Track and Field | |
Aggie freshman Donavan Brazier runs 1:45.93 to shatter U.S. Junior indoor 800m record
Courtesy Texas A&M
- Players Mentioned
-
- Bralon Taplin
- Sprints
- Sr.
-
- Aaliyah Brown
- Sprints
- Jr.
-
- Latario Collie
- Jumps
- Sr.
-
- Briyahna Desrosiers
- Sprints
- R-Fr.
-
- Efrain Hernandez
- Middle Dist.
- So.
-
- Deon Hickey
- Sprints
- Jr.
-
- Devin Jenkins
- Sprints
- Sr.
-
- Shamier Little
- Hurdles
- Jr.
-
- Jennifer Madu
- Sprints
- Sr.
-
- Alison Ondrusek
- Throws
- Jr.
-
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M freshman Donavan Brazier made his Aggie debut in the 800 meters one to remember as his winning time of 1 minute, 45.93 seconds made him the fastest American junior in history.
The stunning performance came amid the Texas A&M 11-Team Team Invitational held at Gilliam Indoor which had the No. 9 ranked Aggie men winning the team title over No. 2 Texas with the No. 21 ranked A&M women finishing second to No. 3 Texas.
"Here is a young freshman who is a talent, but to jump down two seconds like that indoors it says who he is right now," Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said regarding Brazier. "There were some things in training telling us he was ready to run and he lined up.
"Nobody has run that fast in the United States on the junior level in the 800. That is absolutely incredible."
Brazier shattered the 1982 U.S. Junior indoor record of 1:47.84 set by Villanova's John Marshall in New York City. Brazier's effort was the fourth U.S. Junior record set inside the Gilliam Indoor venue. Three others, all set in 2009, includes the mile (3:55.02, German Fernandez, Oklahoma State, Big 12), 3000m (7:56.31, Chris Derrick, Stanford, NCAA), and triple jump (55-8 ½, Christian Taylor, Florida, NCAA).
"I've never run anything faster than 1:46 indoors or outdoors," noted Brazier, who ran a 4:07.86 mile in his debut race with the Aggies in December. "My coach (assistant coach Alleyne Francique) wanted me to go 1:47 in this meet, but he said 1:47 or better. I was happy with 1:45, obviously.
"My coach is crazy, he wants us to go out in 51. I wasn't too nervous coming through in 51 at the 400 split since that is what we train for. I didn't think I was going to hang on that well. My last 800 was in Oregon, six months ago, so I was very eager to step on the track again for an 800."
The Aggie school record of 1:47.14 set by Joey Roberts in 2012 also fell to Brazier's incredible performance. Brazier is now No. 6 on the American indoor list, No. 5 on the collegiate indoor list and the second fastest U.S. collegian. He also nearly clipped the U.S. collegiate mark of 1:45.88 set by Missouri's Derrick Peterson in 1999.
Brazier's splits on each 200m lap included 25.20, 26.40 [51.60], 26.58 [1:18.18], 27.75 as he blistered the field. Teammate Efrain Hernandez finished second in 1:51.63 with Robert Uhr of Texas (1:52.41) third and Oklahoma State's Matthew Fayers (1:52.46) in fourth.
"I thought the other guys were going to be on my heels," noted Brazier of the fast pace. "I looked at the video board and noticed I had a little bit of space on them. I wasn't so nervous since I knew I had it on the last lap. I thought I ran 1:46, but when I saw it was under 1:46 I was so happy.
"Now my goals are starting to go up a little bit. When I first got here I just wanted to make the travel team. Then I wanted to be the best 800 runner at A&M. But my main goal is to make the U.S. junior team this year since I was disqualified in the 800 race last summer."
Team scoring on the men's side had the Aggies reaching a total of 146 points for the victory as Texas (87.5), BYU (72.5), Stephen F. Austin (67), and South Carolina (64.5) rounded out the top five schools. The Longhorn women scored 122.5 points for the title over Texas A&M (92.75), Baylor (78.75), South Carolina (70) and BYU (67.5).
"It's good to see Texas back in the building," said Henry. "It was a good competitive situation, but there were some other good teams here as well like BYU, Oklahoma State and South Carolina. This was a really fine opening meet."
A pole vault dual between Aggie teammates resulted in a pair of indoor personal best heights for freshman Jacob Wooten (17-9) and sophomore Audie Wyatt (17-7). They were involved in a jump-off after each cleared 17-5 on a second attempt and missed three times at 17-9.
After each missed a fourth try at 17-9, the bar was lowered to 17-7. Both cleared on first attempt, so the bar went back to 17-9. A make by Wooten and a miss by Wyatt settled the decision of who won the event on this day.
"It was just great, and I still can't believe I made the bar," said Wooten. "It was definitely unexpected for us to get back to 17-9 in the jump-off. I couldn't have done it without Audie. If he wouldn't have made the 17-7 height with me then I don't think I would have made 17-9 on my own."
The 17-9 clearance moved Wooten to No. 6 on the A&M all-time list while Wyatt's 17-7 make has him at No. 7. Prior to this weekend the best indoor height for Wooten was 17-0 ¾ with a best of 17-4 ½ outdoors, while Wyatt had cleared 17-6 ¼ indoors last season. Reese Watson of Texas placed third at 16-11 while A&M's Chase Wolfle tied for fourth place, also at 16-11.
"I don't think today could have gone any better," noted Wooten. "I was just coming into this meet wanting to make some bars, get some bars under my belt so that I could ease myself into it. This wasn't all about winning, but just getting back into competition."
Winning efforts by the Aggies included Aaliyah Brown clocking 23.42 in the 200 to finish ahead of Morolake Akinosun of Texas (23.47) along with A&M frosh Diamond Spaulding (23.59) in third place. The times by Brown and Spaulding are No. 12 and No. 14 on the Aggie all-time list.
In the 60, Brown finished third with a 7.35 behind a pair of 7.26's by the Texas tandem of Teahna Daniels and Akinosun. Behind Brown were teammates Jennifer Madu (7.40), Krystal Sparling (7.47) and Brenessa Thompson (7.66) in fourth, fifth and eighth place.
Devin Jenkins and Deon Hickey claimed victory in the men's 200 and 400 meters. Jenkins posted an indoor PR of 20.94 in turning back South Carolina's Ncincilili Titi (21.07) and Aldrich Bailey of Texas (21.11). Hickey's 47.45 from the first section held off Baylor's Richard Gary (47.48), Rosen Daniel of ACU (47.58) and BYU's Sean Adams (47.64) from the second section of the 400m.
Jenkins also placed fifth in the 60 with a 6.75 as Oklahoma State's John Teeters won in 6.60 over TCU's Ronnie Baker (6.65) and Senoj-Jay Givens of Texas (6.65).
In the women's 400 Briyahna Desrosiers posted a 53.53 as runner-up, moving to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list. South Carolina's Aliyah Abrams won the race in 53.21 while Tiffany Terry of TCU finished third in 54.73. A&M's Jarra Owens won her section of the 400 in 55.51 to place fifth overall.
"I didn't expect 53," Desrosiers said. "I felt confident in my running and I ran it the right way. It was helpful having Abrams in the race. I can catch or I can lead, but I need someone in front of me to catch. That pushes me."
Jazmine Fray moved to No. 6 on the A&M all-time list in the 800 meters as her 2:09.13 placed fourth in a competitive field. The top five finishers ran under the previous meet record of 2:10.98 from 2011. Keela Edwards of Oklahoma State won in 2:03.60 with Shea Collinsworth of BYU (2:04.52) runner-up and Molly Sughroue of Oklahoma State (2:08.72) third.
Field event victories by the Aggies were attained by Sam McSwain in the high jump as he matched his indoor best of 6-11, which is No. 8 on the A&M all-time indoor list. Latario Collie hit a mark of 51-3 to win the triple jump. Alison Ondrusek led an Aggie 1-2 finish in the weight throw with her mark of 58-3 as Carissa van Beek placed second with a 56-11 ¼ toss.
Texas A&M finished second in the women's 4x400 relay and third in the men's race. The Aggie women posted a 3:35.64 behind a 3:33.80 from Texas. The A&M crew consisted of Sparling (55.07), Shamier Little (52.22), Jarra Owens (54.25) and Desrosiers (54.10).
In the men's 4x400 the A&M foursome of Hickey, Robert Grant, Brazier and Fred Kerley ran 3:11.42 behind Baylor's 3:09.13 and SFA's 3:11.04 from another section.
Post-collegian performances included Bralon Taplin recording an early world-leading time of 45.20 to win the men's Olympic development 400 over Ramon Miller (47.76) and Greg Coleman (48.06). In the 60 Trayvon Bromell won in 6.59.
Demi Payne returned as an unattached athlete to compete in the pole vault. She topped the competition with a clearance of 15-3 (4.65) that bettered the facility and meet record of 15-2 ¼ (4.63) she established a year ago. Payne attempted 15-7 ¼ (4.76) to add a quarter inch to her indoor PR of 15-7, but missed her three attempts.
Baylor's Annie Rhodes finished as the top collegian in the pole vault at 14-3 ½ (4.36). A&M's Sara Kathryn Stevens placed sixth with a 12-11 ¾ (3.96).
The stunning performance came amid the Texas A&M 11-Team Team Invitational held at Gilliam Indoor which had the No. 9 ranked Aggie men winning the team title over No. 2 Texas with the No. 21 ranked A&M women finishing second to No. 3 Texas.
"Here is a young freshman who is a talent, but to jump down two seconds like that indoors it says who he is right now," Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said regarding Brazier. "There were some things in training telling us he was ready to run and he lined up.
"Nobody has run that fast in the United States on the junior level in the 800. That is absolutely incredible."
Brazier shattered the 1982 U.S. Junior indoor record of 1:47.84 set by Villanova's John Marshall in New York City. Brazier's effort was the fourth U.S. Junior record set inside the Gilliam Indoor venue. Three others, all set in 2009, includes the mile (3:55.02, German Fernandez, Oklahoma State, Big 12), 3000m (7:56.31, Chris Derrick, Stanford, NCAA), and triple jump (55-8 ½, Christian Taylor, Florida, NCAA).
"I've never run anything faster than 1:46 indoors or outdoors," noted Brazier, who ran a 4:07.86 mile in his debut race with the Aggies in December. "My coach (assistant coach Alleyne Francique) wanted me to go 1:47 in this meet, but he said 1:47 or better. I was happy with 1:45, obviously.
"My coach is crazy, he wants us to go out in 51. I wasn't too nervous coming through in 51 at the 400 split since that is what we train for. I didn't think I was going to hang on that well. My last 800 was in Oregon, six months ago, so I was very eager to step on the track again for an 800."
The Aggie school record of 1:47.14 set by Joey Roberts in 2012 also fell to Brazier's incredible performance. Brazier is now No. 6 on the American indoor list, No. 5 on the collegiate indoor list and the second fastest U.S. collegian. He also nearly clipped the U.S. collegiate mark of 1:45.88 set by Missouri's Derrick Peterson in 1999.
Brazier's splits on each 200m lap included 25.20, 26.40 [51.60], 26.58 [1:18.18], 27.75 as he blistered the field. Teammate Efrain Hernandez finished second in 1:51.63 with Robert Uhr of Texas (1:52.41) third and Oklahoma State's Matthew Fayers (1:52.46) in fourth.
"I thought the other guys were going to be on my heels," noted Brazier of the fast pace. "I looked at the video board and noticed I had a little bit of space on them. I wasn't so nervous since I knew I had it on the last lap. I thought I ran 1:46, but when I saw it was under 1:46 I was so happy.
"Now my goals are starting to go up a little bit. When I first got here I just wanted to make the travel team. Then I wanted to be the best 800 runner at A&M. But my main goal is to make the U.S. junior team this year since I was disqualified in the 800 race last summer."
Team scoring on the men's side had the Aggies reaching a total of 146 points for the victory as Texas (87.5), BYU (72.5), Stephen F. Austin (67), and South Carolina (64.5) rounded out the top five schools. The Longhorn women scored 122.5 points for the title over Texas A&M (92.75), Baylor (78.75), South Carolina (70) and BYU (67.5).
"It's good to see Texas back in the building," said Henry. "It was a good competitive situation, but there were some other good teams here as well like BYU, Oklahoma State and South Carolina. This was a really fine opening meet."
A pole vault dual between Aggie teammates resulted in a pair of indoor personal best heights for freshman Jacob Wooten (17-9) and sophomore Audie Wyatt (17-7). They were involved in a jump-off after each cleared 17-5 on a second attempt and missed three times at 17-9.
After each missed a fourth try at 17-9, the bar was lowered to 17-7. Both cleared on first attempt, so the bar went back to 17-9. A make by Wooten and a miss by Wyatt settled the decision of who won the event on this day.
"It was just great, and I still can't believe I made the bar," said Wooten. "It was definitely unexpected for us to get back to 17-9 in the jump-off. I couldn't have done it without Audie. If he wouldn't have made the 17-7 height with me then I don't think I would have made 17-9 on my own."
