TEMPE, Arizona – A monster heave of 198 feet in the javelin by Maggie Malone broke the Texas A&M school record and became the early U.S. leader this season. Malone broke the school record twice among the three attempts she had in winning the event at the 20th annual Baldy Castillo Invitational.
The distance for Malone moves her to No. 3 on the all-time collegiate list and No. 2 on the U.S. collegiate list behind marks of 202-10 by Irina Kharun of Indiana in 2003 and 202-0 by Purdue’s Kara Winger in 2008. On the American all-time list Malone is currently No. 5.
After fouling a huge first attempt that surpassed 200 feet, Malone’s second throw measured 186-0 (56.70), which bettered the Aggie school record of 185-7 (56.57) set by Katy Doyle in 2004. In the third round Malone launched her 198-0 (60.36) winning toss, which currently ranks No. 10 in the world.
Malone added 21 feet to the previous meet record of 177-9 (54.18) set last year by Oklahoma’s Elizabeth Herrs, who placed third in this weekend’s competition with a 174-0 (53.05). Sooner teammate Avione Allgood challenged Malone with a 182-8 (55.69) as the runner-up.
“This is what every thrower hopes for when opening the season,” said Malone, who had a best of 171-10 last season and her previous career best was 181-8 from 2014. “We’ve been cooped up for so long since our last competition, we were ready to go today. All of us had great day today with all the girls throwing a PR.
“This past semester I really focused on getting a sharp left plant and staying closed. Plus, I was super relaxed this meet, which wasn’t the case in any meet last year. In competing against the Oklahoma throwers I didn’t realize they were there today, but last year I always knew when they were at the same meet. I kind of focused on them more than myself. That’s changed this year, I want to focus more on me and my teammates.”
Personal best throws in the women’s javelin for Texas A&M also included Audrey Malone (171-7) in fourth place and Krystyn Bradley in sixth place (160-7). Audrey, younger sister of Maggie, moved to No. 7 on the Aggie all-time list.
Ioannis Kyriazis also had a big winning throw in the men’s javelin as his 255-8 (77.92) sealed the victory. He was just shy of his career best 257-3 that won the SEC title last spring. Teammate Sam Hardin placed fifth with a 237-2 (72.30) career best that moved him to No. 8 on the A&M all-time list.
Fred Kerley‘s 20.61 victory in the 200m broke the meet record of 20.72 set in 2004 by Arizona State’s Lewis Banda while Audie Wyatt matched his outdoor career best of 18-0 ½ (5.50) to win the pole vault and better the meet record of 17-8 ½ (5.40) set in 2014 by Minnesota’s Zach Siegmier.
“The 200 today was to get my mark for my first 400 outdoors this season,” stated Kerly, who had a previous best of 20.74w in the event. “I primarily ran the 200 in high school and didn’t start running the 400 until college.”
Wyatt noted: “I’ll take 18-0 ½ to open the outdoor season. I know I’m on track to do great things. I knew from the heights I reached indoors that if I maintained what I’ve been doing so far this season then I’d be able to get it done today. I just had to make sure my form was good.”
Will Williams claimed the long jump with a wind-aided leap of 25-9 ¼ (7.85) that surpassed the meet record of 25-2 ½ (7.68) set in 2012 by Aaron Hill. Williams had a wind legal mark of 25-0 ¾ (7.64) in his series.
Aggie individual wins were also produced by Krystal Sparling in the 100 (11.38), Jazmine Fray in the women’s 400 (54.71), Deon Hickey in the men’s 400 (46.51), Robert Grant in the 400 hurdles (51.37), Karis Jochen in the women’s 3,000m (9:55.70), Christian Farris in the men’s 3,000m (8:38.20), and Jeffrey Prothro in the triple jump (50-11 ½).
“I was very excited to run the 100, since I’m a better outdoor runner,” said Sparling, who has a best of 11.34 from high school. “I was surprised that I ran that fast in the first race outdoors. I’m happy with the time and excited, I just can’t wait to see what else happens this season.”
The Aggie men’s 4×800 relay won in 7:21.43 to break the meet record of 7:29.56 set by Kentucky in 2005. The A&M foursome included Efrain Hernandez (1:50.6), Donavan Brazier (1:50.6), JaQwae Ellison (1:52.3) and Hector Hernandez (1:47.9). The winning time is No. 4 on the A&M all-time list with the No. 5 performance.
Texas A&M also placed second in the 4×800 with a 7:39.24 from the crew of Nathan Ricketts, Ryan Teel,Austin Wells and Alex Riba. Arizona State placed third in 7:44.93 with Iowa fourth in 7:54.10.
Relay wins were also posted by the Aggies in the men’s 4×100 and 4×400 as well as the women’s 4×400. In the sprint relay the quartet of Reggie Garner, Kerley, Elijah Morrow and Devin Jenkins posted a winning time of 39.17 seconds over Iowa (39.73), Kentucky (39.85) and South Dakota (40.15). A second A&M crew placed fifth in 40.27 with Grant, Latario Collie, Aaron Sims and Lathone Collie.
The line-up for the men’s 4×400, which won in 3:05.75, included Grant (46.4), Hickey (46.6), Richard Rose(47.15), and Kerley (45.59). They defeated Iowa (3:09.29), Minnesota (3:10.09) and a second Aggie crew (3:10.71), which included Kris Brander, Daniel Martin, Dewitt Thomas and Aikan Graham.
A winning time of 3:37.34 for the A&M women was generated by Sparling (54.7), Fray (55.1), Jarra Owens(54.21) and Briyahna Desrosiers (53.32). They defeated Oklahoma (3:48.49) and a second group of Aggies, who clocked 3:41.82 with the foursome of Lauren Bedrich, Diamond Spaulding, Katie Willard andGlorilisha Carter.
The A&M women posted the top time in the 4×100 with a 43.41, but were disqualified for passing out of the zone. A second crew of Aggies in the race were also handed a dq for the same offense.
Shelbi Vaughan opened with a 180-2 (54.91) effort in the discus as she finished second to a 181-11 (55.46) throw by Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen. Celine Markert‘s debut in the discus resulted in a throw of 161-11 (49.37), which is No. 9 on the A&M all-time list, as she finished eighth.
In the men’s discus Jeff Bartlett placed third with a career best toss of 184-5 (56.23) and he was sixth in the shot put with a 55-2 ¾ (16.83).
Brenessa Thompson ran 11.47 to finish as runner-up to Sparling in the 100 while Spaulding finished sixth (11.52). Thompson led the A&M crew in the 200m with a 23.37 runner-up effort. Ebony Crear finished second in the women’s 400 hurdles with a 59.78 while Bedrich placed third (1:00.22).
Jenkins ran the 100m in 10.33 to place third behind two post-collegians. He was the top collegian with Oklahoma’s Traveyon Armstrong (10.35) and Arizona State’s Isiah Underwood (10.36) in second and third.Elijah Morrow ran 20.80 in the same heat with Kerley to place third and finish as the second best collegian.
Ellison led the Aggie group in the 800m after the 4×800 win, placing fourth with a 1:51.53. Four other A&M hurdlers followed Grant’s victory in the 400m hurdles as Brander (52.31), Thomas (52.57), Jackson Davis(52.60) and Graham (52.63) placed fourth through seventh.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics