LOS ANGELES – Texas A&M senior Ameer Webb enjoyed a return to his home state as he was part of three Aggie victories on Saturday at the USC Trojan Invitational held in Loker Stadium. Webb, a Tustin, California native, swept the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.32 and 20.71 and led off the Aggies winning 4 x 100 relay (39.47).
Texas A&M totaled 10 victories on the weekend as they won all four relay races and added titles in the women’s 100 along with the men’s 400, 5,000 meters and steeplechase.
“Being in California is always great for me, because it’s where I’m from,” said Webb. “I like to show out for my California people, so I try to run my best every time I come out here. My time in the 200, I wanted to do better. But I’m still making the transition from indoor to outdoor.”
Isaac Spencer won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and established the current U.S. and collegiate leading time with his personal best of 8:51.03, which moves the sophomore to No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list. Stephen Curry, who led the race early on, placed fifth in 9:06.78 while C.J. Brown finished sixth in 9:15.99.
The Aggies swept the 4 x 100 relays for the second consecutive week. A 43.72 was the winning time for the women’s squad of LaKeidra Stewart, Ashton Purvis, Kamaria Brown and Ashley Collier. USC’s first unit was unable to complete the final exchange while another A&M crew finished second in 45.19.
The A&M men cruised to a 39.47 winning time with the foursome of Webb, Aldrich Bailey, Jr., Michael Bryan and Prezel Hardy, Jr. USC placed second in 40.07 while another group of Aggies placed fourth in 41.12.
“The speed is all there for us,” noted Webb. “We just need to get the sticks off perfect. Once we can do that I think we’ll be one of the best in the country.”
In the men’s 100 the Aggies went 1-2-3 with Ameer Webb leading the trio with a winning time of 10.32 (0.8 wind). Prezel Hardy, Jr. finished second in 10.43 while Michael Bryan placed third in 10.48. USC’s Aaron Brown was knocked out of the race due to a false start. Jermaine Davis placed second in the next heat of the 100 with a 10.60 that placed sixth overall.
“It’s always fun to race Mike and PJ,” stated Webb. “We do 30 meter block starts together in practice, so to do a full on race with them involves a lot more intensity and it’s also fun.”
While Webb won the 200 convincingly with an outdoor leading collegiate time of 20.71 (-0.7), another pair of Aggies tied for third while running in separate heats. Bailey, Jr. finished third in the heat with Webb with a time of 21.28 while Jermaine Davis won the second heat in the same time.
A timing malfunction in the women’s 100 missed registering a time for A&M’s tandem of Purvis and Collier as they raced against USC’s Jessica Davis in the first heat.
Brown won the second heat in 11.39 (1.4 wind), which is No. 9 on the Aggie all-time list, while Olivia Ekpone finished second in 11.57. India Daniels (11.83) and Stewart (11.85) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ricky Babineaux won the 400 with a 46.71, which is an outdoor best for the senior, while teammate Bralon Taplin claimed another heat and placed third overall with a 47.50 that was second best among collegians. Hector Hernandez ran 48.17 for fourth in the same heat with Babineaux and finished sixth overall.
Jessica Beard had the leading time in the women’s 400 and her 51.55 is the current outdoor world leading time for 2013.
Wrapping up the meet with the 4 x 400 relays, the Aggie women won in 3:35.92 to set the season leading outdoor collegiate time. The foursome of Ekpone (54.6), Ibukun Mayungbe (53.1), Stewart (55.2) and Brown (53.0) controlled the race with USC finishing second in 3:37.97.
In the men’s relay, the Aggies rolled to a 3:07.36 victory with a crew of Bailey, Jr. (47.7), Deon Lendore (45.0), Carlyle Roudette (46.1) and Bralon Taplin (48.6). USC finished second in 3:11.69 and another A&M squad placed third in 3:12.20, but both were disqualified as the result of bumping between the anchor legs in the final 60 meters of the race.
