Hannah Campbell clocked 4:55.57 to win the women’s mile, which moved her to No. 12 on the Texas A&M all-time list. In the 3,000m Haley Deakins led the field in 9:50.87, which is No. 14 on the school’s all-time list.
Another trio of Aggies claimed the first three spots in the men’s mile, led by 32-year-old Olympian Leo Manzano (4:02.22). Alex Riba (4:06.18) and Austin Wells (4:08.62) finished second and third.
Amber Ivy finished the meet with a third place finish in the 60m to go along with a fourth place finish in the 200m. Elijah Morrow won the men’s 200 in a time of 21.51, while Jace Comick finished first in the 60m in a time of 6.87.
Men’s field event wins included Audie Wyatt (17-3.5) in the pole vault, Will Williams (25-3.5) in the long jump, and Alex Austin (7-1.5) in the high jump. Jeff Bartlett (56-6.75) claimed the shot put while Austin Cook (66-1) won the weight throw.
Chinyere Njoku (8.52) and Lauren Lawless (8.74) finished 1-2 in the 60m hurdles for the Aggies. Lawless also ran on the winning 4×400 (3:49.83) with Jarra Owens, Brittany Parker and Nadia Pakes.
The Aggies will be back in action on Feb. 24-25 for the SEC Championships in Nashville. The meet can be seen on the SEC Network +.
