TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Aggie junior Lindon Victor broke the SEC meet record for a first day score in leading the conference decathlon with 4,309 points on Thursday at the SEC Championships while senior Annie Kunz produced her best first day heptathlon with 3,678 points and is currently in second place.
The first day of league action at Sam Bailey Stadium on the University of Alabama campus included prelims in the 800m, 200m and 400m hurdles and Texas A&M advanced eight athletes to the finals of those events.
Hector Hernandez broke his Aggie school record and the facility record in leading the qualifiers in the 800m as he posted a time of 1:46.25. Shamier Little also bettered the stadium record in leading the qualifiers in the 400m hurdles with a time of 55.29 whileRobert Grant topped the men’s hurdle field with a clocking of 50.13.
Victor’s day started with a career best of 10.72 in the 100m for 924 points. Only Georgia’s Devon Williams, with a 10.70 for 929 points ran faster. In the long jump a mark of 23-3 ¼ (7.09) picked up 835 points. Victor then led the shot put with a toss of 51-7 ¼ (15.73) for 835 points with the next best mark a 49-1 ¾ (14.98) for 788 points by Georgia’s Maicel Uibo.
A 6-7 ½ (2.02) high jump added 822 points for Victor while Uibo cleared 6-11 (2.11) for 906 points and a 10-point lead — 3,426 to 3,416 – through four events. Last year Uibo cleared 7-1 ¾ for 973 points.
Reclaiming the overall lead with a stellar time of 48.33 in the 400m, Victor scored 893 points while Williams clocked 48.51 (885) and Uiba ran 50.97 (770).
Victor’s tally of 4,309 points through five events bettered the SEC first day record of 4,224 set by Uibo last year when he went on to win the SEC title with a championship record of 8,326.
“This was a good day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow when I have some more good events coming up with the discus and javelin,” said Victor. “I was pleased with my performance today. I didn’t practice this past week since I pulled my groin. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the 400m as well as my starts in the 100m.”
Uibo is currently 113 points behind Victor in second place with a score of 4,196 followed by his teammate Williams in third at 4,187. Two more athletes surpassed 4,000 points with Kentucky’s tandem of Ibn Short (4,125) and Tim Duckworth (4,036) in fourth and fifth place.
A career best of 13.54 in the 100m hurdles opened the heptathlon for Kunz, who scored 1,044 points in the event. Then a PR clearance of 5-10 (1.78) in the high jump generated 953 points. With a shot put of 43-1 (13.13), Kunz added 736 points and capped the first day with a 24.37 in the 200m for 945 points.
Her total of 3,678 points betters her previous first day score of 3,654 set in April when she won the California Invitational with a career best score of 5,904.
“Competing today was pretty surreal after Coach Henry talked about the seniors competing in their final conference meet during our team meeting yesterday,” said Kunz. “I’ve been so focused on scoring points for the team, and just trying to perform my best that it didn’t hit me until last night that this is my last conference meet. So, I’m soaking it all in and enjoying every moment I get to wear Texas A&M on my chest.
“I’ve been fighting the 5-10 height all season, so it was really nice to finally get over it. I’m getting more comfortable at those higher heights. Competing in the SEC heptathlon is like a pre-nationals meet. Five or six of us are in the top 10 on the national list this season.”
Defending SEC champion Erica Bougard of Mississippi State, who set the conference record of 6,250 last year, leads the field with 3,776 points. Kunz is in second place, trailing Bougard by 98 points, and followed by five Razorbacks – Alex Gochenour (3,667), Payton Stumbaugh (3,622), Taliyah Brooks (3,590), Leigha Brown (3,498) and Kelsey Herman (3,487).
Aggie Shaina Burns is currently in ninth place with 3,167 points off a 14.66 in the 100m hurdles (887 points), 5-4 ¼ high jump (771), 44-9 ½ shot put (771), and 26.69 in the 200m (738).
The women’s hammer final had Alison Ondrusek picking up a point for Texas A&M with an eighth place effort of 187-6 (57.15). Shelbi Vaughan threw 165-4 (50.41) to place 16th whileCarissa van Beek had three fouls.
The group of eight Aggies who qualified to the finals in the 800m, 400m hurdles and 200m included Hernandez, Donavan Brazier, Jazmine Fray and Katie Willard in the 800m, along with Little, Grant and Jackson Davis in the 400m hurdles as well as Elijah Morrow in the 200m.
In the women’s 800m both Jazmine Fray (2:06.14) and Katie Willard (2:06.92) placed second in their heat to automatically advance to the final as they ran the fifth and sixth best time of the day. Mississippi State’s Marta Freitas led the qualifying with a 2:03.92.
Improving upon his school record of 1:46.29, Hernandez led his heat in the men’s 800m with a 52.13 400m split on the way to a 1:46.25, which bettered the stadium record of 1:47.00 set in 2007 by LSU’s Jamaal James. Hernandez continues to edge closer to the Olympic qualifying standard of 1:46.00. Texas A&M’s JaQwae Ellison placed sixth in the heat with a 1:50.57 to finish 15th overall.
Brazier ran in the first heat of the 800m and led the field through 400m with a 53.23 split and was followed by current collegiate leader Brandon McBride of Mississippi State (53.52) and Dameon Morgan of Mississippi (53.68).
On the stretch run to the finish, McBride won the heat in 1:47.38 while Morgan passed and made contact with Brazier on the inside of lane one at the finish line. Both Morgan and Brazier were given a time of 1:47.55, but a 0.002 edge for Morgan claimed the second place automatic qualification to the final. Brazier, meanwhile, had to advance to the final on time.
Little’s 55.29 bettered the facility record of 55.57 set in 2007 by LSU’s Nickeisha Wilson in dominating her heat of the 400m hurdles. Runner-up to Little was a 56.96 by Tyler Brockington of South Carolina. Aggies Ebony Crear, who set a PR of 58.81, and Lauren Bedrich (1:00.18) raced in the same section with Little, placing fifth and sixth in the heat.
Grant won his heat by a full second with a 50.13 that led all the qualifiers. Davis advance to the final on time with a 52.12 that placed him third in the first heat. Aikan Graham (52.15) and DeWitt Thomas (52.28) finished 11th and 12th overall.
Morrow posted a 20.61 to claim the final place on time in the 200m as a 20.31 by LSU’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake led all qualifiers with a 20.31. In the women’s 200m the Aggie crew of Krystal Sparling (23.02), Brenessa Thompson (23.19), Aaliyah Brown (23.23) andDiamond Spaulding (23.30) finished 12-13-15-17 overall.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics