The Aggies notched another first place team finish for No. 1 Texas A&M Track & Field. The Aggies finished with a combined team score of 136 points to run away with the title. Host LSU finished in second with 115 points.
“Just a great effort for our whole team today,” Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said to 12thman.com. “It’s about what you contribute to the team and we had a whole lot of people contribute today. It makes for a great team win for us.”
The meet was highlighted by two collegiate record-setting performances by both the men’s and women’s sprint medley relay teams. The race includes legs covering 200m, 200m, 400m and 800m. The men clocked a 3:11.94, while the women managed a 3:39.04 to become the fastest ever college times in the event.
Running for the men’s sprint medley relay was Fred Kerley, Elijah Morrow, Mylik Kerley, and Devin Dixon. Following the race, Dixon said although he didn’t expect to break another collegiate record, but was thankful for the honor.
“My mind was blown when I heard we broke the collegiate record,” Dixon said to 12thman.com. “Another collegiate record is a good feeling. I wanted to run my own pace and not someone else’s pace, it worked.”
Kerley said his teammates’ athleticism makes running with them in this event fun and that same athleticism allows them to break record.
“Every time I line up with these guys it’s always fun. There were no slouches on the 400m leg of this race. I knew I needed to do my job and get the stick to Devin in good shape for the anchor leg. We always think breaking a record is a possibility.” Kerley
Running for the women’s medley relay was Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson, Jaevin Reed, and Jazmine Fray.
“We’re so excited to have broken the collegiate record and want to keep more records if we can,” Fray said to 12thman.com. “It’s so exciting, and I’m happy to have broken a record with my teammates.”
Texas A&M also set a stadium record in the 4×800 relay later on the first day of competition when Ian Cazares, Efrain Hernandez, Gaines Kinsey, and JaQwae Ellison rolled to a 7:24.55 time.
In the last event of the meet, the men’s and women’s teams also swept the 4×400 relays. Richard Rose, Fred Kerley, Devin Dixon, and Mylik Kerley clocked a world leading time of 3:00.74. Briyahna Desrosiers, Kadecia Baird, Jazmine Fray, and Jaevin Reed finished with a season best time of 3:27.72.
The Aggie men swept all of the jumping events. In the long jump, junior Will Williams was the top collegiate finisher with a jump of 7.99 meters. Junior Audie Wyatt took top spot in the pole vault with a height of 5.42 meters. Senior Jeffrey Prothro leapt 16.28 meters in the triple jump, while junior Garrett Cragin recorded 2.15 meters in the high jump.
Freshman Serena Brown was the sole title winner for the women in throwing events, recording a throw of 56.84 meters in the women’s discus.
Two Aggies won events that were not part of scoring this week. Junior Elijah Morrow was the top collegiate finisher in the men’s 200 meter dash with a time of 20.67, while sophomore Jacob Perry clocked a time of 14:49.22 in the 5000 meter run.
“This meet helped us leading into the SEC Championships in two weeks,” Henry continued to 12thman.com. “We found out more things about our team and who can compete in a big-time environment. That’s who you take to the conference championships.”
The SEC Championship is up next for the Aggies. The meet will be hosted in Columbia, South Carolina on May 11-13.
