Wow Latasha Smith runs a 54.39. Came from UCF with a 51.21 beat and ranked 12th this season in the region!

Kennedy Wade gets 3rd in the heat and will make it to Saturday with a 52.49, reallly solid race for her

But Jaydan Wood runs a huge best in 51.47 to make it through as well!

Arkansas has 9 girls in this 400

Tyler Lowe runs a 53.30, but outside the bubble! Kennedy Wade and Jaydan Wood advance

Arkansas gets 8 girls through, a third of the quarterfinal

That's nuts

One of Arky's top 400 hurdlers, 7th in the nation, finishes last in the prelim visibly hurting! They were expected to win the event at nationals with Glenn and have Saira Prince score as well. Now they're without both

Jasmine Montgomery and Camryn Dickson easily advance through in the 200

Megan Roberts running exceptionally well in this 10k so far! Wow!

A 22nd place finish for Megan Roberts! An outstanding performance by the redshirt freshmen from College Station! 3rd best non international freshman! Came in ranked 26th! What a race and what a glimpse into the bright future for Roberts!

Women's advancing to Saturdays Quarterfinal

100 Hurdles - Jaiya Covington, Jasmine Harmon
100 - Camryn Dickson, Jasmine Montgomery
400 - Jaydan Wood, Kennedy Wade
200 - Jasmine Montgomery, Camryn Dickson

We'll have ladies in these 4 events, both relays, the steeplechase, 5000, and the discus, high jump, and triple jump on Saturday

Day 3 Preview - Men's Pivotal First Step to a National Championship Battle

Today's the day! It's the final day for the men in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Preliminaries. The road to a national championship begins here! The men have one ticket punched to the National Finals in Eugene, Oregon. Aleksandr Solovev qualified in the pole vault. However today is where the runners get a chance to punch their tickets as well.

Getting guys into the national meet is of the utmost important and the first step to scoring on the way to a national title. Sometimes a team national championship is lost at the preliminary meet. The competition is always tight so one bad race or a race below your standard and you might miss out on a trip to Oregon. This year there's not a runaway favorite. The field is balanced between a few schools so every piece you can get into the big dance is vital. 12 athletes in each event will advance.

With one ticket punched, we'll have 17 opportunities to do so tomorrow. Our best chances and necessary opportunities that we need to make a run are getting people through in the 400/800/1500 as well as Ja'Qualon Scott in both hurdles and Bryce McCray in the 400 hurdles. These are integral pieces to our team's success. Let's hope we get these athletes through.

Order of Events
Field Events: Discus and Triple Jump - 1:00/2:30
We have two athletes competing in these events. Ethan Sanders in the discus and Jaydon Shield in the triple jump. It hurts not having Gavin Champ healthy enough to compete as he could've easily qualified to the national meet, hope he recovers smoothly and quickly and is ready for a monster season next year! Ethan Sanders suffered heartbreak last year this meet. He placed 12th overall, but after the event was concluded another thrower protested a foot foul and that bumped Sanders out by a spot. What's interesting about this field and event is that discus is a sport that relies heavily on wind. Sometimes people have a PR 10-15 feet further than they can usually throw. The entire ncaa field is extremely more competitive this year,especially this region which has the world record holder lol. In the triple jump freshman Jaydon Shield has had a really consistent and solid first collegiate season! He's been jumping great and made the finals at conference. I'm excited to see how he competes at his first regional, his future is extremely bright. It's gonna take great performances out of both of these athletes to qualify.

Men's 4x100 - 5:00
We're starting things off an hour earlier today and as always the track always starts with the 4x100. We ran a group for the first time together at conference that consisted of Ja'Qualon Scott - Ernest Campbell - Mason Mangum - Auhmad Robinson. They ran a 39.23 which ranks 9th in the region and 18th in the country. We saw Auhmad run poor 400's in the conference final and 4x400 after running in the 4x100 at conference. I'm not sure if we'll ask him to run again. At our best we could absolutely qualify, but even then it'll be hard to score at nationals. Last season our group didn't even make this meet and we've had exchange issues the past few seasons and twice this year we didn't finish the relay. So regardless of who we lineup, we need to have clean exchanges and get the baton around the track smoothly. We're in a fairly easy heat, tu and arky should go 1-2, we just have to make sure we finish 3rd. I'm curious to see who we run!

Men's 1500 - 5:15
This could be a great opportunity for us to advance a couple Aggies in Cooper Cawthra and Luca Santorum. They came in ranked 5th and 22nd in the region. But this is an event, much like many distance races, where athletes are ranked based on their time running in a paced race aiming for a fast time. It's an entirely different ball game when it comes to a qualifying race because it's more tactical. An athlete with a strong kick and smart race skills will prevail. Of the 24 athletes, there are 2 heats of 12. The top 5 in each heat and the next two fastest times will advance to Eugene. Ideally you want to be in the second heat to know what the bubble is, however, both Aggies are in the first heat. But I believe it's the easier heat for our guys! Cawthra and Santorum are 1500 runners who are exceptional at the 800. Both could've ran in that event this weekend. Which means they have some speed behind them. A lot of the guys who qualified are 1500/5000 specialists. So in a first heat, if it goes out at a slower pace, I like our guys finishing strong. It's going to be an entertaining race with fireworks! I'm excited for it!

Men's 3000 Steeplechase - 5:40
Another race where you absolutely want to be in the last heat, however Victor Kibiego is in heat 1. For the steeplechase it's only one race this meet. So you have to get 12 from the entire 48. There are 3 heats of 16 runners. The top 3 in each heat and the next 3 fastest times will advance to Eugene. I like Kibiego's heat. The second heat is a lot more competitive, but the third seems to be a lot easier. In heat 1 it's going to be a battle of Kibiego vs the trip from BYU. This is an event the Cougars always excel at. They are led by James Corrigan, a 2024 Olympian in this event. Although Kibiego's PR would certainly pass the other 2 BYU runners this season, Kibiego hasn't hit that mark. However, Kibiego is healthy. Something he wasn't last year at this meet or nationals. He had to drop out of the race at the national finals and wasn't able to compete the entire cross country season. However he's slowly worked his way into racing form this year and I believe he can put together a great race today!

Men's 110 Hurdles - 6:15
If Ja'Qualon Scott were to run the 4x100, the hurdles would be an hour and 15 minutes later which gives him a lot of time for recovery. Although he might not need much time to recover. JQ has been running exceptionally well as of late and always seems to pull through when it comes to championship races! For all events 800 and under top 3 in each heat and the next 3 best times will advance. He has the fastest time in his heat and there are two other guys much separated from the rest of the field. So a clean race should get him through fairly easily! JQ's a performer so I expect a huge time from him!

Men's 100 - 6:35
Only one Aggie in this event as in the first round. Ernest Campbell is in heat 1 of the men's 100 but faces a tough task. His heat has Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, a one time wide receiver for A&M and a few weeks runner for A&M before transferring to Arkansas for football. Ironically, Campbell will transfer to Sacramento State for football at the conclusion of track season. Campbell will need a lifetime best to advance, so let's hope for that! Another thing to keep an eye on is USC who has 5 athletes in this race. And they all have a really great shot of advancing…

Men's 400 - 6:50
A huge event for the Aggies. There will be 3 Aggies competing in this event today: Auhmad Robinson, Cutler Zamzow, and Hossam Hatib. Unfortunately Antonie Nortje didn't make it to today's quarterfinal. He was projected to advance to the national meet. Nortje and Hatib came in as transfers and haven't come close to their PR's just like the women in the 400. Which is odd considering how great we have been at this event. Auhmad is in heat 2 and should easily advance through. He did have a poor race in the conference final. If he runs the 4x100 it'll be nearly a 2 hour break in between both events. However, he should still be able to qualify if he does both. Zamzow and Hatib are in final heat, which is optimal because they'll know what the bubble time is! They are in lanes 8 and 9. They'll have a USC runner on the inside who is a sub 45 runner, but they can both finish 2nd and 3rd in the heat at their best! Getting all 3 into nationals would be so beneficial!

Men's 800 - 7:05
Just like the 400, this event is just as if not more important for us today! Seniors Sam Whitmarsh and Kimar Farquharson will compete in the 800 today. Having both of these runners advance would be huge for us. Kimar is in heat 1 and I think it's the most competitive heat. Farquharson is know for his 400 speed. So a more tactical race would be in his favor. With a kick in his legs and everything on the line, I wanna see him run with some confidence and anger! After missing the 800 final that conference, he ran like mad man in the 4x400 and ran the fastest leg in the entire meet. His heat will be tough, but I think he gets through! Hopefully the Aggie fans can help bring him home! The indoor and outdoor SEC Champion and reigning NCAA silver medalist Sam Whitmarsh is in heat 3. It's a solid heat, but I believe Whitmarsh should control and win this heat from the gun. Although Kidali of Oregon is an Olympian with a 1:42 PB, he hasn't ran faster than 1:47 this year, or ever lol. So that race might have been an anomaly, but you never know. Either way, a smart race from Sam where he gets out front early and controls the pace should easily get him through.

Men's 400 Hurdles - 7:25
Tired of me saying how important an event is, well I'm not done! This event is extremely important for the Aggies! In fact don't leave your seat at the track or from your couch because this stretch from 6:50 to 7:35 is the most important for us and our title chances in Oregon. Getting our guys to qualify in the events of the 400-800-400 Hurdles. In this race we have JQ Scott who might be running his 5th event of the meet as well as Bryce McCray, both seniors. McCray is in heat 1 which will probably be the most competitive heat by far. It'll be a battle for top 3. McCray slowly worked his way into the outdoor season, and has been ramping it up as of late. I believe he runs his best when it matters most. He has some great speed between the hurdles, but does have a tendency to chop his steps or hit some with his lead leg. Regardless of those issues he still powers through and runs extremely well! I wanna see a sub 50 run for him and see him compete in that strong heat to earn a spot like he did last year. JQ has a fairly easy heat. I believe he easily qualifies through, just gotta hope for a clean race. Any track fan, pro of novice knows sometimes the hurdles can be cruel!

Men's 200 - 7:50
In this event we have Mason Mangum competing. A busy week for the transfer that saw him compete in the 200 first round, the long jump, and today the 4x100 and 200. He will be in lane 2 which is the toughest in the 200 due to having run more of the curve. It'll be tough to get through in this event, he came in ranked 30th in the region! Let's keep an eye on USC here as well.

Men's 4x400 - 8:45
The final event of the ncaa preliminaries for the men, as always the 4x400. An event in which we have always excelled. We have ran under 3:04 5 times this season. Although Arizona State and Arkansas have faster times coming in, we have been more consistent. The time posted might not mean much anyways. We are in the last heat of the evening and should qualify easily. We'll have TCU and BYU who have solid times, but our group is just on an entirely other level. I will be interested to see who we run though. Nortje hasn't looked like himself late, Hatib has run less on the relay than he did indoors. Hemphill has looked great on the relay but didn't do great in the open, between them 6 it'll be interesting to see who runs although if you placed those names in the hat and picked 4 they'd still win the heat and advance lol. The issue of choosing the right 4 should be a huge question for nationals though.

Let's pray from smart and great races! Let's get our Aggies through! I recommend getting out to EB Cushing! Admission is well worth it! Go cheer on our Aggies and enjoy a great Saturday evening! Fans make a huge difference. When the legs start feeling tired and heavy coming down the homestretch, seeing a sea of Aggies rise cheering them on makes a world of difference. Please believe that! You can make a difference!

Regarding the women's pole vault, 11 on the west side needed to clear 14'6 and 19 went over 14'2. While no one on the east side needed to go over 14 to qualify

Taylor, I'm going to try to head over there this evening to watch, thanks for the summary. In your view, how do we sit so far - do we have anyone not qualify so far that we were expecting to score points in Eugene? How about for tonight - in your view, do we need every one of those guys to qualify in order to have a shot at the overall in Eugene - how much margin for error do we have?

Thanks for your posts!

It look like in the past that you needed in between 40-60pts generally speaking to win the championship and a bit higher on the women's side in the past.

I'll let swift13_ answer the more precise info you are asking for.

t-rex said:

---

Taylor, I'm going to try to head over there this evening to watch, thanks for the summary. In your view, how do we sit so far - do we have anyone not qualify so far that we were expecting to score points in Eugene? How about for tonight - in your view, do we need every one of those guys to qualify in order to have a shot at the overall in Eugene - how much margin for error do we have?

Thanks for your posts!

---

I don't think we've lost any scoring opportunities at the national level. Antonie Nortje could've potentially scored, but it would have been a tall ask. But aside from that, tonight is important. We don't have too much depth, given that we might only have 1 field eventer. I say we need Ja'Qualon Scott to advance in both hurdles. We really need to have multiple opportunities throughout the 400-800-400 Hurdles! JQ can score in both nationally, now if he can grab two medals there along with us grabbing a medal in the 400 and 800 that would be enormous towards a team title. Then I really hope Aleksandr Solovev can grab 10 or 8 points, along with our 4x400 running a sub 3:00. I wouldn't count out Cooper Cawthra fighting to get into a 1500 final either, he's a gamer. 2 years ago Victor Kibiego placed 3rd at this meet when he was at UTEP, if he can get back to that pace, then I'd really really love our chances!

Other schools that have a great shot are USC who's a springing force with some great jumpers and a thrower! Arkansas with pieces all around, Minnesota and Ole Miss due to throws. Then Auburn and Tech due to some sprinters. Like another poster said, I don't think it'll take a whole lot to win the entire thing, I'd say 45-50! Depending on how USC does in the sprints! But there is a perfect world where we can win at approximately 4 events! It's possible!!!! It all starts today!

I really thought Nortje would be our #2 400 guy this year. That guy was good for UCLA. He has been a disappointment.

I really thought so too, especially after seeing his race on a relay indoors! Kinda bummed out him and Hatib were far away from the PB's this season, as was Latasha Smith! Wouldn't have expected that with a Texas A&M 400 group!

Ethan Sanders will finish with a best throw of 181'4. Finishes 3rd in the first flight

Mykolas Alekna goes 68.71 meters / 225'5 on his first attempt, I'm sure that facility record will hold for a long while

taylorswift13_ said:

---

Mykolas Alekna goes 68.71 meters / 225'5 on his first attempt, I'm sure that facility record will hold for a long while

---

I stand corrected, he just broke it on his second throw! Now he went 72.12 meters / 236'7

That's a good advertisement for our throwing facilities

taylorswift13_ said:

---

t-rex said:

---

Taylor, I'm going to try to head over there this evening to watch, thanks for the summary. In your view, how do we sit so far - do we have anyone not qualify so far that we were expecting to score points in Eugene? How about for tonight - in your view, do we need every one of those guys to qualify in order to have a shot at the overall in Eugene - how much margin for error do we have?

Thanks for your posts!

---

I don't think we've lost any scoring opportunities at the national level. Antonie Nortje could've potentially scored, but it would have been a tall ask. But aside from that, tonight is important. We don't have too much depth, given that we might only have 1 field eventer. I say we need Ja'Qualon Scott to advance in both hurdles. We really need to have multiple opportunities throughout the 400-800-400 Hurdles! JQ can score in both nationally, now if he can grab two medals there along with us grabbing a medal in the 400 and 800 that would be enormous towards a team title. Then I really hope Aleksandr Solovev can grab 10 or 8 points, along with our 4x400 running a sub 3:00. I wouldn't count out Cooper Cawthra fighting to get into a 1500 final either, he's a gamer. 2 years ago Victor Kibiego placed 3rd at this meet when he was at UTEP, if he can get back to that pace, then I'd really really love our chances!

Other schools that have a great shot are USC who's a springing force with some great jumpers and a thrower! Arkansas with pieces all around, Minnesota and Ole Miss due to throws. Then Auburn and Tech due to some sprinters. Like another poster said, I don't think it'll take a whole lot to win the entire thing, I'd say 45-50! Depending on how USC does in the sprints! But there is a perfect world where we can win at approximately 4 events! It's possible!!!! It all starts today!

---

Thanks for the info!

4x100 team punches their ticket with a huge seasons best of 38.96! A near .3 improvement! Ernest Campbell looked great on the second leg! Clean exchanges all around, last one was a little iffy but nothing detrimental!! We ran Scott - Campbell - Mangum - Robinson

SB 38.96 for mens 4x1 good for 3rd in their heat.

Really surprised with the time!! Glad to see that made it through!

USC men had some rough exchanges but they're just extremely fast and win second heat but only less than a tenth ahead of us

Jaydon Shield finishes 35th in the triple jump with a 49'7! A really solid freshman year! Can't wait to see him next season getting to 52+ feet!

Men finish 4tb overall in the 4x100. Wow wow wow! Came in ranked 9th!

Love to see the smaller schools stick it to the big programs, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Utah Valley, Cal State Fullerton, Sam Houston advancing!

Obviously different conditions but men would've finished 6th in the East region 4x100

TIME FOR THE COOP AND LUCA SHOW

Former Aggie 800 runner Allon Clay now at Penn State, advances to the national finals in the 800 after not racing for a couple years!