This past weekend offered another opportunity for select members of the Texas A&M track and field team to perfect their craft and cement themselves a spot on the Aggies’ all-time performer list.
Members of the A&M men’s and women’s half-milers and distance groups competed at the Indoor Music City Challenge, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, Feb. 11 and Saturday, Feb. 12. Four Aggies finished within the top seven of their events, while others set personal best times ranking among previous top performances at A&M.
The majority of the A&M team traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., for the weekend, where it competed in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational. Both events follow the Charlie Thomas Invitational, hosted by A&M, in which the Aggies won six event titles.
The first day’s action began for the maroon and white when freshman Gemma Goddard and senior Brady Grant established personal best times in their respective events. Goddard’s time of 4:51.27 in the mile race was good for 11th best all time at A&M, while Grant clocked a time of 14:29.69 in the 5,000-meter to rank 10th in school history in the event.
The next day, sophomore Caden Norris and senior Grace Plain took the spotlight for the Aggies, as both athletes continued the trend by earning a spot on the A&M all-time performer list. Plain’s time of 9:37.76 in the 3,000-meter secured her spot at 11th all time in the A&M ranks, while Norris clocked a time of 1:48.55 in the men’s 800-meter. This personal best time made him the ninth fastest Aggie all time in the race, as well as fifth best in the Southeastern Conference this season. Additionally, junior Eric Casarez finished sixth in the men’s 5,000-meter with a time of 14:1284, drawing praise from A&M head coach Pat Henry.
“I think maybe the highlight [in Nashville] was Caden [Norris] at 1:48.55, that is a heck of a run for him,” Henry said. “The distance women just keep getting better. It’s good to see Eric [Casarez] run 14:12 in the 5,000-meter, he’s getting the motor going and you could see it last week at our meet. He’s going to have to run 13:40 to do well, so he has a job in front of him.”
Next, the Aggies are set to compete in the SEC Indoor Championships on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26. The meet will be hosted by Texas A&M in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. Henry said, while there’s no meet this upcoming week, the team will still be preparing for the road ahead.
“We won’t take a break, but we’ll back off a little bit,” Henry said. “We have a group of about 50 that will go to the SEC Indoors, and then we have another 50 that’s training to get ready for outdoors. I’m pleased with the direction we are going. The SEC Championships is the toughest meet of the year, and we will find out what we are made of.”