Thursday, January 17, 2019

Texas A&M Triangular has Aggies hosting TCU and UTEP on Saturday

COLLEGE STATION (JANUARY17, 2019) Saturday’s Texas A&M Triangular will have the Aggies hosting TCU and UTEP in a dual scored meet at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. Field events begin at 1:15 p.m., with running events starting at 1:30 p.m. and the meet will conclude by 4 p.m.

Team scoring in the triangular will have only two athletes per school scoring in individual events, based on scoring system of 7-5-4-3-2-1 points for the top six places, while relays will be scored 7-5-4 with only one relay per team scoring.

“We have TCU and UTEP in this weekend for a triangular meet and it will be a two and a half hour track meet,” noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “It’s a good field and we will have some great events.

“I was pleased with how the team performed and reacted to the competition last weekend. We had some really good performances and we also have some people trying to figure out what they need to do to get better.”

Since opening the venue in 2009 Texas A&M has hosted a dual, triangular or quadrangular meet on this weekend except for 2017 when they held a seven-team invitational. The Aggie men are undefeated in dual meet scored events they have hosted indoors, compiling a record of 17-0. The A&M women have compiled a record of 14-3 over that time frame.

A key match-up will occur in the men’s 400m with Devin Dixon racing at that distance for the first time this season against Sean Bailey of UTEP. Dixon, a three-time SEC champion at 800m, posted career best times of 45.22 outdoors and 47.74 indoors at 400m in 2018 while also supplying the Aggies with 43-second split on the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay during the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

“Running this 400m will be a very good start for the indoor season,” stated Dixon, who has run on a pair of 4x400 relays in two previous indoor meets. “I’m really looking forward to this 400 to see where I’m at right now at this point of the season. Last year showed me what I was able to accomplish and what I’m capable of doing. Now I want to carry over that experience to this season.”

Baily is a Jamaican sprinter who ran career best times of 46.08 indoors and 45.24 outdoors in 2018 while competing at Western Texas junior college, where he swept the 400m indoor and outdoor titles in the NJCAA Championships.

A 600m race will feature a pair of current Aggies – Carlton Orange and JaQwae Ellison – racing against a field of A&M alums that includes 2014 Bowerman winner Deon Lendore, 2016 NCAA 800m champion Donavan Brazier and Bralon Taplin, a 2016 Olympic 400m finalist and World Indoor fourth-place finisher.

“I’m going to try to run a fast pace and see what I can do as I prepare for my first 800m the following weekend,” said Orange. “This will be different than racing at 1,000m or an 800m since we start faster than normal. I’ll focus on staying relaxed while running fast.

“When I run the 400m I tend to get out slow since I’m an 800m runner, but the 600m should offer a nice balance since I can get out and it won’t be as slow. The 600m should be a good race for me.”

In the women’s 400m, the Aggie tandem of Syiara Richardson and Jarra Owens square off against the TCU duo of Lily Beckford and Kayla Heard. In the shorter sprints, the A&M crew of Brenessa Thompson and Amber Ivy will race in the 60. Ivy will also compete in the 200 with teammates Diamond Spaulding, Julia Madubuike and Tierra Robinson-Jones.

After opening with a long jump victory last weekend, Tahar Triki will contest the long jump and triple jump in the Triangular for the Aggies. Triki set an indoor best of 51-11 (15.82) last season competing unattached and outdoors established a personal best of 55-5 ¾ (16.91) in winning the SEC title.

The meet record in the triple jump still stands from the 2009 opening season of Gilliam with a mark of 53-3 (16.23) by A&M’s Zuheir Sharif.

After setting a meet record a week ago with his 18-3 ¾ pole vault, Jacob Wooten enters this weekend as the meet record holder from his winning effort of 18-1 ¼ last season.

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