Texas A&M University’s track and field teams closed out the SEC Indoor Championships with impressive wins in the high jump competitions. Ushan Perera and Lamara Distin both claimed SEC titles in their respective high jump events on day two of the championships, held on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Perera, who made his Aggie debut at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational, won his second straight high jump competition by clearing 7-4.25/2.24m. His victory came over defending champion Roberto Vilches of Missouri. The mark equals the third-best performance in Texas A&M school history and is Perera’s second-best this season.
Meanwhile, Distin won her third straight SEC title, making it her second consecutive high jump championship. She cleared 6-4.75/1.95m and led the way for the Aggie women, with Ally Andress tying for sixth place and Bára Sajdoková placing eighth.
In the women’s 400m, Tierra Robinson-Jones earned the bronze medal, setting a personal best time of 51.27. Her time made her the fifth-best performer in school history. In the men’s 60m hurdles, Connor Schulman took the bronze medal, his first SEC medal, with a time of 7.73.
In the men’s mile, Gavin Hoffpauir finished fifth with a time of 4:05.43. Shot putter Bryce Foster earned sixth place with a toss of 61-7.75/18.79m, his first competition since his ACL reconstruction in October.
In the two-day heptathlon competition, freshmen Landon Helms and Blake Harris finished seventh and ninth, respectively, with Helms scoring 5492 to record the fourth-best performance in school history and Harris scoring 5472 to become the No. 6 performer in school history.
The day concluded with the men’s 4x400m team of Eric Hemphill III, DeMarco Escobar, Cutler Zamzow, and Ashton Schwartzman clocking 3:06.06 to finish fifth overall.
Although Texas A&M didn’t take the team championships, with Arkansas winning both the men’s and women’s titles, the Aggies finished strong with notable performances across various events. The victories in the high jump competitions were particularly impressive, with Perera and Distin both earning SEC titles in dominant fashion.
