A&M, LSU split indoor dual track meet

With the SEC's LSU Tigers in town for a dual meet Saturday, Texas A&M track coach Pat Henry got a look at his past and his future.

His focus, however, was on the present.

"We know better where we are than we did last week," said Henry, who coached LSU before coming to A&M. "What we want to see out of our individuals is continued steps up that ladder. You've just got to get a little bit better. It's a great competition. LSU has a fine team, and it's fun to run against people who are really good."

The Aggie men improved to 4-0 in dual meets at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium, beating LSU for the second straight year, but the Aggie women's team lost the team competition.

A&M pole vaulter Laura Asimakes set a school record and Gilliam Track best with her vault of 13 feet, 10 inches. Asimakes has the three best pole vaults in Aggie indoor history this season.

She missed three times at 14-0.

"I felt great on 14," Asimakes said. "I just need to work on a few things, and eventually it will come to me and I'll get it. Clearing 13-10 was awesome. I felt great doing that. It's another height, another school record."

A crowd of 1,408 watched Ameer Webb's debut for A&M. The California junior college transfer blasted out of the blocks in the 60-meter dash and upended teammate Prezel Hardy, Jr. Webb finished in 6.66 seconds, just missing Gerald Phiri's dual meet record of 6.63. Hardy ran 6.76.

With more room to run, Webb was even more impressive, churning away from the competition in the 200 to a crowd-pleasing win in 20.94. Hardy, struggling to stay on the track as he came to the finish in the outside lane six, still took second at 21.48.

"In the 60, I have been working on my start all week," Webb said. "Once I solidified my 60, in the 200 I felt that I had it. I'm better in longer races. Off that curve, I felt the crowd, and that's what pushed me to keep pushing."

Freshman Jena Hemann had a good day for the Aggies. The freshman from Illinois won the high jump at 5-9 3/4 and placed second in the long jump (19-0 1/2), just behind LSU junior Brittany Porter (19-0 3/4).

"I was really nervous coming out because that was the first time I was going to high jump this year," said Hemann, who cleared 6-0 in high school. "I was looking forward to going to a height that I had been at before. It was nice to [clear that]."

LSU's Charlene Lipsey moved past A&M's Natosha Rogers at the start of the bell lap in the mile run and got LSU off to a good start with a 4:45.04 victory. Rogers ran 4:45.84 but improved on her school record, which she set earlier this year.

A&M's Henry Lelei, who led most of he way but stretched his lead farther with a lap and a half to go, won the men's mile in 4:04.66, narrowly missing a school record.

A&M's Donique' Flemings had the lead over the first hurdle run, but LSU sophomore Jasmin Stowers moved in front over the final hurdle to win the 60 hurdles in 8.35. Flemings ran 8.41, missing her personal best by 0.06.

Senior Barrett Nugent was a wire-to-wire winner for the Tigers in the men's 60 hurdles, running 7.82. A&M's Wayne Davis II took second at 7.93.

In the long jump, A&M's Jonathan Turner, a freshman from Corpus Christi Carroll, jumped 23-11 3/4 and finished second behind the 24-1 1/2 leap posted by the Tigers' Damar Forbes, who won the event last season.

LSU's Cassandra Tate shot to the lead out of the blocks and won the 400 in 53.13. Freshman Kamaria Brown ran 53.77 for third place in her Aggie debut.

LSU's Caleb Williams blew by A&M's Ricky Babineaux coming down off the curve onto the home stretch to win the 400 in 46.6. Babineuax (47.30) dropped behind teammate Joey Roberts (47.19), who took second.

Former Harker Heights standout Aliese Hyde edged in front of LSU's Samantha Levin at the finish to win the 800 for the Aggies in 2:10.02. Ashley Collier (7.39) edge Dominique Duncan (7.43) in the 60. Michael Preble's 1:49.51 won the men's 800.

In an expected highlight event, the 200, Dominique Duncan was fast out of the blocks, but a quick, even race gave LSU's Kimberlyn Duncan the win at 23.56. Duncan was second at 23.56, this time beating Collier's time of 24.06.

A&M dominated the 5,000s. Sophomore Amanda Jenkins with the women's race in 17:29.02 and senior Kevin Burnett took the men's race with a time of 14:25.21.

In other men's field events, LSU's Michael Lauro won the shot put at 61-5 1/2 to beat A&M's Casey Strong (60-6 1/2). Strong's 60-6 1/2 was also second behind Lauro (61-5 1/2) in the weight throw. Cameron Alexander topped a 1-2-3 A&M finish in the high jump by clearing 6-9 3/4. LSU swept the pole vault, with Thomas Reinecke winning at 16-8. Kyron Blaise added a triple jump win at 50-10.

In women's field events, a freshman showdown in the shot put went to LSU's Tori Bliss (50-11 1/2) over A&M's Brea Garrett (50-10 3/4), the former Arlington Martin standout who won the 5A state championship in the event last spring. LSU's Lynnika Pitts has a winning 40-11 3/4 in the triple jump and Denise Hinton added a 63-2 winning weight throw.

Jonique Day held the taller Ibukun Mayungbe off her right shoulder for most of the final lap to give LSU a win the 4x400 relay at 3:35.80. A&M ran 3:36.82, but the Aggies went unchallenged in the men's race - literally. A botched handoff sent the Tigers off the track. The Aggies still ran 3:07.52.

In a distance medley relay that was close throughout the race, the respective anchor runners shoulder to shoulder to start the bell lap but LSU's Laura Carleton pulled away from Haley Parson to give her team a win in 11:49.57. A&M took charge early in the men's race and ran away with the win in 10:15.43.