During the Friday evening distance races Ryan Miller claimed a tactical men’s 5,000 race in 14:54.21. A trio of Aggie women set career best marks in the 3,000 meters as Amanda Jenkins (9:38.87) placed third with Grace Fletcher (9:39.50) and Hillary Montgomery (9:40.61) in fourth and fifth.
Running into a slight head wind LaQue Moen-Davis ran 13.98 (-0.9 wind) in the 100 hurdles for second place to a 13.66 by USC’s Melia Cox. Kenneth Minkah finished second in the men’s 110 hurdles with a 14.26 (0.9) behind a 13.91 win for USC’s Aleec Harris.
In the men’s long jump Jonathan Turner finished second with a mark of 22-11.75 (7.00) and Dave Brown was runner-up in the triple jump with a 48-4.5 (14.74). A clearance of 16-2.75 (4.95) netted a second place tie for Dustin Phillips in the pole vault while Chase Wolfle missed at 16-6.75 (5.05) to no height in the competition.
Another second place effort included Aliese Hyde in the 800 (2:09.36), who lost her lead in the race in the final couple of strides to the finish line. Greg Coleman finished second in the 400 hurdles (52.17) while Aikan Graham (53.01) and Minkah (53.22) placed sixth and seventh.
Mayungbe finished third in the women’s 200 with a 23.87 to lead an Aggie group that placed 3-4-5-9. USC’s Davis won the first heat in 23.41 while A&M’s India Daniels claimed the second heat in 23.90 to place fourth overall. Purvis (24.07), Jennifer Madu (24.12) and Chandrell Stephens (24.56) rounded out the other Aggies positions.
Jena Hemann was third in the long jump with an 18-6 (5.64) mark whlie Moen-Davis also placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 41-3.25 (12.58). A couple more Aggies surpassed 40 feet as Jordan Wilson (40-6.25 / 12.35) placed sixth and Haley Gooch (40-0 / 12.19) was eighth.
Josh Hernandez placed fifth in the 800 clocking 1:51.50 with Cameron Thornton sixth in 1:52.40. In the 1,500 MacLean O’Donnell ran 3:52.22 for sixth place while Juan Blanco turned in a 3:53.14 for seventh.
Brittany Wooten moved to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list in the women’s pole vault, clearing 11-9.75 (3.60) for ninth place.
Shelbi Vaughan improves discus record with victory at UT-Arlington
ARLINGTON – Texas A&M freshman Shelbi Vaughan improved upon her Aggie discus school record with a winning effort of 188 feet, 8 inches at the UT-Arlington Bobby Lane Invitational on Saturday.
Last week on her first discus throw as a collegian, Vaughan broke the 10-year-old Aggie school record with a mark of 185-0. She managed to added three feet and eight inches to her school record on her second attempt of the UTA competition.
The series for Vaughan opened with a foul prior to her winning mark of 188-8 (57.50) and then another foul followed in round three. Vaughan produced throws of 167-8 (51.10), 161-1 (49.11) and 180-10 (55.12) in the final three stanzas.
Runner-up to Vaughan was a 165-1 (50.33) by TCU’s Megan Smith while A&M’s Jill Hydrick finished seventh in the event with a 141-4 (43.07).
Dalton Rowan won the men’s discus by nearly five feet with a toss of 179-2 (54.61), earning his best mark in the second round as well. Ben Skrla finished seventh with a 164-2 (50.03). Casey Strong placed sixth in the men’s shot put with a 51-4.25 (15.65).
Vaughan also placed third in the shot put with a mark of 48-7.25 (14.81) while teammates Brea Garrett (48-1.75 / 14.67) and Jennifer Edwards (44-9.75 / 13.66) finished fourth and fifth. Vaughan moves to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list in the shot put.
Krystyn Bradley led the Aggie javelin crew with a third-place effort of 144-10 (44.15). Kendall Munoz placed fourth with a 136-7 (41.64), Jean Deason was seventh at 131-9 (40.16), and Kelly Czumble placed ninth with a 124-1 (37.82).
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics