AUSTIN – Three relay victories and a discus title wrapped up Texas A&M’s fourth and final day at the 91st Texas Relays held at Myers Stadium. In addition to sweeping a pair of 4×800 relays to start the day, the Aggies defended their title in the men’s 4×400 relay to cap the long weekend.
Inside the oval, Texas A&M sophomore Serena Brown unleashed a career best discus throw of 198 feet, 1 inch to earn her second victory at the meet following a win in the B section a year ago.
“We started the day by winning both 4x8s with some good competition,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “I was pleased with those efforts as we put eight half-milers on the track. Serena had a big throw today, and she needed that.
“In the mile relays I was extremely pleased with the group of ladies we put on the track. I thought they ran real well. On the men’s side a 3:02.74 is a great run for that group of people. Any time you leave Mylik Kerley and Robert Grant off the relay you would think we would take a big hit, but for that group to step up and win in 3:02 is a great run.”
With the three relay victories the Aggies have now collected 39 relay titles among 12 relay events over the past 10 years of the Texas Relays.
Alternating the lead with Clemson throughout the 4×800, the Texas A&M women pulled away with Sammy Watson on the anchor leg. Watson split 2:05.60 as the Aggies produced a meet, facility and school record time of 8:29.25 in claiming their first title in this event at the Texas Relays.
The first three legs included Jean Jenkins (2:10.59), Jazmine Fray (2:03.22) and Brittany Parker (2:09.84). Clemson, runner-up in 8:30.58, countered with Katie Fortner (2:11.43), Kamryn McIntosh (2:03.02), Grace Bennett (2:09.09) and Fellan Ferguson (2:07.05). Baylor finished third in 8:48.44.
The previous meet record of 8:29.77 was set by Texas in 1986 while the facility record of 8:33.21 was established in 2011 by UCLA. Texas A&M’s previous school record was 8:42.42 from 2011.
“It was a good day for the Aggies, we ran to the best of our abilities,” noted Watson. “Its nice breaking records, but getting the collegiate record is always the goal. It was interesting to break a record that old. Knowing that we train every week and we get to show off here and each weekend is really exciting and fun. This is my first Texas Relays, so it was exciting to compete here and win a relay.”
Texas A&M completed a sweep of the 4×800 titles with the men posting a 7:25.17 victory over Clemson (7:26.88) and Arkansas (7:36.14). The Aggies led a majority of the race with a crew of Ian Cazares (1:54.39), Efrain Hernandez (1:50.01), JaQwae Ellison (1:52.27), and Devin Dixon (1:48.51).
While the time for the men ranks as the No. 9 performer on the Texas A&M all-time list, it’s also the seventh Texas Relays title for the Aggies in the 4×800 and the fifth victory since 2011.
“The event is huge I always tell myself the Texas Relays is basically a practice for nationals,” said Dixon. “You need to get ready for that crowd and the competition. It’s going to be solid, you must keep poised and stay with what you have to do.”
Brown connected on a career best throw to win the discus, a year after she claimed the B section title at the Texas Relays. In the fourth round, a heave of 198-1 (60.39) moved Brown from third to first place. That mark improved her previous best of 186-6 (56.84) set last year at the SEC Relays and also bettered her Bahamas national record.
“I’ve been waiting to throw over 60 meters for so long,” stated Brown. “We’ve been working on it in practice. The main thing was a switch in confidence. After I hit that big one, I know I have to stay calm in order to continue with my competition and improve.”
After becoming the second Aggie to win a B section title in the discus a year ago, Brown earned the fifth title by a Texas A&M thrower in the women’s discus. The previous four were all claimed by Aggie school record holder Shelbi Vaughan from 2013 to 2016.
Runner-up to Brown was Tarasue Barnett of Grand Canyon at 194-2 (59.19) and in third was Oklahoma’s Jessica Woodard with a 190-9 (58.14). All three throwers led the competition at one stage.
“I thought I should have been in the A section last year instead of the B,” said Brown. “It felt really good to prove to myself and to whoever was in charge of setting up the flights last year. I deserved to be in the A section, I proved myself.”
The Aggie men cruised to victory in the 4×400 with a time of 3:02.74 over a field that included TCU (3:04.90), Baylor (3:05.09), Clemson (3:05.11), LSU (3:07.61), Houston (3:07.81) and Memphis (3:08.51).
Bryce Deadmon (46.58) and Kyree Johnson (45.91) ran the opening two legs for Texas A&M as the Aggies were sitting third by the second exchange a couple of strides behind TCU and Baylor. A 45.20 carry from Ilolo Izu generated a gap on the field while a 45.06 anchor from Devin Dixon sealed the victory.
“I feel that it shows that Bobby and Mylik are great athletes, but we know that once again we can run our best without certain members because it’s a team effort,” said Dixon. “We just don’t depend on one person, we depend on the entire team and how they want to compete for Texas A&M. There is no one singular star, or two stars, it’s a whole team.”
The Aggie women challenged for a win in the 4×400 and finished second with a 3:33.15 behind Baylor’s 3:31.94. Texas A&M led the field in the early stages and still held an edge on the final exchange with the lineup of Julie Madubuike (53.30), Glorilisha Carter (54.01) and Amber Ivy (52.88).
Jarra Owens (52.76) ran the anchor leg for the Aggies while Baylor’s Kiana Horton moved the Bears into the lead with a 51.21 split. LSU (3:34.70) placed third with Clemson (3:34.96), Kansas (3:36.82), and Arkansas (3:37.27) following.
An elite division of the University pole vault produced a pair of 19-0 ¼ (5.80) vaults for South Dakota’s Chris Nilsen and Devin King of Southeast Louisiana as they placed first and second.
Texas A&M’s Audie Wyatt finished third with a 18-4 ¼ (5.60) clearance as he attempted to match is school record of 18-8 ¼ (5.70) after the field passed at 18-6 ½ (5.65). NCAA Indoor champion Hussain Al Hizam of Kansas was fourth at 18-4 ½.
Sprint relay action had the Aggie women finishing second to LSU in the 4×100 while the Texas A&M men placed sixth in 39.65.
The women ran a season best time of 43.28 with a crew of Amber Ivy, Diamond Spaulding, Brenessa Thompson and Julia Madubuike. LSU won in 42.66, a tenth of second off the meet record of 42.56 that Texas A&M set in 2010 and equaled in 2013.
Running in the Invitational 110m hurdles, Tyler Guillory finished third with a 14.01w (4.3 wind). In the women’s Invitational 100m hurdles, Zharia Moore placed sixth with a 13.72w (3.2 wind).
Garrett Cragin cleared 6-11 ¾ (2.13) in the high jump, placing fifth after his missed three attempts at his career best of 7-1 ¾ (2.18). Jeron Robinson won the event at 7-7 (2.31) while Texas Tech’s Trey Culver was the top collegian at 7-3 ¾ (2.23).
Brenessa Thompson sped to a windy 11.16 (3.7 wind) for sixth place in the women’s 100m final. LSU’s tandem of Aleia Hobbs and Kortnei Johnson went 1-2 with times of 10.86w and 10.98w. In the B section of the discus Celine Markert finished seventh with a toss of 156-3 (47.63).
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics