Texas A&M track and field began their indoor season on Saturday as they hosted Houston and TCU at the Reveille Invitational in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. It was the first of seven indoor home meets this season, including the SEC and NCAA Championships later in the spring.
The meet was highlighted by freshman Sammy Watson breaking the school record in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:42.12. Watson took the lead at the 600m mark and cruised to the finish line. Her time ranks No. 7 on the collegiate indoor all-time list.
“It was a great performance by Sammy,” Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said to 12thman.com. “She looked good and was pushed for part of the race, but has a lot more in the tank.”
Watson said although she was happy with the outcome, she believes that there are still things that she can work on to continue to improve and contribute to the overall success of the team. Additionally, Watson sai there will be a lot more opportunities with several future races.
“I’m very happy, but not complacent where I’m at right now,” Watson said to 12thman.com. “We’ve been training hard all fall, so I know the hard work is paying off from my results today. Knowing that I didn’t get down to this time until last March, and it’s only December, it shows that I’m a lot stronger than I was last year and I’m capable of so much more this season. It’s exciting and I know big things are coming this season.”
Junior Jazmine Fray, who set the school record in the same race a year ago, finished just behind Watson with a time of 2:45.81. Brittany Parker and Jean Jenkins finished third and fourth respectively, with times of 2:51.22 and 2:54.24.
Donavan Brazier, who turned professional after winning the NCAA 800m title for the Aggies last season, had a top level performance in the men’s mile, clocking a time of 3:59.30.
The men’s 4×400 squad won their event with a time of 3:07.03 behind Ilolo Izu (46.99), Robert Grant (46.65), Mylik Kerley (46.20) and Richard Rose (47.19).
The women took the top two spots in their 4×400 race on Saturday. Jaevin Reed (53.38), Glorilisha Carter (55.20), Watson (55.41) and Brenessa Thompson (55.71) won the event with a time of 3:39.70, while 3:39.97 was good for second place behind Amber Ivy (55.22), Fray (55.59), Danyel White (53.68) and Jarra Owens (55.48).
Freshman Tyra Gittens had an impressive debut in maroon and white winning both the high jump, with a leap of 1.79m, and 60m hurdles, clocking 8.51.
Other winners for the women’s team included junior Valeria Bradley in the mile with a time of 5:03.79, junior Celine Markert who threw 14.36m in shot put, while Ivy clocked a 23.98 in the 200m and senior Sara Kathryn Stevens took pole vault with a height of 3.87m.
The men also had success in the field events. Senior Garrett Cragin took the high jump title with a height of 2.12m, senior Austin cook won the weight throw with a distance of 19.70, while junior Jacob Wooten finished on top in pole vault with a height of 5.35.
“This track meet used to be a good workout to wrap up fall training,” Henry added to 12thman.com. “That’s what we had it for, just to get the cobwebs out. All of a sudden it has turned into a pretty serious track meet. This meet allows us to find out what our fall training has done for us. That’s the value of having this meet.”