Athletics welcomes SEC indoor championships to Aggieland

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M athletics program is scheduled to host the Southeastern Conference indoor championships beginning Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

personalities

Texas A&M goes into the weekend with 25 points in the SEC top 10, 13 for men and 12 for women. Defending 800m indoor/outdoor champion Brandon Miller enters the competition in second place with a season best of 1:47.48, behind only Arkansas’ Kieran Taylor with 1:47.12. Lamara Distin and Deborah Acquah lead the league in their respective disciplines, Distin in high jump (6-3.5/1.92m) and Acquah in long jump (21-8.25/6.61m).

last time out

The Maroon & White ended the regular season on a high with 18 Aggies scoring Texas A&M’s all-time top 12 brands at the Don Kirby Invite and Music City Challenge on February 11 and 12. Distin highlighted the weekend for the women’s team, who won the high jump with 6-3.5/1.92m. The sophomore broke a 46-year-old Jamaican indoor record and posted the second-best performance in Aggie history. Charokee Young led the way on the course, winning the 400m with a 51.24, which after elevation conversion is a No. 2 in the NCAA at 51.35. The sophomore became the fourth-best Aggie performer in school history and marked the fourth time in her career that she ran under 52 indoors.

In the men’s field, Bryce Foster highlighted the field events, finishing second in the shot put with 60-5.75/18.43 m. The rookie finished sixth best indoor Aggie of all time. Devon Achane (60m, 6.63/6.65@), Lance Broome (200m, 20.62/20.69@), Chevannie Hanson (400m, 45.89/46.00@) and Keanu Jones (200m no seeding, 21.16/21.23@) were the highlights of the weekend on the track winning their respective events.

The field

Aggies enter a loaded field with all 14 SEC women’s teams and 13 men’s teams. Eighteen of the 27 teams are ranked in the top 25 in the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association National Ranking Index. Six women’s teams are in the country’s top 10, including No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 8 Texas A&M. For men, five teams are in the top 10, including Arkansas at No. 1. Georgia follows at No. 4, Alabama at No. 6, Kentucky at No. 9, and Florida rounds out the top 10. Texas A&M ranked #1. 25.

Individually, SEC athletes lead the NCAA in 16 events, including 11 women’s and five men’s. Distin leads the nation in the women’s high jump with a distance of 6-3.5/1.92m. Sprinters Matthew Boiling of Georgia and Abby Steiner of Kentucky are currently world leaders in the men’s and women’s 200-meter dash. Boiling clocked 8:27 p.m. and Steiner ran at 10:37 p.m. Steiner’s mark was also registered as an all-time college record, surpassing her previous mark by 0.01 seconds.

how to follow

Doors open at 10:30am on Friday and 9:00am on Saturday. All session and single day tickets are available online at 12thman.com/tracktickets as well as the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium ticket office. Those unable to attend can follow the live results of the meeting that will be provided flashresults.com. The meeting will be televised on the SEC Network+ with John Anderson, Jill Montgomery, Dan O’Brien and Dwight Stones. A highlight show will air Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

Friday Morning (SEC Network +) 11:30am – 4:55pm (CT) https://aggi.es/3LRGFNP

Late Friday (SEC Network+) 5:00pm – 9:30am (CT) https://aggi.es/357YRBY

Saturday Morning (SEC Network +) 13:00 – 15:40 (CT) https://aggi.es/3M6HLW2

Saturday Late (SEC Network +) 3:45pm – 8:00pm (CT) https://aggi.es/3pafSCx

Sunday (SEC Network) 7:00pm – 10:30pm (CT) https://aggi.es/3Ii4UlM

Texas A&M quotes

Head coach Pat Henry

at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium concluding with the SEC Championships…

“We’ve had some great experiences, great track meets and won a national championship here. That was an amazing building and we can finish it off with an SEC championship meeting and that’s a great way to do that. I said that before, the SEC championships are the best meeting in the country. The performances that come in here are just fantastic. It will be entertaining to watch.”

on SEC Championships Difficulty…

“This is an extremely difficult track meeting to win, just because of the scholarship imbalance around the conference, it’s tough. From a competitive perspective, our athletes will be ready to run. Whether we have enough bullets or not is the next question.”

via Brandon Miller…

“It’s hard to rein in a guy like Brandon [Miller]. I know he is very concerned. These great races are rare and I think he will be ready to have a great race. He will have great competition. He’s a great competitor, he knows how to position himself and it will be fun to watch him compete.”

Defending SEC 800m champion Brandon Miller

on hosting the SEC Indoor Championships…

“It’s really something special. I remember the opportunity to host SEC outdoors last season and it was a great turnout. Performing in front of the crowd and giving people what they want, a show, I think that’s great. It’s a great opportunity to show the SEC that Texas A&M loves their sport.”

about the competitiveness of the meeting…

“It’s one of the best gatherings happening across the country this weekend. I’m entering my second season and experienced the SECs twice last year. Every time I’ve been amazed by the energy and the accomplishments of people, it makes me proud to be a part of the SEC.”

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