No. 1 A&M women win New Balance Collegiate, No. 5 men finish fourth

Two more school records fall at Armory in New York City

Feb. 7, 2009

NEW YORK CITY - A team title and two more school records capped the Aggies track and field weekend at the Armory as they competed in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Saturday.

With a two-point advantage over Baylor heading into the final event of the meet, the No. 1 ranked Texas A&M women just needed to finish ahead of the Bears in the 4 x 400 relay to secure the team title.

In a three-section final LSU and UCLA posted times of 3:38.84 and 3:39.24 in the second race to secure the top two positions. A&M led through the middle two legs of the relay as they competed in the final section. Seton Hall moved into the lead on the final lap and finished third overall with a 3:39.72.

Aggie anchor leg Brittany Machacek crossed the line next in front of Baylor for a 3:39.90-3:40.63 edge as they two teams finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The first three legs for A&M consisted of Allison George, Jessica Beard and Sandy Wooten.

The final team standings had Texas A&M totaling 72 points for the first-place trophy while Baylor finished second with 67. Connecticut placed third with 56 points ahead of BYU (49), North Carolina (45) and LSU (43).

It was the second time in three years for the Aggie women to capture the team title in New York.

The A&M men scored 55 points, with 27 coming from the triple jump near the end of the meet, to place fourth in the team standings. Baylor won the meet with 65 points ahead of the 60 produced by LSU. Texas scored 59.5 as Oregon rounded out the top five with 40 points.

"We came to this track meet and tried to line people up in what we thought we were capable of doing at this track meet," Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said. "If we would have lined up to score points, then we might have done some things different. We're just 10 points out on the men's side and our women win for a second time here.

"We came out of it healthy, which is huge for us right now. When we compete hard and come out healthy that is big time for us."

In the men's final event a third-place finish by the Aggie men in the 4 x 400 relay resulted in a season best time of 3:09.68 with the foursome of Tran Howell, Bryan Miller, Chris Dykes and Justin Oliver.

Two school records in the triple jump were significant highlights on day two of the meet for Texas A&M. The event produced three NCAA automatic qualifying marks for Zuheir Sharif, Julian Reid and Yasmine Regis.

"They're excited to jump," said A&M assistant coach Jim VanHootegem. "They like to jump and compete as a team. Plus having them compete at the same time, on side-by-side runways, allows each group to feed off each other and help one another."

Regis broke the school record twice in leaping to a winning distance of 44-4 ¼ (13.52). Regis bettered an 11-year-old record held by Detrich Clariett, who produced a 43-7 ¾ (13.30) during the 1998 NCAA Championships.

Sharif, who tied the school record during the A&M vs. UT Dual in January, claimed the mark all for his self with a winning leap of 53-11 (16.43). He led a 1-2-3-6 effort by the Aggies in the event.

"It's a mental game," explained Shariif. "At home you feel sheltered and a bit like you're in a cocoon in front of a lot of people who care about you. When you come to the Big Apple you have a lot of guys who are salivating over jumping really far. It's a matter of maintaining a certain level of calmness and cool.

"It wasn't a matter of wanting to PR. it was more of a matter of wanting to do things right, which would eventually set the precedent to set a PR. It's trail and error."

Reid was runner-up with a distance of 52-11 ½ (16.14) while Tyron Stewart finished third with a mark of 52-7 ½ (16.04). Melvin Echard produced a 51-8 ½ (15.76) for sixth place.

In addition to Sharif's school record, Reid and Echard also achieved indoor career best marks. Reid is now No. 4 on the Aggie all-time indoor list while Echard moves to No. 9.

Among her series Regis first broke the school record with a 44-3 ¼ jump. She paced a 1-4-6-7 effort by A&M in the event.

"I wanted the school record and I finally got it my senior year," noted Regis, who claimed the outdoor school record last season. "It means a lot to me. I've been jumping well, but never quite past that 13.20 (43-3) mark.

"Being a senior has allowed my body to adapt to the length of the season for me. I understand now that typically college students here finish their season at the national championships, but I go home to England and compete the rest of the summer. So training becomes a key part of my jumping."

Vashti Thomas moved to No. 4 on the Aggie all-time indoor list with a 42-8 (13.00) effort to place fourth. On Friday her debut long jump with A&M made her the No. 2 performer on the A&M all-time indoor list.

"Coming here I felt a little bit at home, I was familiar with the facility from competing in national high school championships," Thomas said. "Doing well in this type of meet builds my confidence. I did a lot better than I expected.

"It's a lot different, though, being here on the college level. There are so many athletes competing, plus they are all so good. You just can't go into an event knowing you're going to beat everybody. You have to try really hard every time."

Ashika Charan (42-1 ¼) and Angela Thomas (41-7 ¾) were sixth and seventh for the Aggies. Tiffany Peters placed fourth in the college triple jump with an effort of 40-2 ¼ (12.25).

Beard matched her school record time from Friday in placing third in the 400 final. Beard led the field at 200m and maintained an edge until the final curve.

As Hampton's Francena McCorory attempted to take over the lead she bumped Beard. So did Oklahoma's Leslie Cole. As a result of the harsher first bump, Beard stepped on the rail and lost her stride for a step or two.

McCorory claimed the win in 52.06 with Cole getting second in 52.33. Beard regrouped and maintained enough pace to finish third and recorded another 52.44 to equal the school record she established the previous day in the qualifying heats.

Porscha Lucas raced to second place in the 200 with a 23.44, just off her season best of 23.38. Baylor's Tiffany Townsend claimed first with a 23.31, which took over the world leading time from Lucas.

Gabby Mayo cruised to a 23.57 time for fourth place to better her season best of 23.60. George finished fifth with a 23.58.

Miller placed sixth in the men's 400 final, running a 48.25. In the men's 200 final Howell placed seventh in 21.46 on his debut weekend with the Aggies and Oliver finished 10th in 21.67.

The Championship mile had Nick Toohey placing fourth in the first of two sections, running a time of 4:08.24 that placed 11th overall. In the men's college mile Matt Ross led the field for a couple of laps before finishing second in his heat with a 4:11.28 to take third overall.

Consolation finals on Friday also included a runner-up 60-meter finish for George in 7.38 seconds. De'Lon Isom recorded an 8.02 for third in the 60 hurdles.

In other Saturday finals Deidre Tarver placed 10th in the weight throw with a toss of 54-11 ½ (16.75). Christina Munoz ran 10:01.63 for 10th in the 3,000.

Prelim times in the women's 200 included winning heat marks for Lucas (23.76), George (23.56), Mayo (23.52), and Elizabeth Adeoti (24.65). Runner-up efforts included Khrystal Carter (24.50), Dominique Duncan (24.52).

In the prelims of the men's 200 wins were posted by Oliver (21.61) and Dominique Stafford (21.94) while runner-up finishers were turned in by Dykes (21.85) and Howell (21.57). Dykes re-ran later in the prelims, producing a 21.42 winning mark.

Printer-friendly format

Email this article