The Aggies 4×400 meter relay team continued to flirt with history at the Tyson Invitational meet in Fayetteville this weekend.
The quartet of Gary Coleman, Bralon Taplin, Shavez Hart and Deon Lendore finished almost three seconds ahead of runner-up Nebraska with a time of 3:03.47, the third fastest in collegiate history. The Aggies now hold the top three spots in that event after setting the record last season with a time of 3:03.20 and posting a time of 3:03.23 in January.
But the men’s relay team isn’t the only one to top the collegiate ranks this season. Senior thrower Brea Garrett won the women’s weight throw Friday at the Tyson Invitational with a mark of 73 feet, 1 1/4 inches, a distance that moved her up to the top spot in the NCAA standings on the season. Garrett returned on Saturday to place fifth in the shot put.
Junior Latario Collie also made a run at the record books after leaping 54 feet, 9 1/4 inches in the men’s triple jump. Collie, who debuted with the team a week ago at the Texas A&M Aggies Invitational, came up just short of the school record for the triple jump in his second meet. Collie finished second at the meet behind Florida’s Marquis Dendy, who set a world-leading mark of 56 feet, 6 1/2 inches. Collie and Dendy will have the chance to duke it out with each other again in two weeks at the SEC Indoor Championships.
“It was really good competition today, and I was able to put some pressure on him,” Collie told the media after the meet. “Hopefully at SECs I can beat him. I wanted to face him before conference and nationals.”
Senior Kamaria Brown, last week’s SEC Sprinter of the Week, placed second in the women’s 200 meters with a time 22.97. She also anchored the Aggie women’s 4×400 relay team who won their heat and finished second overall at the meet with a time of 3:32.84.
The Texas A&M track team now has a week off before traveling to the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 27.