Texas A&M track and field, whose men’s and women’s teams rank in the top 10 nationally, came into the weekend looking to build off a sweep of the Texas Aggie Invitational.
A&M ultimately took home 10 titles at the Texas Tech Open and Multis with numerous Aggies setting personal records. Almost 25 schools competed at the event, including Auburn, Kansas State and Oklahoma. There were also 11 total teams from Texas, who competed in the two-day event.
Day 1:
A&M started its second road meet of the season on a good note, winning six events. The Aggies won women’s long jump and 60-meter hurdles as well as men’s and women’s wins in the 400-meter and 600-meter.
Freshman Bailey Goggans, who won the women’s 600-meter, clocked in at 1:31.04 as sophomore mid-distance Brandon Miller won the men’s 600-meter at 1:15.94, the 13th fastest time in collegiate history. Miller also owns a 600-meter time of 1:15.49, which ranks sixth and makes him the only male to hold two times in the top-15 all-time. He was also one of 10 named to The 2022 Bowerman Preseason Watch List.
In the women’s and men’s 400-meter races, fifth-year sprinter Syaira Richardson and sophomore sprinter Chevannie Hanson won the first heat with times of 52.67 and 46.51, respectively. Richardson’s time held up over 13 heats as the fastest time of the day, and Hanson’s time was also the fastest overall.
“[Richardson] looked really good tonight, and 52.67 is a really good run for her,” Henry said. “She is talented and she is going to get better and better. On the men’s side, running 46s now is good and we had a 47.02. It was a good day all the way around.”
Meanwhile freshman pole vaulter Heather Abadie, already the No. 3 performer in program history, improved her collegiate personal best by 1.5 inches to clear 13-10/4.22m. Henry said Abadie was brilliant and is steadily improving each performance.
“Heather [Abadie] looked excellent today,” Henry said. “There are certain barriers. You’ve got to break barriers, and when you break the barrier you wonder why that was even a barrier. She is there with 14-foot right now. She’s got to get over 14-foot, and then she’ll be over that forever.”
Sophomore and junior sprinters Sydnee Stewart and Ryan Martin clocked personal bests in the 60-meter with junior long jumper Allyson Andress and junior pole vaulter Connor Gregston also recording personal bests in their events. Stewart finished fourth in the finals after registering personal best times in every preceding round. Gregston improved his previous best by four inches and Andress grew her personal-best long jump by seven inches.
Day 2:
Saturday saw the women’s team get top finishes in multiple events to improve from Friday. There were three individual titles won along with the women’s 4×400-meter relay placing first.
Freshman two-sport star Bryce Foster displayed his shot put talents by finishing second in his collegiate debut. He showed distance improvement in each of his six throws and recorded a 58-11.25/17.96m to become the 10th best performer in A&M history. Freshman Maci Irons got third in women’s shot put with a personal record 46-2/14.07m.
Three A&M freshmen placed in the top six of the men’s 800-meter with sophomore mid-distancer Caden Norris placing second by just 0.2 seconds, and sophomore mid-distance runner Dominique Mustin earning second place in the women’s 800-meter with a time of 2:09.63. Sophomore jumper Lamara Distin also got the Aggies a second-place finish in women’s high jump.
Both the men’s and women’s teams showed out in the mile races as junior distance runner Eric Casarez and senior distance runner Juan Arcila placed second and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, freshman distance runner Gemma Goddard and senior distance runner Abbey Santoro finished first and second, respectively.
Both women were at least eight seconds in front of the third-place finisher, and it was Goddard’s second straight week with a sub-five minute mile. Santoro’s time of 4:57.44 was a personal best.
Fifth-year jumper Deborah Acquah and sophomore sprinter Laila Owens added onto the first-place finishes for the women’s team on Saturday. Owens took first in the women’s 200-meter with a time of 23.21, and Acquah earned the top spot in the women’s triple jump event.
The 4×400-meter squad of Owens, Richardson, freshman sprinter Kennedy Wade and junior sprinter Tierra Robinson-Jones at anchor came in at 3:31.58, a season-best time and a full four seconds ahead of the second-place finishers. The men’s team came in at third in the men’s 4×400-meter, five seconds behind first-place TCU.
Henry said it was a good weekend overall, but there were things that could be improved upon before the Charlie Thomas Invitational starting on Friday, Feb. 4 in College Station.
“We had a productive weekend,” Henry said. “We had some things happen today that I was not pleased with and some of that comes from learning to be consistent. Our kids have to learn that and know it. Next week is going to be another step on the ladder.”
Editor’s note: Abbey Santoro is a photographer for The Battalion.