New York City next designation for No. 1 Aggies
Texas A&M women enter meet as defending team champions
Feb. 4, 2010
NEW YORK CITY - Texas A&M track and field, currently No. 1 in the men's and women's national team rankings, embarks on its first away meet of the season with a group of 50-plus athletes traveling to the Armory in New York City for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, held on Friday and Saturday.
There will be a live webcast of the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City, it will air Friday and Saturday. Broadcast times are Friday: 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. (CST); Saturday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (CST). The link: Live Webcast
Recent success at this meet, which features some of the top track and field schools in the nation, has included two team titles for the Aggie women in the past three years. The Texas A&M women will return as defending team champions while the Aggie men were fourth a year ago.
"Traditionally we have gone to this meet because we didn't have an indoor facility," Aggie head coach Pat Henry said. "So our thought process was this site is one where you can really run fast. As coaches we've been able to do that at home now. So we can pick and choose which weekends we run certain people in certain events.
"Team score at this kind of meet is great. We want to try to be successful. It may not be the most important thing, but it is something we are trying to do."
Competition begins Friday morning at 11 a.m. EST and will conclude at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.
Schools scheduled to compete in New York this weekend at the Armory include: Arkansas, Boston College, BYU, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Houston, George Mason, Georgetown, Iona, LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, South Carolina, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin, and Villanova.
"When you go on the road you try to help the athlete know it's no different from competing at home," Henry noted. "It's about you getting on the track and competing. The athletes have expectations for each other. If a team is going to be successful then everybody has to be successful."
In addition to their No. 1 team status entering the Collegiate Invitational, the Aggies have a number of athletes that hold current world-leading or collegiate-leading marks for the 2010 season.
Porscha Lucas has been the world and collegiate leader in the 200 since running a 23.06 in early January. Tabarie Henry and Curtis Mitchell recent claimed world leading times with wins at the Texas A&M Challenge in the 400 (45.81) and 200 (20.69), respectively. Jessica Beard is the collegiate leader in the women's 400 with a 52.27.
Henry took over the world leading mark in the 400 from teammate Demetrius Pinder, who ran 46.01 three weeks ago and followed that performance with a 46.03 clocking.
This past weekend Pinder split 45.75 as the anchor on the Texas A&M 4 x 400 relay posted a winning time of 3:04.86, the fastest collegiate time since 2007. Henry ran the third leg in 46.06 following carries by Tran Howell (46.93) and Bryan Miller (46.12). The Aggies became the seventh fastest school in the event.
A combination of the team traveling for the first time this season and the competition they will face in a high-charged atmosphere provides a test of sorts on how the team will cope with the Big 12 Championships later this month.
"As we have told our team you have to rehearse for some competitions," Henry said. "This kind of meet puts you in a venue that could be friendly or it could be unfriendly. It could be something that you like or something that you don't like.
"The time schedule could be perfect or it may be off. With those things you have to learn to adjust and be ready for anything to happen."
Contesting three events each for the Aggie women are Gabby Mayo and Vashti Thomas. Mayo will run the 60, 200 and 60 hurdles while Thomas will run the hurdles along with the long and triple jumps.
"I feel so much better during a competition compared to last year," stated Thomas. "I'm actually getting what they are teaching me.
"Of the events I do, I think they are all pretty even so far this season. I've done way better in each of them than I did last year. Being able to jump consistently in a competition is a big thing for me. I can't wait to compete in New York."
Following is a list of events Aggies are scheduled to compete in this weekend:
MEN 60: Curtis Mitchell, Gerald Phiri 200: Tran Howell, Curtis Mitchell, Gerald Phiri 400 - College: Ashton Young 400: Bryan Miller, Demetrius Pinder 500: Michael Preble, Joey Roberts 800: Joe Snelick 1000: Matt Ross Mile: Kevin Burnett, C.J. Brown, 3000: Joe Sauvageau 60H: De'Lon Isom 4 x 400: Demetrius Pinder, Bryan Miller, Kyle Dykhuizen, Tabarie Henry 4 x 800: Sam Mutschler, Joey Roberts, Eric Gosset, Oscar Ramirez Distance Medley: Wes Caceras, Kyke Dykhuizen, Joe Snelick, C.J. Brown Pole Vault: Brett Bennett Long Jump: Melvin Echard, Zuheir Sharif, Julian Reid, Tyron Stewart Triple Jump: Melvin Echard, Zuheir Sharif, Tyron Stewart Shot Put: Nick Cook Weight: Cole Knuth
WOMEN 60: Elizabeth Adeoti, Dominique Duncan, Porscha Lucas, Gabby Mayo, Jeneba Tarmoh, Chandrell Stephens 200: Elizabeth Adeoti, Ashika Charan, Dominique Duncan, Porscha Lucas, Gabby Mayo, Chandrell Stephens, Jeneba Tarmoh 400: Jessica Beard, Brittany Machacek, Andrea Sutherland 500: Sandy Wooten 3000: Tara Upshaw 5000: Christina Munoz, Katherine Devlin 60H: Gabby Mayo, Natasha Ruddock, Vashti Thomas 4 x 400: Sandy Wooten, Donique' Flemings, Andrea Sutherland, Jessica Beard High Jump: Daphne Fitzpatrick Pole Vault: Laura Asimakis Long Jump: Tiffany Peters, Sasha-Kay Matthias, Ashika Charan, Vashti Thomas Triple Jump: Tiffany Peters, Sasha-Kay Matthias, Vashti Thomas Shot Put: Daphne Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Edwards, Taylor Rosser Weight: Deidre Tarver
Courtesy Texas A&M
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