A&M's Olabanji Asekun claims silver in SEC Indoor long jump;
Deon Lendore unable to finish prelim race in the 400 meters
February 27, 2015 | Courtesy: Texas A&M AthleticsDeon Lendore—T&T and Texas A&M’s Olympic medalistTeam scores through day one
Men (4 of 17 finals): 1. Arkansas, 33; 2. Florida, 24; 3. Auburn, 20; 4. Tennessee, 19; 5. Alabama, 16; 6. Texas A&M, 15; 7. Mississippi, 11; 8. Georgia, 9; 9. Missouri, 7; 10. tie, Kentucky & LSU, 1.
Women (5 of 17 finals): 1. Arkansas, 49.5; 2. Georgia, 22; 3. Kentucky, 19; 4. Auburn, 16; 5. Tie, LSU & Tennessee, 15; 7. Missouri, 14; 8. Florida, 13; 9. Texas A&M, 12.5; 10. Mississippi State, 9; 11. Alabama, 7; 12. Mississippi, 3.
LEXINGTON – Texas A&M’s opening day at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships inside Kentucky’s Nutter Field House had some pleasant surprises as well as a setback. A couple of late round improvements in field events earned some precious points for the Aggies team score,
but sprinter Deon Lendore wasn’t able to finish his prelim race in the 400 meters. “I’m very pleased with the things we did today,” noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “Brea did a good job in the shot put and in the long jump we had two guys jump as well as they have this indoor season to score 10 points in that event. We were also able to get some key points in the men’s high jump.
“We qualified decent in some of the prelim races, but we had one guy go down today. That changes the way we do things and changes the way I’ll have to do the rest of this meet on the men’s side. There are a lot of question marks right now.”
A final round leap of 25-1.75 (7.66) moved Olabanji Asekun from fourth to second place in the long jump. Fifth a year ago, Asekun’s silver medal performance was only bettered by Florida’s Marquis Dendey, who earned a third SEC Indoor long jump title over the past four years with a winning distance of 26-3 (8.00).
“My first run was a little shaky, so I knew I had to get it together,” said Asekun. “On my next couple of runs I took my time down the runway and pushed out good. It all came together at the end. It’s very exciting to place that high, it’s my highest finish at a conference meet. I’m very proud of myself to medal in the SEC.”
The series for Asekun included marks of 22-9.75, 24-11, 22-11.25, 24-8.5, 24-10 and 25-1.75. His 24-11 moved him from eighth to third, but he had slipped into fourth place during the fourth stanza.
Latario Collie produced the best mark among the first flight of long jumpers with a 24-3.75 (7.41) and he improved to 24-7.75 (7.51) in round five to finish seventh overall and earn the Aggie an extra pair of points. Jeffrey Prothro was fourth in the flight and 12th overall with a 23-5.25 (7.14) while Lathone Collie had a 22-3.5 (6.79) that placed 21st. All four jumpers will contest the triple jump on Saturday.
A sixth round improvement to 53-3.75 (16.25) moved Brea Garrett into fifth place in the shot put, edging out Auburn’s Valentina Muzaric by a quarter of an inch. LSU’s Tori Bliss won the event with a collegiate-leading toss of 60-1 (18.31).
A score of 4,179 points had Jena Hemann closing in on her school record of 4,193 as she placed fifth in the pentathlon. Annie Kunz just missed contributing to the team score in ninth with a score of 3,961 that left her 98 points behind the eighth place finisher.
Defending NCAA champion Kendell Williams of Georgia scored 4,519 points for the pentathlon victory with defending SEC champion Erica Bougard of Mississippi State runner-up at 4,376.
Hemann’s marks included an 8.73 (967) in the 60 hurdles, 5-7.75 (879) high jump, 42-7.5 (12.99) in the shot put and 19-2 (801) long jump. She ran 2:21.37 (805) to complete the event. For Kunz her marks included 8.75 (963) in the 60 hurdles, 5-7.75 (879) high jump, 40-1.25 (676) shot put, 18-3 (717) long jump and 2:27.40 (726) in the 800. Kunz was 33 points shy of her career best 3,994 from the 2013 SEC meet.
Ashtin Zamzow led A&M’s three freshman in the event, placing 12th with 3,566 points. Shaina Burns finished 13th with a tally of 3,274 points. Lauren Bedrich had a score of 2,698 but didn’t contest the final event. Burns also competed in the shot put after the pentathlon finished and placed 14th with a mark of 47-3.5 (14.41).
In the only track final on the first day of the SEC Indoor, A&M’s Grace Fletcher placed sixth in the 3,000 meters with a clocking of 9:39.41. Led by winner Dominique Scott, who ran 9:17.24, the Razorbacks scored 23 points in the race.
Austin Cook improved six places from a year ago in the weight throw as his best mark of 66-6.5 (20.28) from round five earned him sixth place. A foul on his final throw may have been an improvement, but was ruled just out of the sector. The effort by Cook is the third best performance on the A&M all-time list behind his school record of 67-7 (20.60).
