AUSTIN – Another collegiate record was threatened during the Friday portion of the 90th Texas Relays by Aggie junior Ioannis Kyriazis (John Kyr-e-ah-zees) when he won the javelin with a heave of 288 feet, 9 inches (88.01), his only throw in the competition.
“I’m super excited,” stated Kyriazis, the current world leader in 2017 who ranks No. 2 all-time among Greek throwers. “When I released my throw I didn’t think it would be 88 meters, it felt more like 84 or 85. I’m pleased since I threw the A standard for the World Championships this summer. Plus it’s a PR, so I’m super excited.”
It was one of two Texas Relays meet records and Texas A&M records broken on the third day of the meet by the Aggies. The other record came in the women’s sprint medley relay when Texas A&M won the race in 3:42.10.
An additional relay victory attained by the Aggies came in the men’s sprint medley while Texas A&M posted a pair of wins in B section field events – men’s high jump and women’s triple jump.
Competing in his first meet of the season, Kyriazis defended his title and shattered multiple records in producing the second best mark on the collegiate all-time list. He came within three-plus feet of the 292-4 (89.10) collegiate record set by Patrick Boden of Texas in 1990 during a March quadrangular meet.
“I used a half approach on my throw,” noted Kyriazis. “Even in practice I haven’t tried a half approach yet, because I had some ankle issues. But it worked out today, so I’m glad. I think I can still improve my technique a little bit and still have a better throw. The main thing is to be consistent around 285 to 288 feet.”
Kyriazis broke the meet record of 274-2 (83.56) set by Boden in 1990 as well as the facility record of 283-5 established by Germany’s Boris Henry in 2001. . The Aggie school record of 285-10 (87.14) set by Kyriazis this past summer was broken. He also bettered the Texas Relays field by nearly 50 feet and added 20 feet to his winning mark (268-7) from 2016.
Finishing behind Kyriazis in the competition with a throw of 239-11 was Missouri’s Reinhard Van Zyl. Aggies in the field included Sam Hardin (230-6) and William Petersson (225-4), who placed sixth and seventh.
Running on the winning women’s sprint medley relay for the Aggies were Diamond Spaulding, Jaevin Reed, Kadecia Baird (52.7) and Jazmine Fray (2:02.9). They bettered the school record of 3:49.56 set at the 2014 Texas Relays as well as the meet record of 3:42.36 set by Arkansas in 2015.
On the all-time collegiate list the Aggies rank third behind the collegiate record of 3:41.78 set by Tennessee in 2004 and a 3:41.97 by Texas in 1988.
USC held the lead from the early stages of the race with Texas A&M and LSU giving chase. Fray steadily closed the gap on the anchor leg of 800m and passed USC’s Amalie Iuel with 150m left in the race. Pulling away from the challengers over the final 100m, Fray won the race comfortably over LSU (3:44.65) and USC (3:47.31).
In the men’s sprint medley relay the Aggie foursome included Fred Kerley, Elijah Morrow, Mylik Kerley (44.8) and Devin Dixon (1:50.3). They produced a winning time of 3:15.57 to defeat Baylor (3:16.96) and Texas Tech (3:17.74).
Texas A&M’s time ranks third on the school’s all-time list as they defended their 2016 title and recorded the Aggies fifth victory in the event at the Texas Relays.
Robert Grant finished third in the final of the 400m hurdles, posting a season best 49.94 behind Utah State’s AJ Boully (49.58) and Bryon Robinson of Texas (49.93).
A tight finish in the men’s distance medley relay had the Aggies clocking 9:46.73 as runner-up to LSU’s 9:46.61 with Baylor in third at 9:57.22. Texas A&M ran with a line-up Cameron Villarreal (2:59.40), Richard Rose (45.77), Gaines Kinsey (1:50.99) and Alex Riba (4:10.58).
In the women’s distance medley relay the Aggie women placed fifth in 11:39.75 with the foursome of Katie Willard (3:36.32), Glorilisha Carter (55.16), Brittany Parker (2:12.81) and Arin Rice (4:55.47). Clemson won the race in 11:14.74.
On a gusty day, Garrett Cragin cleared a pair of career best marks, 7-0 ½ and 7-1 ¾, in claiming a jump-off victory in the B section of the high jump. In the process Cragin became the first Aggie male to win a high jump event at the Texas Relays since 1985 (Ethan Glass, 7-5).
“All year I’ve been trying to get over seven feet, so to get to 7-1 was amazing,” said Cragin, who had an outdoor best of 6-11 and an indoor best of 6-11 ¾ from earlier this season. “I wasn’t expecting that at all today. The competition here is from all over the country, so it’s the best of the best. It’s really fun to be out here, especially with this weather. We had a good tailwind, too.”
The first four heights Cragin attempted were made on first attempts. They included 6-6 ¾, 6-8 ¾, 6-10 ¾ and 7-0 ½ (2.15). As the bar moved to 7-1 ¾ (2.18), four jumpers remained in the competition with Cragin tied for first with Kareem Roberts of LIU Brooklyn.
