FAYETTEVILLE – Texas A&M’s second journey to the Randal Tyson Center this indoor season for the Tyson Invitational adds a level of competition as the Aggies, with the men and women ranked fourth nationally, face nearly all the teams from the SEC a couple of weeks prior to the conference meet.
In addition to the talent on display with SEC schools involved in the meet, other teams include Air Force, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Penn State, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech.
Coverage of the meet will be available through the SEC Network + at the following link: http://es.pn/1Ct0oMt. Live results are available with this link: http://www.flashresults.com/
Bowerman Award winner Deon Lendore competes in his second 400 meters of the indoor season. He will face a section that includes Michael Cherry of Florida State, Arkansas’ Marqueze Washington and Jareem Richards of South Plains.
Lendore posted a time of 45.68 last week, which currently ranks third in the world behind a pair of SEC foes in Florida’s Najee Glass (45.34) and LSU’s Vernon Norwood (45.56). Also racing in the seeded section of the 400 in the Tyson meet for the Aggies are Bralon Taplin and Gregory Coleman.
A pair of national champions square off in the women’s 400 as Shamier Little, the 2014 NCAA 400 hurdle champion, races in the same section with Ashley Spencer of Texas, who won a pair of NCAA 400 titles while at Illinois. Also in the section are Florida’s Kyra Jefferson and Kiah Seymour of Penn State. Last season as a freshman Little placed third indoors in the 400 at the SEC and NCAA meets while winning the SEC Outdoor title.
Defending NCAA weight throw champion Brea Garrett headlines a talented field at Tyson, which includes five of the top seven collegiate throwers this season. Joining Garrett in the third flight of throwers are Kearsten Peoples of Missouri, the Akron tandem of Alexis Cooks and Brittany Funk, along with Kentucky’s Beckie Famurewa.
The seeded section of the women’s 200 features three Aggies with Kamaria Brown, Olivia Ekpone, and Ashton Purvis. The women’s 60 features four Aggies, led by Aaliyah Brown and includes India Daniels, Purvis and Marquita Stalbert.
Shavez Hart and Devin Jenkins face a talented field in the men’s 60 meters as three rounds are scheduled for Friday with prelims, semifinals and a final. Hart will race in the same heat as current collegiate leader John Teeters of Oklahoma State, who has a best of 6.54 this indoor season.
Latario Collie is in the seeded section of the men’s triple jump while Olabanji Asekun competes in the seeded section of the long jump. They will both face Florida’s Marquis Dendy, who is scheduled to compete in both jump events.
A select group of A&M distance runners will also take part in the Husky Classic hosted by Washington this weekend in Seattle. Live results will be available at this link: http://www.gohuskies.com/fls/
Grace Fletcher and Hillary Montgomery race in the first section of the 5,000 meters while Karis Jochen is in a second section. After equaling the school mile record, Isaac Spencer moves up to the 3,000 meters this weekend and is scheduled to compete in the 5,000 as well.
Cameron Villarreal will contest the mile after setting a career best of 4:01.25 this past weekend, notching the third fastest performance in A&M history behind the shared school record of 4:00.41 by Henry Lelei and Spencer.
Distance races at Tyson will have Alex Riba, Aaron Murray and Ryan Teel in the mile for A&M while Austin Wells is in the seeded section of the 3,000 meters. Wells is also scheduled to compete in the 5,000 with Ryan Miller.
After setting career best times last weekend in the 800 meters Katie Willard races in a seeded section while Karina Buerk is in the fourth heat of the event. The men’s 800 will have Gaines Kinsey and Efrain Hernandez racing in separate heats.
