TUCSON, Ariz. — The Texas A&M men’s and women’s track & field teams claimed nearly a dozen event titles on day two to wrap up the Willie Williams Classic at the Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, Saturday afternoon.
After winning six events on the first day of competition, Texas A&M added 10 more first place finishes on Saturday to wrap up the two-day meet with 16 total event titles. Along with the 16 titles, 14 Aggies recorded a personal best, including three Aggie all-time top-12 marks.
The Maroon & White started the day hot winning the first two individual events on the track. Kayla Robinson won the women’s 100m hurdles clocking 13.43, followed by Kennedy Smith in second 13.48 and Falon Wilson in fourth at a personal best time of 13.84. Connor Schulman followed suit claiming the victory in the men’s 110m hurdles at a personal best time of 13.76, .02 seconds off of joining the Aggie all-time top-12 list.
The Aggie foursome of Zhane Smith, Robinson, Laila Owens and Immanuela Aliu combined to clock 44.35 to claim the women’s 4x100m event title. Just over an hour later, Texas A&M swept the 4x400m relays winning the women’s and men’s races. Dominique Mustin, Athing Mu, Charokee Young and Tierra Robinson-Jones combined to stop the clock at 3:37.92, while Omajuwa Etiwe, Bryce Deadmon, James Smith, Jr. and Devin Dixon recorded a time of 3:06.33.
Prior to anchoring the 4x400m to first place, Robinson-Jones won the open 400m with a time of 53.02. Carlton Orange and Aliu each claimed first place finishes in their respective events, Orange won the 800m at 1:48.45 and Aliu won the 100m with a personal best time of 11.43.
Texas A&M also found success in the field events winning the women’s triple jump and high jump. Aggie duo of Ciynamon Stevenson and LaJarvia Brown went 1-2 in the triple jump. Stevenson claimed the event title with a winning mark of 13.19m/43-3.25, followed by Brown at 13.10m/42-11.75. Both jumpers recorded their marks in the second round of attempts.
Lamara Distin won the women’s high jump with a personal best clearance of 1.83m/6-0. After passing on the first five heights, Distin entered the competition at 1.73m/5-8 clearing the bar on her first attempt. She cleared the next two bars of 1.78m/5-10 and 1.83m/6-0 on her first attempts. Alexa Porpaczy of Arizona cleared 1.83m/6-0 as well, only after failing on her first attempt.
The first attempt clearance by Distin proved to be the deciding factor in claiming victory as both jumpers failed to clear 1.86m/6-1.25.
Next Up
Texas A&M travels to Austin for the Texas Relays beginning Wednesday, March 24-27 at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on this meet:
"This meet was for learning about yourself every time you step on the track, it's also about learning how to transfer training to competition. You must have intensity in training to compete well on meet day. There is a process and you have to follow it and stick to the process. The process changes all the time as the season progresses. You have to come to training with some intent about what you're doing and I think this group is right there right now and understanding that's what you have to do."
on high jumper Lamara Distin:
"Lamara [Distin] is no surprise to us. We recruited her two years ago to be the person that she is starting to be right now. The first year she sat out and the second year she didn't get to compete because of Covid. We knew her talent was there and she's starting to do well.”
on the Texas Relays:
"Texas Relays is another step on a big ladder that we're trying to climb and you can't skip a step, every step is important. Because of Covid, Texas Relays is actually just going to be another track meet next week. We won't get to do some of the things that we normally use as learning and progression into the season. We'll be ready to line up and we'll be ready to get a little bit better than we did today."
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@aggietfxc).
