Aggie frosh Sam Humphreys wins javelin with career best 240-3

Laura Asimakis wins pole vault with personal best of 12-11

	Sam Humphreys wins javelin with a 240-3 PR

March 19, 2010

CAROLINA, Puerto Rico - After seven months of training, Texas A&M frosh Sam Humphreys finally saw action in the javelin on Friday during the Aggies first outdoor meet of 2010 and he produced a career best of 240 feet, 3 inches to win with a meet record at the 5th annual Carolina Spring Break Classic.

Action continues on Saturday at 10 a.m. (EST) at the Basilio Rodriguez Track and Field Stadium, which is located in the Roberto Clemente Sport Complex. Results from the meet can be found at the website: www.sodmpr.com with a link to the Carolina Spring Break Classic.

Entering the collegiate ranks with a high school personal best of 230-8, Humphreys made quick work on improving that mark. His first round toss measured 237-3 (72.33) and had Humphreys trailing a 239-4 (72.94) from meet record holder Arley Ibarguen of Puerto Rico.

"I've been waiting for this since we started training last August," Humphreys said. "Even waiting through the indoor season, I've been itching to throw. I've seen my form progress so much in training I just love throwing that far in my first meet. I'm pretty excited to see how the season goes now."

In the second of just three rounds of throwing, Humphreys reached 232-4 (70.83), while Ibarguen followed his opening effort with two fouls. So on his final throw Humphreys claimed the win and established a new collegiate leader in the early stages of the outdoor season.

In adding over 17 feet to the previous collegiate leading mark of 222-9 (67.89), set by East Carolina's Matthew McConaughey, Humphreys also moved to No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list.

"That's a pretty good throw for this earlier in the outdoor season," noted A&M assistant coach Juan De La Garza. "It was probably better that they were limited to three throws today. That way he doesn't get too carried away in his first meet.

"It was also great he had some competition in the 230 range from a local thrower. It's still a long season, since the main meet is in June. That is what we have to shoot for, but that is a great start. Any time you open with a 10 foot PR, that's a great start."

Joining Humphreys in setting a personal best was Laura Asimakis, who won the pole vault with a clearance of 12-11 (3.94). Asimakis remains No. 2 on the Aggie all-time list and now has the fourth best performance.

Earlier in the afternoon Asimakis placed third in the javelin with a toss of 157-6 (48.00) behind teammate and runner-up Emalie Humphreys, the older sister of Sam.

Emalie Humphreys opened her outdoor campaign with a mark of 158-5 (48.29) to place second behind a 163-9 (49.93) from Coralys Ortiz of Federacion in Puerto Rico. Hillary Pustka was part of an Aggie 2-3-4 finish as her 154-1 (46.97) placed fourth. All four throwers bettered the meet record of 147-10 (45.06) previously set by Ortiz in 2007.

Also in the javelin were two A&M heptathletes. Daphne Fitzpatrick placed 13th with a toss of 121-6 (37.02) while Bonnie Richardson finished 14th with a mark of 116-5 (35.48). Those efforts would be worth 611 and 581 points, respectively, in the heptathlon scoring tables.

In the men's javelin A&M's Jon Gomez placed seventh with a mark of 187-2 (57.04) while decathlete Trinity Otto finished 12th with a toss of 167-4 (51.00), worth 603 points in the dec scoring tables.

The Aggies swept the top three positions in the men's pole vault. Colton Sandman and Kaleb Shrader each cleared 15-1 (4.60), with Sandman claiming the win based on fewer misses. Brett Bennett placed third with a 14-9 (4.50) clearance.

Aly Daily placed second in the women's pole vault behind Asimakis by clearing 11-1 3/4 (3.40).

Deidre Tarver produced a mark of 167-2 (50.95) as a safety throw after opening with two fouls. Then she was notified that the competition only lasted three rounds instead of going to the usual set of another final three rounds.

The men's hammer had Cole Knuth placing fifth at 173-5 (52.86) while Landon Hartwick finished sixth with a 163-5 (49.82). Knuth moved to No. 4 on the A&M all-time list while Hartwick moves to No. 5.

Cameron Alexander finished fourth in the high jump, clearing 6-6 3/4 (2.00). Jimmy Welin ran 34:52.73 for ninth place in the 10,000 meters.

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