Aggies and Longhorns split in Track & Field Dual meet

Aggies and Longhorns split in Track & Field Dual meet
A&M school records set in men's 4 x 400 and women's 60 hurdles

Jan. 23, 2010

College Station - DUAL MEET SCORES

Men: Texas A&M 92, Texas 64

Women: Texas 80.5, Texas A&M 78.5

Texas A&M men cruised to a 92-64 dual meet victory over Texas, setting a school record and collegiate leading time of 3:05.92 in the 4 x 400 relay to close out the meet at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on Saturday.

On the women's side the Aggies and Longhorns were tied at 75.5 points heading into the 4 x 400. A very close finish - 3:35.39 to 3:35.60 - went to Texas, who claimed an 80.5 to 78.5 victory over Texas A&M in front of an Aggie home crowd of 1,856 fans.

"Our men had a very good effort while our women did everything they could," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "When both groups compete hard and we leave the track healthy then I'm a happy coach.

"It's great to have this kind of atmosphere around a dual meet. Texas competed hard and challenged us. Our women's 4 x 400 relay will learn from their experience today."

Texas A&M men recorded 10 wins among the 15 events contested in the dual meet. A sprint and hurdle sweep had wins from Gerald Phiri (6.68) in the 60, Curtis Mitchell in the 200 (20.99), Demetrius Pinder (46.03) in the 400, and De'Lon Isom (7.99) in the 60 hurdles.

In the 4 x 400 the Aggie foursome of Pinder (46.1), Bryan Miller (46.6), Kyle Dykhuizen (47.4) and Tabarie Henry (45.9) bettered the previous school record of 3:06.37 set at the NCAA Championships in 2008. The winning time of 3:05.92 is the current collegiate leader and a NCAA automatic mark.

The Aggie women posted six victories on the day. They swept the sprints and hurdles with Gabby Mayo (7.37) in the 60, Porscha Lucas (23.21) in the 200, Jessica Beard (52.27) in the 400 and Natasha Ruddock (8.15) in the 60 hurdles.

Vashti Thomas (Mt. Pleasant High School, San Jose, CA) recorded a pair of wins for Texas A&M in the jumps, claiming the long jump with a 20-5.75 effort, which is eighth best at A&M, and the triple jump with a 42-1.25 mark.

Beard's time in the 400 is the top collegiate mark and American leader this season while becoming the second fastest performance at A&M behind her school record of 51.77.

Ruddock's hurdle time broke the school record of 8.17 set by last year by Mayo, who was runner-up in 8.17.

Mitchell set a collegiate and world-leading mark with his 200 time of 20.99 to improve upon his 21.00 from last week. His is currently fifth fastest at A&M all-time.

Meanwhile, Pinder nearly equaled his world-leading time of 46.01 established last week. His 46.03 put him in front of teammate Bryan Miller, who set a personal best of 46.90 to become the seventh fastest performer at A&M.

Winning continued for the Aggie men in the distance events as Oscar Ramirez (1:50.30) claimed the 800 while Joe Sauvageau (14:19.54) took control of the 5,000 meters. Ramirez and Sauvageau each moved to the No. 3 performer in their respective events on the Aggie all-time list.

A pair of victories were registered in field events by Zuheir Sharif (Franklin High School, Elk Grove, CA) (51-11.25) in the triple jump and Cole Knuth (58-2) in the weight throw. Knuth becomes the fifth best performer at A&M in the throwing event.

Julian Reid (51-9.25) and Tyron Stewart (50-8.25) joined Sharif in earning NCAA provisional marks in the triple jump. Reid added another NCAA provisional mark as runner-up in the long jump with a 25-2 effort.

A sweep of both relays had the A&M distance medley squad posting a 9:55.98 to better the 9:57.56 from Texas. Running for the Aggies were Wes Caceras, Ashton Young, Sam Mutschler and Matt Ross. That group established the eighth fastest time on the Aggie all-time indoor list.

A second A&M 4 x 400 relay group, which didn't score points, posted a NCAA provisional time of 3:08.30 with the quartet of Tran Howell, Oscar Ramirez, Joey Roberts and Michael Preble. They recorded the 12th fastest mark on the Aggie indoor list.

Beard anchored the women's 4 x 400 in a split of 51.5, after relay carries by Sandy Wooten (54.6), Donique' Flemings (55.8), and Lucas (53.7). They produced a NCAA provisional mark and became the sixth fastest team on the A&M all-time indoor list.

NCAA QUALIFYING - MEN Automatic: 400: Demetrius Pinder 4x400: Texas A&M Provisional: 60: Gerald Phiri 200: Curtis Mitchell 400: Bryan Miller 800: Oscar Ramirez 4x400: Texas A&M B LJ: Julian Reid TJ: Zuheir Sharif, Julian Reid, Tyron Stewart

NCAA QUALIFYING - WOMEN Automatic: 400: Jessica Beard Provisional: 60: Gabby Mayo, Porscha Lucas, Jeneba Tarmoh 200: Porscha Lucas, Jeneba Tarmoh 400: Jessica Beard 60H: Natasha Ruddock, Gabby Mayo 4x400: Texas A&M LJ: Vashti Thomas TJ: Vashti Thomas

Courtesy Texas A&M