Aggies host 15 schools in Texas A&M Invitational

Aggies host 15 schools in Texas A&M Invitational
Texas A&M has 22 All-Americans returning for preseason No. 1 women and No. 8 men
Jan. 14, 2010

College Station - A crew of 22 returning All-Americans highlight the Texas A&M Invitational for the Aggies as they play host to 15 schools in a scored meet on Saturday. Action starts at 1 p.m. in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium with evening session track finals set to begin at 5 p.m.

Led by preseason No. 1 Texas A&M, the women's field will include four top 25 ranked teams in No. 15 Texas, No. 16 Baylor and No. 21 Oklahoma. The No. 8 Aggie men are one of three ranked teams in the men's field, including No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 11 Baylor. Entries for the meet are available on the link above.

Other teams in the Invitational include Houston Baptist, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Northwestern Louisiana, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, Texas State, Texas-Arlington and TCU.

"The level of competition here this weekend is very good," Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said. "It's not overwhelming, yet it's still a meet that will challenge you. I look forward to a good crowd coming out and watching. Track finals will start at 5 p.m. and the meet will wrap up around 8 p.m."

Last season this meet capped the regular season for Texas A&M prior to the school hosting Big 12 and NCAA Indoor Championships in its new indoor facility. This season the Texas A&M Invitational leads off a months-worth of high caliber indoor track and field meets at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

"It's a good opening competition," Henry noted. "This is a meet where you get the wheels turning and start taking those first steps. Our returning people get the opportunity to see where they are training-wise and the coaching staff gets to see them in a competitive environment to see what changes they've made from their training."

After winning a pair of NCAA Outdoor Championships last June the Aggies will seek the program's first-ever NCAA Indoor titles this season. The A&M women were runner-up in 2009, just five points behind champion Tennessee, while the Aggie men finished ninth at the NCAA Indoor meet.

"Our returning people have waited one year to achieve their goals indoors after placing second with the women and ninth with the men at the NCAA Indoor meet we hosted last March," Henry said. "Our returning people have a different challenge indoors than the challenge we have outdoors.

"We are the defending national champions from the outdoor season and that was a tremendous accomplishment for the team last year. As coaches and athletes you can't sit on your hands, it's about continuing to strive and get better all the time. We have a target on our back and teams will be coming after us. That's a great environment. We want a target on our back."

Among the group of All-Americans returning for Texas A&M is an individual NCAA champion in Porscha Lucas, who also earned NCAA titles as part of two relay teams in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400. Also earning relay gold in 2009 on the 4 x 100 unit was Khrystal Carter, Dominique Duncan and Gabby Mayo while the indoor 4 x 400 squad included Jessica Beard and Sandy Wooten. In addition to her relay role, Beard added a pair of silver medals in the 400 from both NCAA meets.

Julian Reid, a silver medalist in the NCAA triple jump twice last season, headlines the returning All-Americans among the Aggie men along with Big 12 double sprint champion Gerald Phiri, who reached the semifinals of the 100 at the World Championships in Berlin this past summer.

Three other triple jumpers who were part of the A&M foursome that tallied 18 points at the NCAA meet return in Zuheir Sharif, Tyron Stewart and Melvin Echard. Also returning from the silver medal 4 x 400 relay that secured the decisive eight points for Texas A&M's national team championship in 2009 are Kyle Dykhuizen, Tran Howell and Bryan Miller.

Four A&M women and two Aggie men currently hold school indoor records heading into the 2010 season: Lucas (22.83 - 200m), Beard (51.77 - 400), Wooten (1:21.50 - 600y), Mayo (8.17 - 60 hurdles), Phiri (6.59 - 60m), and Sharif (53-11 - triple jump).

In addition to the returning athletes, a new group of Aggies continue to make their debut for the program. Tabarie Henry, who placed fourth in the World Championships 400, will have his first meet in a Texas A&M singlet this weekend. Among a freshman class of 40 athletes, 37 of which are from the state of Texas, many will have their first experience on an indoor track.

"With our new people this is an exciting time for them to be involved with the program and we as a staff get to find out a little bit more about them," said Henry.

Courtesy Texas A&M