It was a spectacular weekend in San Antonio for both the men’s and women’s track and field teams, who won a total of 17 event titles and ran away with the team titles scoring 231 points and 264 points respectively.
“We saw some things that we needed to see and some people that are a little bit disappointing right now too. But, mostly, we saw good stuff across the board today,” head coach Pat Henry told 12thman.com.
The Aggies started strong by winning four throwing events on day one of competition. In the hammer throw, seniors Austin Cook and Alison Ondrusek both set meet records and won the individual titles with throws of 199-06 (60.80) and 197-10 (60.29) respectively. Texas A&M also won both individual titles in the javelin throw with distances of 212-08 (64.83) from freshman William Petersson and 161-10 (49.33) from senior Shelby Poncik, both setting new meet records.
“It was nice to break through and get past 60 meters,” Ondrusek told 12thman.com, “It’s something I’ve really been trying to do this year. Having a second PR in the second meet of the outdoor season, I can’t be more pleased with how I’m doing.”
Both the men and women stood out in the jumping events this weekend, as senior Jeffrey Prothro and freshman Lajarvia Brown each had jumps of 51-0534 (15.69) and 42-0634 (12.97) respectively to win the individual triple jump titles.
The Aggies also swept the 4×100 relay titles. Will Williams, Fred Kerley, Elijah Morrow, and Jace Comick bettered the Aggies collegiate leading time, clocking 39.12, while Diamond Spaulding, Danyel White, Brenessa Thompson, and Aaliyah Brown recorded 43.16 for the women.
For the women, sophomore Jazmine Fray won the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:29.08, while freshman Ashton Hutcherson took first place in the 2000-meter steeplechase with a time of 7:02.14.
Junior Jacob Perry (8:39.99) won the men’s 3000-meter run, while the ladies took first through fifth place on the women’s side of the event led by freshman Ashley Driscoll (10:12.16). Junior Robert Grant (46.17) won the men’s 400-meter dash in the closing moments of the race, edging out sophomore teammate Richard Rose (46.24). Both recorded career best times.
“It was a good race and luckily I had Richard on the outside of me,” Grant told 12thman.com, “He helped pull me through the first 300m. Then from there I finished strong. Fred and Mylik Kerley told me to relax a bit on the backstretch and I put that into effect today. It helped me to finish a little bit stronger today.”
Texas A&M’s sprinting talent was once again put on display when the women finished first through seventh place in the 200-meter dash, led by freshman Danyel White (22.55). In the men’s 200-meter dash, senior Fred Kerley (20.27) earned top spot while junior Elijah Morrow (20.52) finished runner-up. Will Williams took first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.56.
“It was set up to be a good day in the 200, but we had good times in the 400 as well,” coach Henry added to his comments to 12thman.com, “It was a good day overall, and in particular for Fred Kerley with the time he ran in the 200. Then the ladies produced times of 22.5 and 22.6, those were huge efforts. We had five ladies under 22.9. That’s really good running.”
The men also won the 4×400 relay and improved their collegiate leading time, recording 3:04.63. Running the race for the Aggies was Richard Rose, Ilolo Izu, Eric Age, and Mylik Kerley. The women finished runner-up in their competition with a time of 3:35.12.
With a successful meet under their belts, the team’s next competition will be in Austin, Texas at the Texas Relays, hosted by the Longhorns starting on March 29.
