Team Scores
Men: 1. Texas A&M, 221, 2. Akron, 121; 3. Baylor, 115; 4. UTSA, 106; 5. Texas State, 99; 6. TCU, 47.
Women: 1. Texas A&M, 222; 2. Baylor, 165; 3. Akron, 100.5; 4. UTSA, 91; 5. Texas State, 89.5; 6. TCU, 68.
SAN ANTONIO – Texas A&M swept team titles at the Ricardo Romo Invitational with the No. 2 Aggie men scoring 221 points while the No. 5 A&M women produced 222. Among a dozen victories on Saturday, three collegiate leading marks for this outdoor season were established by Shelbi Vaughan in the discus, Robert Grant in the 400m hurdles and the men’s 4×400 relay.
Vaughan won the discus with a throw of 194-5 (59.25) and bettered the stadium record of 182-10 she set in 2014. Runner-up to Vaughan was Baylor’s Cion Hicks with a toss of 166-7. A&M’s Celine Markert placed fourth with a mark of 156-5.
“I worked really hard this past week,” noted Vaughan. “I was not very satisfied with last weekend, since 180-2 is not a very good throw for me period. Even back in my senior year of high school I wouldn’t have very satisfied with that being a season opener.
“So throwing 194-5 today was exciting and I’m really glad to be back on my level. I have my groove back and feel like I’m throwing like I should be once again.”
Robert Grant rallied to edge UTSA’s Jurmarcus Shelvin in the 400m hurdles as both clocked 50.21 seconds to currently share the collegiate leading time this season. The difference between them was 50.206 to 50.210 in favor of Grant, who moves to No. 9 on the A&M all-time list. Grant improved his previous career best of 51.16 set in 2014 during his senior season of high school.
UTSA’s Randolph Bermea finished third in 50.88 while a trio of Aggies placed 4-5-6 with Aikan Graham(52.07), Kris Brander (51.18) and Dewitt Thomas (53.06).
“I’ve known Jurmarcus for a couple of years now,” said Grant. “Even indoors earlier this season our first race at 400m was a close finish as well that he edged me out and won. It’s always nice to go to someone else’s home track and win, especially when it’s against a great competitor. I knew it was going to be a fast race today, since Bermea was in the race as well from UTSA. I had to run with some heart and try to edge him out at the end.
“It’s special to get a PR for the first time in two years since I’ve had a long road to this point. I had a lot of injuries last year and I wasn’t sure if I’d be running this season since I broke my foot during the summer. Special thanks goes out to the coaching staff as well as to Bralon Taplin. When I was hurt I came to him and asked if he would run with me in my workouts. He welcomed me in and let me run with him. It was really nice for him to take me in under his wing like that, I really appreciated it.”
In the men’s 4×400 relay a strong anchor leg by Fred Kerley (45.5 split) moved A&M in front of Baylor down the homestretch. The Aggies ran 3:04.99 with Baylor runner-up in 3:05.23 as both ran faster than the 3:05.75 A&M produced last weekend. The first three legs for the Aggies included Deon Hickey, Grant andIlolo Izu.
Jeff Bartlett claimed the men’s discus with a career best toss of 188-4 (57.41), moving to No. 10 on the A&M all-time list. Runner-up was Baylor’s Desmine Hilliard with a 185-7 (56.57) while Akron’s Phillip Jagers finished third with a 183-2 (55.84). A&M’s Brody Gowing placed sixth with a 165-6 (50.45).
Audrey Malone led an A&M 1-2-3 finish in the javelin with a winning toss of 169-10. Krystyn Bradleyfollowed with a 157-4 while Madalaine Stulce finished third with a 146-1. Annie Kunz placed seventh with a mark of 127-2.
In the men’s javelin, Texas A&M grad Sam Humphreys opened his season with a winning mark of 251-5 (76.64).
Devin Jenkins won the 200m in 20.69 (0.9 wind) with Elijah Greer third in 21.13. Krystal Sparling had a slightly windy 23.25 (2.1 wind) as runner-up in the women’s 200m to Baylor’s Taylor Bennett (23.23).
The Aggie women went 1-2-3 in the 400m and 2-3-4 in the 100m. Briyahna Desrosiers clocked 53.65 ahead of teammates Jarra Owens (54.52) and Glorilisha Carter (55.29). Desrosiers moves to No. 12 on the Aggie all-time list.
Baylor’s Kiana Horton won the 100m in a windy 11.31 (2.1 wind) with A&M’s trio of Aaliyah Brown (11.40),Brenessa Thompson (11.43) and Diamond Spaulding (11.44) following her.
In the 4×100 relay the A&M women posted a winning time of 44.51 over Baylor’s 44.63 with a foursome of Spaulding, Sparling, Thompson and Brown. The women’s 4×400 squad finished second in 3:40.29 behind a 3:37.97 for Baylor. The Aggie quartet included Owens, Spaulding, Ebony Crear and Carter.
The Aggie men’s B squad claimed victory in 40.30 over Texas State’s 40.34. A&M first squad didn’t complete the second pass of the baton. Running on the winning crew were Will Williams, Lathone Collie,Aaron Sims and Hickey. Sims later posted a 10.58 as runner-up in the 100.
Texas A&M enjoyed a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the men’s 1500m with Austin Wells earning the victory as he clocked 3:52.16, which clipped his previous PR of 3:52.19 set last year. Nathan Ricketts ran 3:52.83 as runner-up with Ryan Teel (3:53.32) and Elliott Farris (3:54.00) finishing third and fourth.
In the women’s 1500m the Aggies finished 3-4-5 with the trio of Katie Watson (4:37.96), Lauren Fontana(4:39.83) and Laura Craig (4:41.09).
Blake Chiuminetta led the A&M 800m crew with a runner-up time of 1:53.40 as Ian Cazares finished fourth in 1:53.71. In the women’s 800m a 2:15.72 by Miah Nelson placed her fourth overall.
Both Carl Johansson and Jacob Wooten cleared 16-6 ¾ in the pole vault, placing second and fourth.Garrett Cragin cleared 6-10 ¾ for third place in the high jump as Sam McSwain finished sixth with a 6-8 ¾. In the women’s pole vault Sara Kathryn Stevens made it over 12-7 ½ to place fourth.
Crear ran 13.80 in the 100m hurdles as runner-up with Chineyer Njoku third with a 13.84. Crear later ran 1:00.79 as runner-up in the 400m hurdles with Lauren Bedrich third in 1:01.02.
Colin Stoeber won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 6:04.65 with teammate Taylor Clayton placing third with a 6:18.53. In the 3,000m the Aggie men finished 1-2-3 with Jacob Perry (8:42.71), Juan Uribe (8:43.23) and Julian Castellano (8:45.76). The A&M women placed 3-4-5 in the 3,000m with Kelsey Persyn (10:23.10),Devin Norton (10:31.14) and Kaitlin Tanner (10:36.30).