COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M claimed another pair of team titles as host of the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational in front of 1,990 fans at Gilliam Indoor on Saturday. Meet records were established by a pair of Aggies with Audie Wyatt in the pole vault and Fred Kerley in the 200 meters.
Texas A&M women generated a point total of 184 points to better the seven-team field that included No. 3 Georgia (121), Texas Tech (95.5), and Arizona State (63.5). The Aggie men, ranked No. 12, produced 150 points to defeat the field that included No. 11 Texas Tech (106), No. 8 Georgia (104), TCU (53), Arizona State (46), UTSA (34) and UT Arlington (29).
“The first places in all the events were good today, no matter who won,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “It was a good meet, and it was the kind of meet we needed. To win a meet like this you need to be really good.”
Combined the Aggies recorded a dozen wins, including both 4×400 relays. A total of nine meet records were broken, five of which were set by athletes from Georgia – Kendell Williams (8.07 – 60m hurdles, 21-4 ¾ – long jump), Madeline Fagan (6-2 ¾ – high jump), Keturah Orji (45-9 ¼ – triple jump), and Alex Poursanidis (72-6 ½ – weight throw).
In the men’s 200m Kerley sped to a winning time of 20.74, which moves him to No. 10 on the Texas A&M all-time list. It bettered the meet record of 20.79 set in 2013 by LSU’s Aaron Ernest. Runner-up to Kerley was a 21.43 by TCU’s Raymond Bozmans.
“Improving and believing in the coaches, that was the key,” noted Kerley. “Running 20.7 is good, but I did some terrible stuff in the race. I tripped on the curve on the backstretch. I know what I have to do to get better. It helps gear up for SECs.”
Wyatt set the pole vault meet record of 17-9 (5.41) a year ago. Today he cleared 17-10 ½ (5.45) and then attempted 18-1 ¼ (5.52) in an attempt to better his indoor school record of 18-1.
“It felt really good, I have been trying to get on the poles I need to be on,” said Wyatt. “I’m getting there. Last year I was going for the meet record, and in December I knew I had a lot of work to do. My confidence has improved and it was a good day.”
Following Wyatt to complete a 1-2-3 sweep for the Aggies were Carl Johansson and Jacob Wooten, who both cleared 17-0 (5.19).
“As a group we are getting better every weekend,” added Wyatt. “I think all three of us are going to get to nationals this year.”
In the women’s pole vault, Emily Gunderson cleared a pair of career best heights on first attempts in securing the win. Entering the meet with an indoor best of 13-3 ¾, Gunderson surpassed that height by clearing 13-4 ¼ (4.07) and then won the competition with a 13-8 ¼ (4.17).
Gunderson and Helen Falda of UT Arlington both missed at 13-10 (4.22) with Gunderson claiming the victory off fewer misses. Aggie teammate Sara Kathryn Stevens finished third with a clearance of 13-0 ¼ (3.97).
“I knew I needed to clear the bars after 12-8 on my first attempt to finish first,” said Gunderson. “It’s a nice feeling to PR twice and win.”
Mylik Kerley, the younger brother of Fred, ran his first open 400m as an Aggie. His time of 46.31 won the event and moved him to No. 7 on the Texas A&M all-time list.
“It meant a lot to just run and be healthy,” stated M. Kerley. “It’s fun running in an A&M uniform. It was hard getting here, but I’m grateful to be here with all the good guys who were here before.
Mylik Kerley later anchored the Aggies to a 3:06.91 victory in the 4×400 over Texas Tech (3:07.70) with a split of 45.51. The first three legs included Richard Rose (47.62), Robert Grant (47.12) and Devin Dixon (46.66).
“Usually with Fred running on the relay I know I have a safe leg,” said M. Kerley. “With a competitive race in the relay it was better for us to learn how to run a smarter race.”
The freshman sprinters for the Aggie women produced a pair of wins. Amber Ivy claimed the 60m in 7.31 seconds, which is No. 9 on the Texas A&M all-time list, ahead of teammate Brenessa Thompson (7.45) and Georgia’s Kate Hall (7.47).
In the women’s 200m it was Danyel White improving her world junior leading time with a 23.22 victory as the Aggies swept the top four places. White’s time is No. 11 on the Aggie all-time list. Following White were Ivy (23.45), Jaevin Reed (23.91) and Briyahna Desrosiers (23.98).
Jazmine Fray ran her third different distance of the indoor season and clocked 53.91 for the victory over teammate Kadecia Baird (54.13). Fray’s mark is No. 12 on the Texas A&M all-time list. Fray broke the Aggie school record in the 1,000m (2:43.15) in December and ran the second fastest mile (4:44.87) in school history last weekend.
Fray later ran the third leg of the 4×400, supplying a 53.06 split on the third leg. The Aggies ran 3:36.81 for the win over Texas Tech (3:40.21). The Texas A&M line-up also included Desrosiers (53.75) and White (54.94) on the first two legs while Jarra Owens (55.06) anchored.
Aggie victories included Katie Willard controlling the 800m with a 2:06.99, the third best performance on the Texas A&M all-time list, with Brittany Parker runner-up in 2:11.73 and Miah Nelson fifth at 2:12.35. Arin Rice won the mile in 4:54.18 and Jeffrey Prothro claimed the triple jump with an effort of 49-7 ¾.
Runner-up performances for the Aggies also included Cameron Villarreal (4:08.27) in the mile while Taylor Clayton (4:10.46) finished third after winning the first section. Celine Markert was second in the shot put (49-3 ¾) behind a meet record of 55-11 ¼ (17.05) for Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen.
A career best of 63-2 (19.25) for Alison Ondrusek placed her fourth in the weight throw. Jeff Bartlett reached 57-0 (17.37) for fifth place in the shot put.
Christian Farris led a solid effort by the Aggies in the 3,000m as he clocked 8:20.33 for third place with Austin Wells (8:25.65) and Jacob Perry (8:34.48) in sixth and seventh. In the women’s race Kelsie Warren placed fifth in 9:53.06 with Kelsey Persyn (10:00.17) and Devin Norton (10:01.80) in sixth and seventh.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics