Aggies set pair of conference records amid three SEC Championship titles

May 13, 2016 | Track and Field

Texas A&M Track & Field
Friday, May 13, 2016

Aggies set pair of conference records amid three SEC Championship titles

TUSCALOOSA – Texas A&M celebrated three champions and a pair of conference records on the second day of the SEC Track & Field Championships at Sam Bailey Stadium on Friday.

The Aggies claiming victories included Lindon Victor, with an SEC and Texas A&M record of 8,446 points in the decathlon; Maggie Malone, who broke the SEC record in the javelin with a throw of 195-2; and Ioannis Kyriazes, who defended his javelin title with one throw of 256-8 that bettered the facility record.

In addition a pair of silver medal performances were turned in by Annie Kunz, with a career best score of 5,976 in the heptathlon, and Will Williams, who reached a wind assisted 25-8 in the long jump.

The Aggies also advanced five athletes to the finals of the 100m and 400m. The crew included Fred Kerley, who ran 45.30 to lead the 400m qualifying; Briyahna Desrosiers, who won her heat in 53.95; defending 100m champion Aaliyah Brown, who ran 11.42 as runner-up in her heat; Brenessa Thompson, who clocked 11.39 as a time qualifier; and Krystal Sparling, who won her heat in 11.47.

With seven of the 21 events scored the Texas A&M women have 28 points and are currently in second place behind 44 for Arkansas. Alabama (27), Tennessee (26) and Kentucky (24) round out the top five. On the men's side the Aggies are also currently in third place with 34 points behind 46 for Georgia and 45 for Arkansas. The top five includes Alabama (30) and Kentucky (27).

Victor broke his previous career best score of 7,453 points in the decathlon after nine events when he led the field with 7,810 points. In the 1,500m he needed a time of 4:44.13 to tie the collegiate record of 8,465 points and a 4:43.97 to break it by a point. Victor finished in 4:47.12 for 636 points after cramping late in the race.

While setting career best scores in nine of the 10 events in the decathlon, Victor generated the fourth best score ever by a collegian and the current world leading score for 2016. Victor defeated three-time SEC champion Maicel Uibo of Georgia and broke the conference record of 8,326 points that Uibo set last year.

"Uibo is a good champion, he didn't give up his record easy," said Victor. "I had to produce a PR to beat it. He's a great competitor.

"I think I gave up the collegiate record in the 1,500. I started cramping up and I just stopped running. For me, I just wanted to finish because I was cramping. I didn't know if I was going to finish or not."

Marks for Victor on the second day of the decathlon included 14.70 in the 110m hurdles (886 points), 179-0 (54.56) to set the decathlon collegiate record in the discus (966 pts), 14-11 (4.55) in the pole vault (775), and 226-3 (68.96) in the javelin (874).His second day score of 4,137 just missed the collegiate all-time best of 4,145.

The 8,446 total by Victor bettered the Grenada national record of 8,302 set by his brother, Kurt Felix, at the 2015 World Championship in Beijing. Combined the duo have generated the world best score by brothers with a 16,758 total, which surpassed the previous best of 16,529 by Tom (8,783) and Billy (7,745) Pappas.

Uibo scored 8,315 as runner-up with Georgia teammate Devon Williams third with 8,116 points.

Kyriazis only needed one throw to defend his SEC title in the javelin. Last season, as a freshman, he won the competition on his final effort. This time he opened with a 256-8 (78.24) that bettered the facility record of 252-6 set earlier this season and topped the field by seven-plus feet.

"It's pretty exciting to defend my title," stated Kyriazis. "I expected to throw over 250 feet, but I was a little worried before the meet since I haven't thrown since the Texas Relays in early April.

"I was ready to throw farther today, but coming off my injury and my elbow bothering me a little we decided to stop. I've been practicing, but haven't thrown for a while. So, coming out here and throwing again was really amazing."

Missouri's Reinhard Van Zyl (249-0) was runner-up with Mississippi State's Curtis Thompson (235-7) in third. Texas A&M's Sam Hardin placed fifth with a 229-8 while Victor finished ninth with a 201-4 off just two throws after completing the decathlon.

Malone claimed her second conference title with a record performance. Her winning toss of 195-2 (59.50) topped the field while breaking the SEC meet record of 187-4 (57.10) set in 2014 by Florida's Fawn Miller, who went on to win the NCAA title that season. In 2014 Malone won the Big 10 title while at Nebraska.

"It was a really good day," said Malone, who placed fourth in the SEC last year. "I'm happy with my performance, but wanted to improve on the 198-0 I threw earlier this season. I'm still chasing the standard for the Olympics as well.

"It was cool to break the meet record. Hopefully I can follow in Fawn's footsteps and win the NCAA title."

The Aggies totaled 18 points in the event. Finishing behind Malone were Florida's Marija Vucenovic (189-8) and defending champion Rebekah Wales of LSU (180-7). Texas A&M's Audrey Malone placed fourth with a career best 179-0 while teammates Kristen Clark (165-3) and Krystyn Bradley (163-7) finished seventh and eighth.

"It was huge for us to score 18 points in the team event as a team," noted Malone. "One team called us an army, that's the biggest compliment we could've received. That's what we want to hear. We're proud of what we've done."

Annie Kunz registered another career best score in the heptathlon as she placed second with 5,976 points. Mississippi State's Erica Bougard, the defending champion, scored 6,170 for the victory. Finishing behind Kunz were five Razorbacks led by Payton Stumbaugh (5,955) and Taliyah Brooks (5,855).

Opening the second day in the long jump with a mark of 18-9 ¼ (5.72), into a 2.8 headwind, scored 765 points, but Kunz dropped to fourth place. She rebounded in the javelin, producing a career best of 130-5 (39.77) that also served as the top mark in the competition. The 663 points pushed Kunz back into second place.

Finishing with the 800m, Kunz clocked 2:16.64 to add 870 points to her total. She produced the third best score in school history behind the Texas A&M record of 6,022 and a 6,002 tally, both produced by her roommate Jena Heman in 2015.

The top three finishers in the long jump produced their best mark in the first round. Williams 25-8 (2.1 wind) placed behind Jarrion Lawson of Arkansas (25-11 ½) and ahead of Florida's KeAndre Bates (25-6 ¼).

Jeff Bartlett scored a point for the Aggies in the shot put with a career best mark of 57-5 ½ (17.51). Elliott Farris ran a career best of 8:59.63, which is No. 9 on the A&M all-time list, but just missed a scoring place in the event.

The Aggie tandem of Celine Markert and Shaina Burns placed 10^th and 11^th in the shot put with marks of 45-6 ¼ (13.87) and 42-6 ¼ (12.96). Madalaine Stulce placed 12^th in the javelin with a toss of 155-7.

Late events on Thursday had Karis Jochen placing fifth in the 10,000m with a time of 34:20.67 while Austin Wells finished eighth in the men's race with a 30:14.98 and Christian Farris placed 13^th in 30:42.29.