AUSTIN – Texas A&M’s first victory on day three of the 88th Texas Relays came from sophomore Jeffrey Prothro in the B division of the triple jump as he produced a career best of 50-8 ¾ (15.46) to better a field of 15 jumpers.
“It’s all about improvement and competing against myself,” noted Prothro. “I compete against myself first and then the competition. It’s great to get outdoors and to the Texas Relays, which is a great meet. It was a great day to compete and I’m happy with my performance today.”
A first round mark of 49-3 by Prothro claimed the early lead and he maintained it throughout the competition. In round two Prothro improved to 49-8 ½ and then went 50-6 ¾ in the third stanza after a challenge from David Oluwadara of Boston University, who briefly took the lead at 50-0 ¾ and finished second overall with that mark.
“I wanted to get out and take the lead,” said Prothro. “I kind of like it when guys have to chase me, so getting out in front early is always a good thing. I was able to relax and jump how I like to jump instead of chasing a distance.”
Following a foul in round four, Prothro hit his winning distance of 50-8 ¾ in round five and closed out the event with a 49-10 on his final attempt.
“This is really encouraging, it’s only March and I’ve already matched my PR from last season. I’m starting early and looking forward to improving every meet.”
This marks the fourth Texas Relays triple jump title for the Aggies since 2009 and the first B division win. Previous A&M winners included Julian Reid in 2009 and 2011 as well as Zuheir Sharif in 2010.
Last season, Prothro placed ninth in the B division of the Texas Relays with a 48-11 ½ distance. During the course of the outdoor season in his freshman campaign, Prothro established a wind-aided best of 50-8 ¼ (15.45) and a legal best of 50-2 ¾ (15.31). He went on to place ninth in the SEC Championships as well as the USATF Junior Championships.
Texas A&M men’s 4×100 relay led qualifying with a time of 39.49 as Deon Lendore passed TCU in the final stages of the prelim race for the heat victory. TCU finished second in 39.54 and posted the second best qualifying time. The first three legs of the Aggie 4×100 included Gregory Coleman, Shavez Hart and Bralon Taplin.
The rest of the field qualifying for the Saturday finals included LSU (39.58), Baylor (39.82), Clemson (40.11), South Plains (40.12), West Texas College (40.24), Auburn (40.43) and UT-Arlington (40.55).
Texas A&M women won their heat of the 4×100 in 44.26 to post the second fastest qualifying time behind a 44.01 by Texas. The other finalists included LSU (44.74), Purdue (44.97), Louisiana Tech (45.25), UNLV (45.68), Notre Dame (45.70), Clemson (45.75) and Texas Tech (45.75).
Javelin competition for the Aggies had Ioannis Kyriazis finishing fourth in the men’s event with a best of 226-8 (69.10) while teammate Devin Bogert placed eighth with a 223-1 (68.01). Maggie Malone finished seventh in the women’s event with a toss of 166-5 (50.73), which moved her to No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list.
The B division of the women’s pole vault had Emily Gunderson tying for fourth with a clearance of 13-1 ½ (4.00), which moved her to equal No. 4 on the A&M all-time list with Aly Daily and current teammate Sara Kathryn Stevens. Misses at 13-7 ¼ (4.15) knocked out Gunderson, who finished in a three-way tie for fourth place.
A clearance of 12-7 ½ (3.85) had Stevens finishing in a four-way tie for 10th place, while Brittany Wooten missed the opening height.
Jena Hemann contested the high jump after her record performance in the heptathlon on Thursday and was involved in a seven-way tie for seventh place in clearing 5-7 ¼ (1.71) in the B division.
Prelims in the 100 meters produced three finalists for the Aggies with Shavez Hart winning his heat in 10.39 while Aaliyah Brown (11.69) and Jennifer Madu (11.54) each finished second in their respective heats of the women’s 100.
Running in the prelims of the 100 hurdles were A&M’s heptathlon pair of Ashtin Zamzow (14.63) and Shaina Burns (15.66).
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics