COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M track & field program is slated to host the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships beginning Friday at 5 p.m. at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
Notables
Texas A&M enters the weekend with 25 marks ranked in the top 10 in the SEC, 13 on the men’s side and 12 on the women’s. Defending 800m indoor and outdoor champion Brandon Miller enters the competition ranked No. 2 with a season best time of 1:47.48, only behind Kieran Taylor of Arkansas at 1:47.12. Lamara Distin and Deborah Acquah lead the league in their respective events, Distin in the high jump (6-3.5/1.92m) and Acquah in the long jump (21-8.25/6.61m).
Last Time Out
The Maroon & White ended the regular season on a high note as 18 Aggies set Texas A&M all-time top-12 marks at the Don Kirby Invite and Music City Challenge on Feb. 11-12. Distin highlighted the weekend for the women’s team winning the high jump at 6-3.5/1.92m. The sophomore, broke a 46-year old Jamaican national indoor record and registered the second best performance in Aggie History. Charokee Young led the way on the track winning the 400m at 51.24, which after altitude conversion ranks No. 2 in the NCAA at 51.35. The sophomore became the fourth best Aggie performer in school history and marked the fourth time in her career to run sub-52 indoors.
On the men’s side, Bryce Foster highlighted the field events finishing second in shot put at 60-5.75/18.43m. The freshman became the sixth best Aggie all-time indoors. Devon Achane (60m, 6.63/6.65@), Lance Broome (200m, 20.62/20.69@), Chevannie Hanson (400m, 45.89/46.00@) and Keanu Jones (unseeded 200m, 21.16/21.23@) highlighted the weekend on the track winning their respective events.
The Field
Aggies enter a loaded field that features all 14 SEC women’s teams and 13 men’s teams. Eighteen of the 27 teams rank in the top 25 in the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association national rankings index. Six women’s teams rank in the top 10 in the country including, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 8 Texas A&M. On the men’s side, five teams sit in the top 10 including Arkansas at No. 1. Georgia follows at No. 4, Alabama in No. 6, Kentucky at No. 9 and Florida rounding out the top 10. Texas A&M ranks No. 25.
Individually, SEC athletes lead the NCAA in 16 events including 11 women’s and five men’s. Distin leads the nation in the women’s high jump at a clearance of 6-3.5/1.92m. Sprinters Matthew Boiling of Georgia and Abby Steiner of Kentucky are current world leaders in the men’s and women’s 200m. Boiling has clocked a 20.27 and Steiner has ran 22.37. Steiner’s mark also registered as an all-time collegiate record, besting her previous mark by .01 seconds.
How to Follow
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday. All-session and single-day tickets are available for purchase online at 12thman.com/tracktickets as well as the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium ticket office. Those unable to attend can follow the meet’s live results provided by flashresults.com. The meet will broadcast on the SEC Network+ with John Anderson, Jill Montgomery, Dan O’Brien and Dwight Stones on the call. A highlight show will air Sunday night at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