A clearance of 6-10.75 (2.10) earned Sam McSwain a seventh place finish in the high jump, improving on the eighth place tie he achieved a year ago. McSwain missed three attempts at 7-0.5 (2.15), which would have been an indoor PR.
Brittany Wooten cleared a season best of 13-2.5 (4.03) to place seventh in the pole vault. Aggie frosh Sara Kathryn Stevens and Emily Gunderson both cleared 12-8.75 (3.88) and missed at 13-2.5 in tying for 10th and 14th, respectively.
Jennifer Madu placed 10th in the long jump, just missing the final three rounds by two inches, with a mark of 19-6.25 (5.95).
Through the first day of the men’s heptathlon Lindon Victor is in third place with 3,204 points while Daniel Martin is 14th with 2,563 points. Victor trails Georgia’s duo of Garrett Scantling (3,392) and Maicel Uibo (3,283) while Markus Leemet of South Carolina (3,070) and Kentucky’s Tim Duckworth (3,054) round out the top five.
Victor’s marks in the first four events of the heptathlon included 7.11 in the 60 meters (844 points), followed by a 22-10 long jump (804), an event leading shot put of 49-7.75 (798) and a 6-4.75 high jump (758). The heptathlon concludes with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters on Saturday.
PRELIMINARIES Bralon Taplin was the lone Aggie to advance to the men’s 400 final and he did so with the top qualifying time of 45.75. The next best mark was a 45.76 from Florida’s Najee Glass, the current collegiate leader in the event. A&M’s Deon Hickey produced an indoor best of 47.04 that placed 13th overall.
Running in the first heat of the 400 prelims, Deon Lendore did not finish as he stopped with 50m left in the race. Teammates in the same heat with Lendore included Gregory Coleman, who won in 47.97, and Carlyle Roudette, runner-up in 48.28. Shamier Little posted the second fastest qualifying time in the women’s 400 with a heat win of 52.37 that only trailed a 52.31 by Florida’s Kyra Jefferson. A&M’s Ebony Crear ran 56.14 for third in her section.
Aaliyah Brown (7.30) and Jennifer Madu (7.32) each advanced to the finals of the 60 meters with runner-up efforts in their respective heats. Kentucky advanced three sprinters while Alabama’s Remona Burchell posted the fastest qualifying time of 7.17 seconds. Other Aggies in the prelims included Olivia Ekponé (7.35), who missed the nine-person final by 0.004, Ashton Purvis (7.51) and India Daniels (7.62).
The women’s 200 had three Aggies reaching the final, led by Kamaria Brown’s 23.23, which was third fastest overall in qualifying. Aaliyah Brown had a runner-up 23.60, fifth best overall, while Ekponé claimed the final spot in the final with a 23.77 heat winner. Ashton Purvis won the final heat in 23.80, which left her with the 10th fastest mark overall.
Shavez Hart and Devin Jenkins both advanced to the final of the 200 meters, but missed the 60 final. Hart claimed his 200m section in 21.02 while Jenkins won his in 21.25, which were the fourth and eighth best times in qualifying. LSU’s Aaron Ernest posted the fastest time at 20.67.
In the men’s 60, neither Hart (6.72) nor Jenkins (6.75) advanced as they placed third and fourth in the same heat. Hart missed the nine-person final by the margin of 0.002. Jalen Miller of Mississippi led qualifying with a 6.57 over a 6.60 by Florida’s Hugh Graham, Jr. and 6.62 from Christian Coleman of Tennessee.
Cameron Villarreal was the lone Aggie to reach the men’s mile final as his 4:06.25 placed him fifth in the first heat and seventh overall. With 10 advancing to the final, Isaac Spencer was the first man out in 11th place with a 4:07.93 that placed him fifth in the second heat. Alex Riba ran 4:10.27 while Aaron Murray clocked 4:14.58 to place 13th and 18th overall.
A career best of 4:58.73 for Lauren Fontana had her finishing seventh in the third heat of the women’s mile and 15th overall. In the women’s 800 Katie Willard and Karina Buerk placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the same heat with times of 2:13.09 and 2:13.42. They finished 13th and 14th overall.
Hector Hernandez produced an indoor career best of 1:48.93 to reach the finals of the 800. Hernandez had the second best qualifying time behind the winner of his section, Andres Arroyo of Florida (1:48.31). The time by Hernandez is No. 5 on the Aggie all-time list.
Gaines Kinsey ran 1:52.67 for sixth in his heat while Josh Hernandez clocked 1:53.66 for seventh in another heat as they placed 20th and 25th overall in the prelims of the 800.
Texas A&M qualifiers to Saturday track finals
http://results.flotrack.org/2015/02-27-SEC/Web/Timetable.php?D=2
MEN 200: Shavez Hart, 21.02; Devin Jenkins 21.25
400: Bralon Taplin, 45.75
800: Hector Hernandez, 1:48.93
Mile: Cameron Villarreal, 4:06.25
WOMEN 60: Aaliyah Brown, 7.31; Jennifer Madu 7.32
200: Kamaria Brown, 23.23; Aaliyah Brown, 23.60; Olivia Ekponé 23.77
400: Shamier Little, 52.37