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Texas A&M Track & Field

Williams sets school record as Aggies compete in NCAA Championships

March 9, 2018
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The first day of the 2018 NCAA Track & Field Championships saw the Aggies advance several athletes in various events to the finals at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

The best performance of the day for A&M came from Will Williams in the men’s long jump. Sitting in third place with one jump to go, Williams landed a 26-10.5, a personal best and a school record to finish in first place. With William’s final jump, he bested the previous record of 26’ 4-1/4 set by Fabrice Lapierre in 2006.

“Just trust my run and stay composed,” Williams said of what he was thinking during the last jump. “Coach told me to adjust my mark and stay focused and stay composed and I just stayed composed back there. The crowd really carried me down that runway and once I hit the board I just knew it was something big because I struggled hitting the board the whole competition.”

In the men’s 400m dash, Mylik Kerley qualified for the finals with a personal best time of 45.64, while his teammate Robert Grant took 12th place in 46.46.

On the women’s side, Sammy Watson looked sharp as she qualified in the women’s 800m dash in first place in a time of 2:03.55. Jazmine Fray will also run in the women’s 800m final after qualifying in seventh place in 2:04.71. In the women’s 200m dash, Danyel White (23.07) grabbed seventh place.

For the men’s 800m dash, Devin Dixon placed 13th after turning in a time of 1:48.72.

In the field events, Audie Wyatt tied for fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 5.55 (18-2 ½), the same mark that earned him second place in the NCAA Championships last year. His teammate Jacob Wooten grabbed seventh place with a mark of 5.50m (18-1/2).

“Today was a great competition, great competitors,” Wyatt said. “I can’t believe 5.50 got eighth place, that’s crazy. I think this is a good year for the pole vault and I think it’s only up from here for me. I was definitely feeling really good today…”

The women’s pentathlon saw Tyra Gittens finish in eighth place (4197). Gittens needed a strong finish in the 800m dash to maintain third place but ended up finishing in last. Despite ending in eighth place, her performance today was a personal best.

At the end of the first day, the men sit in second place with a total of 15.5 points, while the women sit in 29th place with 1 point.

Virginia Tech is in first place on the men’s side with 16 points and Georgia has run away with the meet on the women’s side with 33 points.

The Aggies will return to action tomorrow beginning at noon with the 60m hurdles and will wrap up 6:55 p.m. with the 4x400 relays. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN 3.

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Williams sets school record as Aggies compete in NCAA Championships

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