COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M wrapped up the 92nd Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in grand fashion by sweeping the 4x400 relays and earning team of the meet honors in front of a Saturday crowd of 20,957 fans. In total the Aggies registered eight victories on the weekend, claiming five relay titles, two individual titles and a win in a B division event.
“Any time you win five relays here you have to be pretty happy,” noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “Overall, we did very well this weekend including winning the decathlon with Nathan Hite and the 400m hurdles with Ilolo Izu.
“All of our relays looked good, even though it was windy. Times are never going to be reflective in this kind of cooler weather and wind. It’s just about wins, and we did a good job of winning.”
This marks the eighth time since 2009 and the 11th time overall for Texas A&M to earn team of the meet honors. This is the fourth time for the Aggie men and women to garner the accolade, matching 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons when Texas A&M went on to win double team titles at the NCAA Championships.
Next Saturday Texas A&M will host its first home meet in 15 seasons with The Reveille meet at the Aggies new outdoor venue, E.B. Cushing Stadium.
“We’re ready to get home and ready to have some fun at our own place,” said Henry. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Texas A&M and Texas announced a dual meet series between the two schools on Saturday with the first encounter taking place at Myers Stadium on April 4, 2020, while the Aggies host in 2021.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years and years,” stated Henry. “With a new Texas coach we see eye to eye on some things and we think it’s something we should do. Two good track and field programs in the state of Texas and anytime you put our two schools together then something good is going to happen. I know our kids are looking forward to it and the Texas people are looking forward to it.”
Texas A&M women won the 4x400 relay at this meet for the first time since 2011 with a winning time of 3:32.93 from a crew of Jarra Owens (54.1), Tierra Robinson-Jones (53.4), Jaevin Reed (53.06), and Syaira Richardson (52.25). The Aggies defeated Arkansas (3:33.35), Texas (3:35.24), Baylor (3:36.14) and LSU (3:39.43).
The Aggie men followed with a third consecutive 4x400 victory and the 14th overall in the history of the meet. Producing a winning time of 3:03.30, A&M defeated a field that included LSU (3:05.09), TCU (3:05.78), Baylor (3:05.83) and Texas Tech (3:06.89).
Texas A&M’s foursome included Ilolo Izu (46.8), Kyree Johnson (45.7), Robert Grant (46.34) and Devin Dixon (44.45).
A victory in the first race involving the Aggies on the fourth and final day of the Texas Relays resulted in the Texas A&M men defending their 4x800 title in a time of 7:23.78, the No. 7 performer and No. 9 performance on the Aggie all-time list.
Running with a crew of Wes McPhail (1:53.80), Carlton Orange (1:49.02), Carlos Rodriguez (1:53.58) and Dixon (1:47.38), A&M finished well ahead of Wayland Baptist (7:28.48), Arkansas (7:30.48) and Houston (7:33.32).
Orange moved the Aggies from sixth to first place on his carry. Then Wayland Baptist held a slight edge on the Aggies (5:35.33 to 5:36.40) after the third leg. Dixon moved A&M back in front and pulled away for the comfortable victory.
This was the eighth time Texas A&M has won the 4x800 at the Texas Relays and the sixth time since 2011.
Another relay victory followed in the women’s 4x200 as the Aggies won with ease at 1:31.88 over Houston (1:34.58) and Texas Tech (1:35.46). It was the sixth time A&M has won the 4x200 at Texas Relays since 2008. The winning crew included Diamond Spaulding, Julia Madubuike, Brenessa Thompson and Danyel White.
In the men’s 4x200 the Aggies ran 1:24.86 to place fourth in their section and fifth overall. They had a lineup of Roger Ethridge, Kyree Johnson, Jake Lanier and Jace Comick.
The women did not finish the 4x100 as they dropped the baton on the final exchange. The Aggies ran with a crew of Thompson, White, Spaulding and Madubuike. LSU won the race in 43.58 over Arkansas (43.62) and Oklahoma (44.58). LSU also won the men’s 4x100 in 38.41 as they chased down Houston (38.45) with Texas Tech (38.87) third.
The lone individual competing on Saturday for the Aggies was Deborah Acquah in the long jump. Her opening leap of 20-9 ¼w (6.33w) placed fourth in the competition. A wind-legal mark in her series of 20-7 ¼ (6.28) ranks as the No. 9 performer on the A&M all-time list.
