Texas A&M men claimed second and the Aggie women finished fifth in team scoring at the NCAA Indoor Championships, repeating the performance they produced last year.
A crowd of 4,487 fans at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium witnessed four gold-medal achievements by Texas A&M among five school records set by the Aggies in the triple jump, both 400 meters and both 4 x 400 relays.
Florida men and Oregon women repeated as defending champion in commanding fashion.
The Gators scored 52 points with the Aggies in second while scoring 40 points. BYU (34) was a surprise third with LSU (31) in fourth and Florida State (30) fifth.
Oregon women totaled a whopping 67 points to nearly double up the 38 scored by Texas in the runner-up role. LSU finished third in the women’s scoring followed by Arkansas (35) and Texas A&M (32).
Impressive winning efforts, which resulted in school records, were established Jesscia Beard (50.79) and Demetrius Pinder (44.94) in the 400 meters. They then each had a hand, and the fastest split, as the Aggies powered their way to winning the 4 x 400 relays in 3:29.72 and 3:04.23.
Julian Reid, competing in only his second indoor meet of the season, improved his career indoor best to 54-10 (16.71) as he placed third in the triple jump behind a pair of Florida jumpers and took down the school record of 54-3 ¾ (16.55) held by graduated teammate Zuheir Sharif.
Beard dominated the women’s 400 as she claimed her first NCAA individual title after placing second on three occasions and earning a bronze once.
“The talk was that I had never won an individual title,” stated Beard. “I really wanted to go out and win my first title. I wanted to run the best I could and get a PR, I can’t ask for more. It was my time.”
In lowering her school record of 51.64, Beard blazed a 23.69 in the first 200 meters of her race. As her lead increased the crowd’s roar followed suite. Crossing the finish line produced a 50.79 victory, just off the collegiate record of 50.54.
“Coach told me to get out there and don’t worry too much about time,” Beard said. “I just did what I have been doing all year, using my blocks and using my speed that I’ve developed over the years, and just finish strong.
“The home crowd was great. They were even louder than it was two years ago.”
There have been many special moments in Aggie athletics during home events and Beard’s performance will be added to that list. She was not going to be denied a title in the 400 on her home track in her senior season at Texas A&M.
Beard’s time is the world leader for 2011, topping the 50.83 set by Natasha Hastings, and ranks second all-time on the collegiate list and third on the all-time American list, behind the 50.54 (Francena McCorory) and a 50.64 (Diane Dixon).
In the men’s 400 Pinder ran in the first section and put a mark of 45.33 for the next section to chase and ahead of the 43.96 by defending champion Torrin Lawrence of Georgia. Pinder’s time broke the school record of 45.81 set by teammate Tabarie Henry, who placed fourth in this final with a 46.44.
“I’m happy I got the win, because I work so hard every day,” said Pinder. “It finally paid off. To be a senior and set a record is a big achievement for me.
“I really didn’t have a race strategy, I just wanted to go out there and run and do what I have to do, stay strong mentally and it came through.”
Henry ran in the second section with event favorite Kirani James of Alabama, who entered the meet with a world-leading 44.80. As the field completed the first of two laps in a blazing 21.23, James cut to lane one in front of Henry. Feet tangled between the two and James crashed to the Mondo surface. Henry had to leap over James and regain his stride.
James hit the 200 mark of the 400 in 21.24 while Henry crossed in 21.34.Pinder, meanwhile, clocked 21.13 for his initial 200.
Running the first three legs for the women’s 4 x 400 were Jeneba Tarmoh (54.38), Ibukun Mayungbe (51.51) and Andrea Sutherland (52.76). There were stationed in fourth place behind the trio of LSU, Arkansas, and Texas at each baton exchange.
Closing the gap to the other three schools had the Aggies only a few strides from the leader when Beard had the baton passed into hands.
Bidding her time through the first lap of her leg Beard put the hammer down with 80 meters left and built a sizeable lead as the anchor leg of 51.09 helped set a school record of 3:29.72, which bettered the 3:29.93 set in 2007.
Arkansas finished second to the Aggies in 3:30.08 while LSU (3:30.37) and Texas (3:31.11) placed third and fourth.
In the men’s 4 x 400 the Aggie men lowered their school record to 3:04.23 from the 3:04.40 they recorded in winning the 2009 title. The successful title defense, which stretched A&M’s indoor winning streak to 10 meets, included Tran Howell (46.45), Pinder (44.94), Bryan Miller (46.53) and Henry (46.33).
While everybody expects the anchor leg to produce the special memory, Pinder decided to steal the spotlight on his second leg carry. When Pinder made his move A&M’s lead stretched to 15 meters in a hurry.
Baylor placed second with a 3:05.42 from a separate section than the Aggies. Arkansas, runner-up to A&M in section three, finished third overall with a 3:06.79.
Contributing nine more points to the Aggie men’s effort were Michael Preble, Gerald Phiri and Wayne Davis II as they finished third, seventh and eighth, respectively in the 800, 60 and 60 hurdles.
Preble concluded an impressive indoor campaign with a bronze medal in the 800 with a 1:48.89. Alabama’s Fred Samoei won the race in 1:48.33 while Michael Rutt of Connecticut claimed second in 1:48.37.
Leading the field of eight runners through 400 and 600 meters Preble had splits of 53.60 and 1:20.78. After a couple of athletes moved ahead of him, Preble responded in the final 20 meters to secure a medal position.
In the 60 a 6.72 from Phiri placed seventh while Davis ran 7.85 in the hurdles to place eighth. Andrew Riley of Illinois won the hurdle race in a collegiate-leading 7.58 seconds while Flroida’s Jeff Demps defended his title in the 60 with a 6.53 victory.
Another somber event for the Aggie women occurred in the women’s 60 hurdles where Gabby Mayo crashed to the track after hitting the third hurdle. She was unable to finish the race and had to be assisted off the track. Clemson’s Brianna Rollins won the race in a collegiate leading 7.96.