COLLEGE STATION – Three school records and a trio of meet records highlighted the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational in front of 2,129 fans at Gilliam Indoor Track on Saturday as the Aggies swept the team titles.
Texas A&M men scored 208 points while the Aggie women totaled 191.5. The women’s field included Clemson (118), Baylor (116), UTEP (67), Texas State (60), Rice (51), TCU (26) and Houston (21.5). Scoring in the men’s field included Texas State and Clemson with 84 points each followed by Baylor (68), UTEP (46), Rice (42), Houston (32), and TCU (24).
School records were broken by Austin Cook in the weight throw and Hillary Montgomery in the women’s mile while Isaac Spencer equaled the men’s mile record.
Montgomery placed third in a very competitive mile won by Maggie Montoya of Baylor in 4:40.37. Another Bear, Rachel Johnson, finished second in 4:43.86 while Montgomery ran 4:43.98 to eclipse the 4:45.84 A&M record set by Natosha Rogers in 2012. A&M’s Laura Craig won another section of the mile in 5:03.68 to place seventh overall.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” stated Montgomery. “I watched Natosha break that record when I was a freshman and all what she accomplished that season. It’s an incredible feeling to reaching the same times she was at this point of the year.
“It’s exciting to see my progression from cross country to indoor track this season. I’m not training like a miler at all. I’ve been doing 5,000 and 10,000 meters training. This was totally unexpected. My previous best was 4:51 so to get that far under 4:50 was amazing.”
The men’s mile came down to a spirited race between teammates Spencer and Cameron Villarreal. Alex Riba supplied pacing in the stages, and Villarreal took over the lead late in the race to quicken the pace again.
Spencer charged to the finish and crossed the line in 4:00.41, exactly matching the school record established by Henry Lelei in 2013, as Villarreal placed second with a 4:01.25, the No. 3 mark on the Aggie all-time list. UTEP’s Cosmas Boit ran 4:04.54 for third while another A&M pair, Austin Wells (4:08.44) and Aaron Murray (4:10.51), were fourth and fifth.
“I really don’t know how that happened,” noted Spencer, who had a previous best of 4:07.42. “On the straightaway and even at the finish I was looking at the clock. When I saw my time I looked up on the wall to see Henry’s record and it was the same exact time.
“That’s a huge PR for me and before the race Henry was telling me he was hoping I would break it. Now I hope we can both get our pictures up on the wall. This was sweet for me as a senior, running in my last meet in this facility.”
Cook produced his school record effort in the third round as a 67-7 (20.60) mark bettered the Aggie record of 66-9.75 (20.36) set by Casey Strong in 2013. Cook also matched his previous career best of 66-1 in the fifth round. Texas State’s tandem of Darian Brown (66-3.75) and Jordan Huckaby (65-10.25) finished second and third while A&M’s Ben Skrla (59-0) placed fifth.
“It was really nice to get the record, especially since a lot of my coaching comes from my friend and former teammate Casey Strong,” said Cook. “Last week I had a pretty tough week, but I came back with a PR and also got a school record. I still need a few more feet before I’m satisfied so I can make the nationals field.”
Shavez Hart reclaimed the world-leading time in the 200 meters as his 20.57 broke the meet record of 20.68 set by Deon Lendore last season. Lendore and Kamaria Brown each took down meet records in the 400 meters. Lendore posted a 45.68 to better a time of 45.81 set by A&M’s Tabarie Henry in 2010 while Brown clocked 52.32 and broke her own meet record of 52.73 set last season.
Racing against Tevin Hester of Clemson and Cameron Burrell of Houston, Hart sped to his winning time of 20.57 over a 20.97 from Hester while Burrell ran 21.58. Hart moves to No. 3 on the Aggie all-time list as he equaled the No. 5 performance. Placing fourth and fifth in the race were A&M’s Gregory Coleman (21.28) and Deon Hickey (21.38).
“Last year when Deon set the meet record he beat me in that race and talked a lot of trash,” noted Hart. “This was my vengeance to erase him from the 200. When I ran a world leading time a couple of weeks ago it gave me a little taste of success and made me hungrier.
“This was my last collegiate meet at home, so I wanted to go out with a bang in front of the people that know me best.”
Earlier in the meet Hart won the 60 meters in 6.67 ahead of a 6.78 for Baylor’s Malik Wilson and a 6.82 by TCU’s Kolby Listenbee. Aggie Devin Jenkins also ran 6.82 in fourth place.
Lendore cruised to a comfortable 45.68 in the same section with Baylor’s George Caddick (46.54) and Clemson’s Michael Cheeks (46.74), who placed second and third overall. In the women’s 400 Brown ran 52.32 to top a field that included Baylor’s Raena Rhone (52.80) as well as Clemson’s duo of Natoya Goule (53.33) and Olivia James (53.73).
The Aggie women enjoyed a pair of 1-2-3 efforts in the 60 and 200 meters. Olivia Ekpone led the A&M sweep in the women’s 60 meters with a winning time of 7.39 as India Daniels (7.50) and Ashton Purvis (7.52) placed second and third. Shamier Little’s 23.48 led the charge in the 200 with Aaliyah Brown (23.75) and Jennifer Madu (23.96) following.
Brea Garrett produced her fourth win of the season in the weight throw with a 70-4.25 (21.44) toss that bettered the field by seven feet. Alison Ondrusek improved to 60-5.75 (18.43) in placing third as she moved to No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list. Shelbi Vaughan had a 55-3 (16.84) to finish fifth.
In the shot put Garrett placed second as her PR of 53-6.25 (16.31) finished behind a 55-0 mark by Claire Uke of Rice. Garrett moves to No. 2 on the A&M all-time list with the No. 6 performance.
A 1-2 finish for the Aggies in the men’s 800 had Josh Hernandez (1:48.73) and Hector Hernandez (1:49.03) each setting an indoor career best. Josh is now No. 4 on the A&M all-time list while Hector is No. 5.
Katie Willard recorded the second fastest time in A&M history with a 2:08.48 that placed her fourth in the 800 meters. Willard’s previous best was a 2:09.36 from last season. The school record of 2:07.27 set in 2002 by Angeles Pantoja was run on an oversized track at Notre Dame. Aggie Karina Buerk finished seventh in the race with a 2:12.29 that moves her to No. 7 on the A&M all-time list.
Over 3,000 meters the Aggie tandem of Grace Fletcher and Karis Jochen challenged UTEP’s Joan Jepkirui, who won the race in 9:28.96. Fletcher posted a 9:32.13 as runner-up while Jochen placed third in 9:33.21, moving to No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list.
Sam McSwain established an indoor career best of 6-11 in the high jump for second place to a 7-0.25 effort by Clemson’s Torian Ware. McSwain, clearing his heights on one attempt until three misses at 7-0.25, first equaled his previous best of 6-9.75 before getting over 6-11 to equal the No. 8 mark on the all-time list at A&M.
Olabanji Asekun won the long jump at 24-4.25, nearing his indoor best of 24-6.5. Aggie newcomer Latario Collie took top honors in the triple jump with a 53-1.75 (16.20) effort that places him at No. 5 on the A&M all-time list. His twin brother Lathone had three fouls in the competition. Jena Hemann won the open high jump (5-7.75) after winning the pentathlon on Friday.
In the pole vault a clearance of 13-3.5 (4.05) had Sara Kathryn Stevens placing second to Baylor’s Annie Rhodes (13-11.25 | 4.25). Stevens moved to equal No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list with the No. 9 performance.
A close battle in the women’s 4×400 had Clemson taking the win with a 3:34.77 over a 3:34.91 for the Aggies as Baylor (3:41.79) and UTEP (3:42.15) finished third and fourth. Goule anchored the Tigers relay in 52.17 while Ekpone supplied A&M with a 52.84 split. The rest of the Aggie line-up included K. Brown (53.39), Little (53.45) and Purvis (55.23).
The men’s 4×400 edged out Clemson 3:11.14 to 3:11.74 with UTEP third from another section in 3:11.99. The A&M crew consisted of Coleman, Jenkins, H. Hernandez and Deon Hickey, who anchored the squad in 46.82.
The men’s vault had all three A&M entrants clearing 16-5.26 as Chase Wolfle and Audie Wyatt tied for third place and Carl Johansson finished fifth. Rice’s Chris Pillow won the event with an 18-1 (5.51) performance.
In completing the heptathlon Aggie newcomer Lindon Victory placed second with 4,936 points while Daniel Martin finished third with a 4,904 score. The event was won by Henry Vildosola with 5,346 points.