Aggie Team Invitational
Women 1st, men runner-up as records fall at A&M
1/16/2016 12:06:00 AM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
For the second consecutive week, Sam Houston track and field senior Ashley Jenkins broke her own school record in the weight throw, at the time, ranking No. 1 nationally with a toss of 69 feet, 9 inches, to highlight action at Friday's Aggie Team Invitational in College Station.
The Bearkat women captured the team title with 141 points, besting 13 other competitors, including second-place UT-Arlington by 52 points. Meanwhile, the men posted a strong showing of their own, taking second with 82.5 points, while UT-Arlington earned the top spot with 123.5.
“Coming in from the fall, pushing heavy weights and having heavy implements, the hard work is paying off now,” Jenkins said. “It makes me excited because all those time I felt beat up, it's paying off now.”
Jenkins' top spot bested her previous mark set last week at LSU by 8 ¼ inches and was one of eight first-place finishes for the women. Fellow senior Danielle Demas accounted for two, including a meet-record of 8.29 in the 60-meter hurdles and mark of 24.31, good enough for fourth in school history, in the 200 meters.
“She has a tremendous amount of ability,” eighth-year head coach David Self said of Demas. “Losing a team championship by 3 ½ points is probably the best thing that ever happened because now, we've got all of our ladies that say, 'if we need to do it, I'm going to do it.' She's not been bashful about wanting to help out the team. Those things will end up helping her in the end, as well.”
Redshirt freshman Chris Jefferson secured two meet records and as many first-place finishes including a time of 6.78 in the 60-meter dash, a mark that would presently tie the Jersey Village product for eighth nationally. Jefferson also boasted a 200-meter time of 21.48, ranking 20th in the country.
In the men's distance medley relay, Sam Houston's Jeffrey Moore, Robert Monticone, Kennedy Howard and Evan Arambula set a new meet record while breaking a program record that had held since 2003, with a first-place 10:05.17 time.
“The first week, we had a good performance overall, but personally, I wasn't happy with my performances,” Moore said. “It was about redemption and showing I can do better and do it for the team.”
The Kats continued to re-write the meet record book as the women's 4x400-meter relay tandem of Jasmine Lewis, Kodii Church, Ruth Amaku and Jordan Grady went 3:44.88, using the banked tracks to trim over six seconds off their time at LSU.
In the pole vault, the Bearkats swept both top spots, with senior Ashley Thompson setting a meet record, new personal best and mark ranking fourth in program lore with a height of 12 feet, 11 ¾ inches . After claiming the program record last week, Garrett Larson finished first at 16 feet, 5 ¼ inches, while freshman Ashton Summers took sixth (15 feet, 5 ½ inches).
Meanwhile, Camry Grigsby started her sophomore campaign off strong, touting a top finish and time of 2:12.93 in the 800 meters. She was followed by teammates Briana McCall (2:16.10) in fifth and Jamie Eckford (2:18.41) in sixth.
The women's DMR team of Nicole Aponte, McCall, Eckford and Olivia Olguin seized the program's second-fastest time, while taking first in the event at 12:11.16. Aponte also took home a third-place finish and time of 5:04.78 in the mile while Olguin went seventh (5:19.97).
Sam Houston also secured four runner-up finishes including Moore's personal-best 4:13.14 in the mile and sophomore Ana Moreno's 10:29.92 in the 3,000 meters. Elsewhere, junior Kristine Hanks threw 44 feet, 5 ¼ inches in the shot put and the men's 4x400-meter relay team of Joshua Mack, Justin Jenkins, Kevin Beasley and Eric Pouncy ran 3:17.02.
Other notables included Justin Jenkins' third-place, 21.56 in the 200 meters, as well as senior Paula Smith's third-place 24.63 in the 200 meters. In the men's weight throw, sophomore Michael Nichols boasted a PR (50 feet, 7 ½ inches), good enough for fourth. In the 400 meters, Amaku and Grady went back-to-back in third and fourth place with marks of 56.59 and 56.82, respectively.
Meanwhile, McCall (2:16.10) and Eckford (2:18.41) helped top off a strong Bearkat showing in the 800 meters, taking fifth and sixth. Running in her first 3,000 meters, freshman Hannah Tarrant took seventh (10:47.18) while sophomore Avery Zamzow took the same in the high jump (5 feet, 4 ¼ inches) and went eighth (9.26) in the 60-meter hurdles.
Competing in her first collegiate event, freshman Joan Cepeda took fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 4 ¼ inches) while senior Paula Smith took tenth at 17 feet, 6 ¾ inches in the long jump. The triple jump saw Sam Houston go 5-6-7 behind Darian Bucknor (39 feet, 5 inches), Khalaya Williams (39 feet, 3 ¼ inches) and Tristyn Allen (39 feet, 1 inch).
In the men's 3,000 meters, Chris Speaks took third (8:23.02) while teammate Logan Terry finished tenth (8:54.13). Freshman Grant Buley took sixth in the 5,000 meters (15:36.40) and in the 400 meters, Pouncy, Beasley and Mack went 9-10-11 with times of 49.65, 49.88 and 49.93. Junior William Stark finished eighth (8.50) in the 60-meter hurdles.
The men's long jump saw freshman Saige Revell capture seventh (22 feet, 6 ¼ inches) and sophomore Kagan Angers earn eighth (21 feet, 11 ¾ inches).
With just two races remaining until the Southland Conference Indoor Championships, Feb. 15-16, in Birmingham, Ala., several Sam Houston athletes will seek to finish the season strong, hoping to earn a spot on the championship travel squad.
“I know it will be a really tough decision picking 28, both the men and women, because we've got a lot of athletes doing good things,” Self said. “It's a good problem to have, I'm not going to complain. You never want to tell a kid who may score at the conference meet, 'I'm sorry,' but at the same time, if you're there as a program it says a lot about the program.”
