COLLEGE STATION – Aggie senior Will Williams won the SEC Indoor long jump title during first day action on Saturday in front of 2,698 fans inside Gilliam Indoor Stadium with an impressive leap of 26 feet, 2 ¾ inches (7.99) to defeat a talented field.
“I feel great, especially with the crowd feeding into the clapping game,” exclaimed Williams. “Winning it on our runway, it's the best feeling in the world.”
Team scoring after day one of the SEC Indoor meet has three-time defending champion Arkansas leading with 41 points, followed by Georgia (38), Florida (29) and Kentucky (21). The Aggies are in eighth place with 10 points.
In men’s team scores Florida leads with 30.5 points followed by Alabama (28), Georgia (26) and Arkansas (24). Texas A&M has 13.5 points and currently is in sixth place.
“We preach for our teams to understand it's a team event,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “We want to be a team. It's a team sport that has lots of individuals. There will be some great races tomorrow, and we will see how we bounce back. Everybody has to have a good day tomorrow.”
After placing third in the SEC Indoor long jump the past two years, Williams struck gold with an opening round leap that the rest of the field had to chase the rest of the evening. South Carolina’s Yann Randrianasolo placed second with a mark of 25-10 ¾ (7.89) while Kentucky’s Tim Duckworth finished third at 25-6 ¾ (7.79).
Florida’s Grant Holloway placed fourth (25-5 ½) while defending champion KeAndre Bates of Florida finished seventh (24-11 ¾).
“I mean a lot of people look at the regular season and I like to say to myself that I am a championship guy,” noted Williams, who entered the meet with a season best of 25-9 ¼ (7.85). “It doesn’t matter what I do during the regular season, but conference and nationals I’ll be prepared.”
Williams moved to No. 2 performer with the No. 2 performance on the Aggie all-time list, trailing only the school record of 26-4 ½ (8.04) by Fabrice Lapierre, who was the 2006 NCAA Indoor runner-up with that leap.
“Will Williams had a personal best to win the long jump, and he beat some great long jumpers today,” noted Henry. “It was the surprise of the day and the highlight.”
In the high jump Garrett Cragin produced a pair of career best leaps to finish in a tie for fifth at 7-1 ¾ (2.18) with Florida’s Clayton Brown. Cragin, who entered the meet with an indoor best of 7-0 ¼ (2.14), had three first attempt clearances at 6-8 ¾, 6-10 ¾, and 7-0 ½. Then he needed two attempts at 7-1 ¾, which moved him to equal No. 5 performer on the Texas A&M all-time list.
“Garrett Cragin had a huge jump today for a PR in the high jump,” said Henry. “Nate Hite had a good day in the heptathlon and set himself up for a good finish tomorrow.”
Hite is currently in second place in the heptathlon with a score of 3,168 points, trailing the leader by 107 points. Georgia’s Karl Saluri tallied 3,275 points on the first day and his teammate Johannes Erm is currently third at 3,115.
The women’s highlight came in the pentathlon with a pair of point producers in Tyra Gittens and Shaina Burns.
A score of 4,121 points bettered the Trinidad & Tobago national record of 4,009 that Gittens scored in her debut in the event earlier this season. Burns, meanwhile, totaled a career best score of 4,085 points to improve her previous best of 4,006 points. The Aggie tandem placed fifth and sixth in the event for seven team points. They also rank third and fourth performers on the Texas A&M all-time list with the No. 6 and No. 7 performances.
“Tyra Gittens scored 4,121 which is about a 100-point improvement,” stated Henry. “Any time a freshman steps into the SEC Championships and does that, it's great. Shaina Burns also did a great job to finish sixth right behind Tyra.”
Sara Kathryn Stevens picked up two points in the pole vault, clearing 13-3 ½ (4.05) as Kentucky’s Olivia Gruver turned her 2017 indoor bronze effort into gold with a winning height of 15-3 ½, which was a meet and facility record. Emily Gunderson finished in a four-way for 10th place at 12-9 ½.
The last final of the night, the women’s 3,000m, produced one more point for Texas A&M as Ashley Driscoll finished eighth with a time of 9:42.67. Teammate Ashton Hutcherson placed 16th in 9:59.01. The men’s 3,000m had Preston Brandt in 15th place (8:21.23) and Jacob Perry 24th (8:34.08).
Just missing out on scoring with ninth-place performances were Austin Cook in the weight throw (66-8 ¾) and Celine Markert (49-0 ¾) in the shot put.
Qualifying for Sunday finals, the Aggie men advanced six athletes among the 400, 800 and mile while the women advanced five athletes between the 200 and 800.
Devin Dixon had the leading qualifying time in the 800m prelims with a 1:47.97 as teammate Efrain Hernandez clocked 1:50.82 to become the last time qualifier for the final. Just missing the final at 1:50.83 was another Aggie, JaQwae Ellison, who was fifth in the 2017 SEC Indoor final.
Sammy Watson won her women’s 800m heat in a comfortable 2:07.59, second fastest among the qualifiers. Joining her in the final are Jean Jenkins (2:09.22) and Jazmine Fray (2:09.99). Brittany Parker (2:10.53) finished 11th overall.
Advancing in the mile for the Aggie men were Alex Riba, with a 4:07.90 heat victory, while Taylor Clayton produced a career best of 4:08.28 as runner-up in the same heat.
A career best 45.84 by Robert Grant led the parade of sprinters the Aggies had in the prelims of the 400m. Mylik Kerley posted a season best of 45.88 in reaching the final as well. Ilolo Izu finished 10thoverall with a 46.42 and was followed by Bryce Deadmon (47.01), Kyree Johnson (47.08), Richard Rose (47.16) and Dewitt Thomas (47.98).
Brenessa Thompson (23.15) and Diamond Spaulding (23.16) advanced in the women’s 200m, while Danyel White’s 23.41 and a 23.49 for Julia Madubuike didn’t qualify. Glorilisha Carter ran 53.90 in the women’s 400m prelims to place 14th while Jarra Owens clocked 54.42 in 18th. Thompson (7.40) and Amber Ivy (7.42) were 19th and 20th in the 60 prelims.