CLEMSON – The first indoor 400m race this season for Aggie senior Fred Kerley produced a school record performance of 45.02 seconds as he clipped the Texas A&M school record of 45.03 set by Deon Lendore in 2014.
It was one of two Texas A&M school records broken during the first day of action at the Tiger Paw Invitational hosted by Clemson. Austin Cook improved his school record in the weight throw as he placed fifth with a mark of 67-11.5 (20.71) to better the Aggie record of 67-7 (20.60) he established on this weekend in 2015.
Kerley’s career best time is the current world leader for 2017, surpassing the 45.59 established earlier in same day by Aggie alum Bralon Taplin at an IAAF meet in Poland. Kerley also equals the No. 5 performer and No. 7 performance on the all-time world indoor list. Among collegians, Kerley is now the No. 4 indoor performer all-time.
“Records are meant to be broken, and I’m glad to break one held by Deon Lendore,” said Fred Kerley. “Coming back from an injury when I was a sophomore in college makes every day a blessing. I feel blessed to be at Texas A&M training under Coach Henry and Coach Francique. They push me to be great every day.”
Running in the same section was Fred’s younger brother, Mylik, who clocked a career best with a 45.96 as runner-up and is No. 7 on the Texas A&M all-time list. Also racing in the event for the Aggies was Robert Grant, who improved his career best to 47.01 in placing seventh overall, and Richard Rose, who placed 10th in 47.42.
“My first thought when I saw Fred’s time was Lendore, the record is gone,” stated Mylik. “Both of us coming up looked up to Lendore and a lot of people can say the same thing. With Fred passing Lendore it’s crazy, because Lendore is a great athlete. It was wonderful for me to see and to be in the same race.”
Fred’s previous career best indoors was 46.48 from last season while his outdoor best is 45.10 from 2016. Mylik had improved his indoor best to 46.09 earlier this season and his outdoor best, from 2016, is 45.98.
“Those were fantastic runs by both of those guys,” noted Henry. “We know they’re capable and this kind of race set that up for themselves to have that race. Both of our guys looked really well in that race.
“Fred knew Bralon Taplin had run a world-leading time earlier today and he ran half a second faster in his race. That was a big time run. For Mylik to run under 46 seconds right now is really something significant for him.”
Through the first lap of the race, with Fred in lane six and Mylik in three, Fred hit 200m in 21.84 with Mylik at 22.34.
“I could hear Coach Francique on the backstretch saying ‘move, move, you’re going too slow.’ I picked the pace up a little bit and was comfortable with my race. With 150m to go, I heard him again telling me to push. Then I pushed to the finish line.”
Fred maintained his edge on the field throughout the second lap with Mylik securing second over Tennessee’s Nathan Strother (46.46) and Clemson’s Jeffrey Green (46.49). Auburn’s Randall Ceneus, running in the next section, placed third overall with a 46.41.
“I was trying to hang on to him, but he’s like an 18-wheeler,” said Mylik of racing against Fred. “It was a smooth race, and we were both able to PR. The training right now is amazing and we just need to stay on top of it for the rest of the season.”
It was the first time Fred and Mylik were in the same open race as Aggies. They raced against one another at 400m a year ago in the NCAA West preliminary rounds and NCAA semifinal when Mylik was competing for Stephen F. Austin.
“I pushed him to a PR and he pushed me to a PR,” noted Fred. “This 400m race felt smoother than last year after running only 200m races to start the indoor season. I feel more comfortable in my race now.”
Mylik added: “With us being brothers, we’re also competitors. All the time we just try to compete, whether he’s in front or if I’m in front, we’re going to compete to the best of our abilities. I’m just thankful I’m able to run against him and I’m sure he feels the same about me. Every time we step on the track we know it’s going to be a big race.”
Arin Rice improved her mile time to 4:49.55 in winning the race over Miami’s Anne Den Otter (4:53.71) and Mady Clahane of North Carolina (4:54.52). Teammate Laura Craig finished seventh in 4:59.30, her first time under five minutes.
Rice moves to No. 4 performer and performance on the Texas A&M all-time list. With the race in hand, she increased her margin over the final two laps, covering the final 400m in 69.15 seconds (35.28, 33.87).
In the men’s mile the Aggies swept the top three places with Alex Riba (4:11.26), Jon Bishop (4:11.29) and Taylor Clayton (4:11.51) ahead of Patrick Grant of Alabama (4:12.25) and North Carolina’s Alex Milligan (4:13.18).
The Aggie men later won the distance medley relay in 9:59.42 with the foursome of Clayton, Ilolo Izu, Gaines Kinsey and Bishop.
Shaina Burns claimed the pentathlon with 3,762 points which was just off the career best score of 3,846 she produced at the Razorback Invitational two weeks ago. Finishing behind Burns were a pair of freshmen from South Carolina, Jordan Fields (3,643) and Kara Lyles (3,281).
Burns opened with a time of 9.19 seconds in the 60m hurdles (871 points) and cleared 5-4.5 (1.64) in the high jump (783). Burns took over the lead with a 44-5.25 (13.54) shot put effort (763) and then went 16-7.75 (5.07) in the long jump (578). A 2:24.22 in the 800m (767) closed out the victory for Burns.
Career best throws were attained in the women’s weight throw by Alison Ondrusek and Carissa van Beek as they placed third and fifth, respectively. Ondrusek moved to No. 2 performer on the Aggie all-time list with a toss of 63-7.75 (19.40) while van Beek improved her No. 4 position with a mark of 62-7.25 (19.08). The winning mark of 67-6.25 (20.58) was turned in by Auburn’s Jasmine Manigault.
Audie Wyatt cleared 17-2.75 (5.25) in the pole vault as runner-up to the 18-0.5 (5.50) winning height by Notre Dame’s Nate Richartz. Jacob Wooten and Carl Johansson were part of a three-way tie for third in clearing 16-8.75 (5.10).
Will Williams finished second in the long jump with a 24-11 (7.59) as a 25-6.75 (7.79) by Clemson’s Chris McBride claimed the win. In the women’s long jump Glorilisha Carter placed 10th with a mark of 19-5.25 (5.92).
In the women’s 60m, Brenessa Thompson placed fourth in 7.42 after running 7.41 in the prelims. Jaevin Reed led the crew of Aggies in the women’s 400m, placing sixth in 53.99 as she won her section. Briyahna Desrosiers (54.20) and Kadecia Baird (54.34) finished eighth and ninth overall. Jace Comick ran 6.82 for eighth place in the men’s 60m final after posting a 6.81 in the prelims.