All four jumpers missed on three attempts at 7-1 ¾, leaving Cragin and Roberts to contend with a jump-off at the same height. Roberts went first and missed. Cragin took advantage of the fourth attempt and sailed over the bar for the victory.
“I always say if I had a fourth attempt I could make it,” noted Cragin. “I finally got one and had the opportunity to win the event. Now I’m looking forward to conference and returning here for the NCAA preliminary rounds in Austin.”
Clearing 7-1 ¾ moves Cragin to No. 8 on the Texas A&M all-time list, where he is tied with three other Aggies, and becomes the first addition to the top 10 since 1993. Heading into the weekend, Cragin is currently tied for third among collegians in 2017.
“My coach, (volunteer assistant) Erin Simmons, said it was the best jump she’s ever seen me do,” said Cragin. “She said I really ran the curve of the approach instead of cutting it off a bit, like I tend to do when the bar gets up to seven feet. Now I have the confidence to know that I can make that bar.”
Overcoming a pair of fouls in the B section of the triple jump, Aggie frosh Lajarvia Brown rallied to make the final of nine jumpers with a windy 42-2 (12.85) effort in round three. Then she claimed the lead with a wind-aided 43-0 ¼ (13.11) in round four and won the competition.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack going into my third jump,” recalled Brown. “But I’ve been there before in high school competitions. I just had to play it safe so I could get into the finals and then do it from there.”
It’s the sixth time Texas A&M has won a triple jump event at Texas Relays and Brown becomes the fourth Aggie to claim the B section title.
Runner-up to Brown was teammate Ciynamon Stevenson, who led the field with a windy 42-4 (12.90) through three rounds. The competitive field included five other jumpers who produced marks over 41-3.
While Brown only had two marks among her six jumps, Stevenson generated a steady series of marks. She opened with a 41-7 ¼w, improved to 41-8 ¾w and hit 42-4w in round three. Following a foul in round four, Stevenson went 40-8 ¾w and finished with a 42-0 ½w.
“It’s really good experience and I like how we were able to compete and produce our best jumps,” said Stevenson. “I had three jumps over my previous PR. I was more aggressive and tried to hold my phases more. So, that’s helping me get better.
“It’s a great feeling to have someone with you and go through the jumps together. It was better that way to help both of us progress throughout our jumps.”
Brown added: “We knew coming in we could go first and second. It was just a matter of who was going to win it. I feel like Ciynamon and I bring the best out of each other, regardless if it’s in practice or in a meet. We help each other and work off each other.”
Texas A&M women placed 2-3-5-6 among the collegians in the javelin field, which would have produced 21 points in a scored meet. Audrey Malone led the Aggie crew, placing fourth overall and runner-up to LSU’s Rebeka Wales.
Malone threw 174-3 (53.12) while Wales set a career best of 188-0 (57.31) to take the collegiate leading mark away from Malone’s season best of 181-8. Madalaine Stulce produced a career best of 170-6 (51.98) in placing fifth overall and third among collegians. Stulce moves to No. 11 on the Texas A&M all-time list.
Ariana Ince, who served as a volunteer assistant at Texas A&M, won the event with a throw of 193-8 (59.05), which is the second best throw by an American this season. Ince also had throws of 187-8 and 185-7 in her series.
Maggie Malone, who won the NCAA title for the Aggies in 2016 and set a collegiate record, placed third in her season debut with a mark of 180-0 (54.86). Kristen Clark (160-4) and Shelby Poncik (159-3) placed seventh and eighth overall, and was fifth and sixth among the collegians.
A throw of 184-2 (56.14) placed Jeff Bartlett third in the discus. He hit that mark in the third round after fouling twice. Two more fouls followed in the final three rounds where he added a throw of 171-10 (52.38).
Jeffrey Prothro placed seventh in the men’s triple jump as his opening jump of 52-8 (16.05) remained his best through the remainder of the competition. That mark moves him to No. 9 on the Aggie all-time list.
Competing in the B section of the women’s pole vault, Sara Kathryn Stevens tied for seventh place as she cleared 13-3 ¾ (4.06). Kara Erickson tied for 11th in the B section of the women’s high jump, clearing 5-7 (1.70).
During the morning qualifying session in the 4×100 relay, Texas A&M produced the second fastest times for both the men and women with times of 39.57 and 43.70. LSU led both fields with a 39.23 and 43.25.
The Aggie men’s sprint relay consisted of Will Williams, Fred Kerley, Robert Grant and Elijah Morrow while the women’s crew included Diamond Spaulding, Danyel White, Brenessa Thompson and Aaliyah Brown.
Joining LSU and Texas A&M in the men’s field of nine teams for Saturday’s final are Texas (39.73), Houston (39.77), Texas Tech (39.88), Illinois (39.91), Baylor (40.06), Georgia (40.26), and BYU (40.29). The women’s field will also include USC (44.21), Texas (44.45), Clemson (44.51), Houston (44.91), Baylor (45.11), Texas Tech (45.18) and Virginia Tech (45.37).
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics