Red-hot Bearkats head to College Station Friday - Sam Houston State Bearkats Athletics
1/1/1970 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
After impressing in the season opener at LSU, Sam Houston State track and field visits another Southeastern Conference member, Texas A&M, on Friday at the Aggie Team Invitational from the McFerrin Athletic Center.
The 13-team meet begins at 12 p.m. with the Bearkats being joined by Houston Baptist, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, McNeese St, North Texas, Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas Southern, UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe and UT-Arlington.
“We're actually taking a larger group this week with it being 45 miles down the road,” eighth-year head coach David Self said. “This is everyone's chance to compete for those spots at the conference meet. We're only allowed to travel 28. When you've got around 40 men and 50 women on the roster, there is some competition to be on that squad.”
On Wednesday, Sam Houston captured three-of-four Southland Conference Athlete of the Week awards, with seniors Danielle Demas and Ashley Jenkins being named women's track and women's field honorees while sophomore Jeffrey Moore earned men's track accolades.
The trio moved their way up the national ranks, with Jenkins taking second in country in the weight throw (68 feet, 11 ¾ inches), Demas placing third in the 60-meter hurdles (8.23) and Moore recording a 10th-place time of 1:53.62 in the 800 meters.
Sam Houston junior Garrett Larson also made major noise, capturing a school-record 17 feet, 5 ½ inches in the pole vault, a height that ranks third nationally. In the women's pole vault, senior Ashley Thompson went 12 feet, 8 ¾ inches, good enough for 23rd.
Elsewhere, both Sam Houston distance medley relay squads rank nationally with the women's group of Briana McCall, Jamie Eckford, Nicole Aponte and Ana Moreno, placing 14th (12:29.91) and the men's tandem of Robert Monticone, Bailey Rhodes, Evan Arambula and Chris Speaks securing 18th (10:25.99).
Three Sam Houston women's long jumpers rank nationally, led by freshman Tristyn Allen (18 feet, 10 ¾ inches) in 37th, while junior Khalaya Williams (18 feet, 10 ½ inches) is 39th and senior Paula Smith (18 feet, 9 ¼ inches) takes 46th.
“It speaks for itself about the kids and the level they want to compete at, their expectations and our expectations,” Self said. “The quality of this team over the last five or six years, across the board, is better than it has been in a long time. These are the best teams we've ever had here.”
A season ago, Sam Houston's Tyler Adams set a meet record with a leap of 7 feet, ¼ inches to win the high jump and teamed up with Moore, Monticone and Arambula to win the 4x400-meter relay (10:09.08). Other successes included Justin Jenkins' 60-meter dash runner-up time of 6.91.
For the women, Demas won the 60-meter hurdles at 8.61, and was one-tenth of a second off the meet record. The group captured four first-place finishes, three runner-ups and as many third-place finishes.
“It's a great facility – one of the best in the U.S. – and is a site they host nationals at,” Self said. “It's a chance to get on a banked track, which is big for our long sprinters. Having to run on an angle is a lot different. The facility literally mimics, except for a couple points, the track we'll have the conference meet on.”
The meet is one of just three regular-season events remaining leading up to the league outdoor championships, Feb. 15-16, at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