The 17-9 clearance moved Wooten to No. 6 on the A&M all-time list while Wyatt's 17-7 make has him at No. 7. Prior to this weekend the best indoor height for Wooten was 17-0 ¾ with a best of 17-4 ½ outdoors, while Wyatt had cleared 17-6 ¼ indoors last season. Reese Watson of Texas placed third at 16-11 while A&M's Chase Wolfle tied for fourth place, also at 16-11.
"I don't think today could have gone any better," noted Wooten. "I was just coming into this meet wanting to make some bars, get some bars under my belt so that I could ease myself into it. This wasn't all about winning, but just getting back into competition."
Winning efforts by the Aggies included Aaliyah Brown clocking 23.42 in the 200 to finish ahead of Morolake Akinosun of Texas (23.47) along with A&M frosh Diamond Spaulding (23.59) in third place. The times by Brown and Spaulding are No. 12 and No. 14 on the Aggie all-time list.
In the 60, Brown finished third with a 7.35 behind a pair of 7.26's by the Texas tandem of Teahna Daniels and Akinosun. Behind Brown were teammates Jennifer Madu (7.40), Krystal Sparling (7.47) and Brenessa Thompson (7.66) in fourth, fifth and eighth place.
Devin Jenkins and Deon Hickey claimed victory in the men's 200 and 400 meters. Jenkins posted an indoor PR of 20.94 in turning back South Carolina's Ncincilili Titi (21.07) and Aldrich Bailey of Texas (21.11). Hickey's 47.45 from the first section held off Baylor's Richard Gary (47.48), Rosen Daniel of ACU (47.58) and BYU's Sean Adams (47.64) from the second section of the 400m.
Jenkins also placed fifth in the 60 with a 6.75 as Oklahoma State's John Teeters won in 6.60 over TCU's Ronnie Baker (6.65) and Senoj-Jay Givens of Texas (6.65).
In the women's 400 Briyahna Desrosiers posted a 53.53 as runner-up, moving to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list. South Carolina's Aliyah Abrams won the race in 53.21 while Tiffany Terry of TCU finished third in 54.73. A&M's Jarra Owens won her section of the 400 in 55.51 to place fifth overall.
"I didn't expect 53," Desrosiers said. "I felt confident in my running and I ran it the right way. It was helpful having Abrams in the race. I can catch or I can lead, but I need someone in front of me to catch. That pushes me."
Jazmine Fray moved to No. 6 on the A&M all-time list in the 800 meters as her 2:09.13 placed fourth in a competitive field. The top five finishers ran under the previous meet record of 2:10.98 from 2011. Keela Edwards of Oklahoma State won in 2:03.60 with Shea Collinsworth of BYU (2:04.52) runner-up and Molly Sughroue of Oklahoma State (2:08.72) third.
Field event victories by the Aggies were attained by Sam McSwain in the high jump as he matched his indoor best of 6-11, which is No. 8 on the A&M all-time indoor list. Latario Collie hit a mark of 51-3 to win the triple jump. Alison Ondrusek led an Aggie 1-2 finish in the weight throw with her mark of 58-3 as Carissa van Beek placed second with a 56-11 ¼ toss.
Texas A&M finished second in the women's 4x400 relay and third in the men's race. The Aggie women posted a 3:35.64 behind a 3:33.80 from Texas. The A&M crew consisted of Sparling (55.07), Shamier Little (52.22), Jarra Owens (54.25) and Desrosiers (54.10).
In the men's 4x400 the A&M foursome of Hickey, Robert Grant, Brazier and Fred Kerley ran 3:11.42 behind Baylor's 3:09.13 and SFA's 3:11.04 from another section.
Post-collegian performances included Bralon Taplin recording an early world-leading time of 45.20 to win the men's Olympic development 400 over Ramon Miller (47.76) and Greg Coleman (48.06). In the 60 Trayvon Bromell won in 6.59.
Demi Payne returned as an unattached athlete to compete in the pole vault. She topped the competition with a clearance of 15-3 (4.65) that bettered the facility and meet record of 15-2 ¼ (4.63) she established a year ago. Payne attempted 15-7 ¼ (4.76) to add a quarter inch to her indoor PR of 15-7, but missed her three attempts.
Baylor's Annie Rhodes finished as the top collegian in the pole vault at 14-3 ½ (4.36). A&M's Sara Kathryn Stevens placed sixth with a 12-11 ¾ (3.96).
No comments:
Post a Comment