The Texas A&M men’s and women’s track & field teams open the 2022 season on Dec. 3 at the Wooo Pig Classic inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Texas A&M is slated to compete against nearly a dozen teams including, Arkansas, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Central Arkansas, Iowa State, Little Rock, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Tulsa and Washington.
The meet is set to begin at 3 p.m. with running events and will be streamed live on the SEC Network +, while live results will be updated by Flash Results.
The Maroon & White enter 42 Aggies, including 12 that earned All-America honors in 2021. Notable male Aggies include two-time Southeastern Conference 800m champion and NCAA outdoor 800m runner-up Brandon Miller. The sophomore ended his 2021 campaign at the U.S. Olympic Trials where he finished 15th in the 800m at 1:47.65, the third fastest all-time by an American under-20 years old. Miller, along with three-time All-American Moitalel Mpoke, enter the 600m slated at 5 p.m.
Top female returners entered include eight-time All-American Deborah Acquah (long jump), NCAA high jump runner-up Lamara Distin (high jump), and Charokee Young (300m, 4x400m), Tierra Robinson-Jones (4x400m) and Jania Martin (300m, 4x400m), all three ran on the indoor 4x400m relay that won the NCAA championship last season.
Other notable returning All-Americans entered in the meet include: Lance Broome (300m), Allon Clay (1000m), Syaira Richardson (4x400m), Kaylah Robinson (60m hurdles) and Emmanuel Yeboah (60m).
A&M reloaded with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes in the 2021, as standout signees making their collegiate debut include: Heather Abadie (pole vault), Katelyn Fairchild (weight throw), Bailey Goggans (1000m), Keanu Jones (60m), Caleb Murdock (pole vault) and Ashton Schwartzman (4x400m).
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
on situation of having to cancel home opener and deciding to travel…
"It's a different type of competition because we only get to compete about a third of the athletes that we would have liked to enter in a season opening meet. This is not a situation that we like, but it's the situation that we are in and we are going to do the best that we can with it."
on the importance of a season opening meet in December…
"Every time that we have this first meet it is about an individual doing what they are capable of doing. Being in a competitive environment will help an individual do that. As coaches we are going to watch and see who does what we have been talking about from a coaching standpoint or who reverts back to doing things their old ways. It is about seeing your athletes in a competitive environment. Practice is practice and competition is competition, there's no replacement for competition and that's why it's important.”
