Indianapolis – The track and field season continues for a select group of Aggies this week during the USA Track & Field Championships. National meets for the senior-level and junior-level athletes will take place at the Michael A. Carroll Track Stadium from Thursday, June 21 to Sunday, June 24.
Meanwhile, a trio of A&M athletes will travel to Kingston for the Jamaican National Championships, held June 22-24. Competing in the Jamaican meet, and seeking a berth on the national team for the World Championships, is Simone Facey, Tresha Henry and Clora Williams.
Representing Texas A&M in the USA Outdoor Championships are Justin Oliver (400), Kasey Onwuchekwa (shot put) and Jennifer Williams (100 hurdles).
The senior meet also serves as the selection meet for the squad the U.S. will take to the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Aggie head coach Pat Henry will serve as Team USA men’s head coach during the 11th installment of the World Outdoor Championships, which will be held August 25 to September 2.
Portions of the USATF senior meet will be televised through the weekend. On Friday the broadcast will be on ESPN2 from 7 to 8 p.m. (CDT), while Saturday’s coverage is from 1 to 2 p.m. on NBC as well as 6 to 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Sunday will have a two-hour broadcast window from noon to 2 p.m. on NBC.
Texas A&M athletes competing in the USA Junior Championships are Khrystal Carter (200), Ashika Charan (long jump, triple jump), Porscha Lucas (200), Zuheir Sharif (triple jump) and Sandy Wooten (400).
There are also seven athletes who have signed with Texas A&M and will join the Aggies in the fall as freshmen competing in the junior meet. They include Laura Asimakis (javelin), Jessica Beard (400), Emalie Humphreys (javelin), Brandon Lowe (100, 200), Gabby Mayo (100, 200), Bryan Miller (400) and April Williams (100 hurdles).
On the junior level, which is for the 19-and-under age group, some of the Aggies entered will be in contention to make the U.S. national team that will compete at the Pan-Am Juniors in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the first week of July.
Charan, Lucas and Sharif head into the meet as the top-ranked participants in their respective events.
Charan’s career best of 42-9 ½ (13.04), which earned her second place in the triple jump at the Midwest Regional, ranks second among U.S. junior jumpers. Charan is fifth among U.S. juniors and among the top 20 in the world in the long jump with her career best mark of 20-5 ¼ (6.23), which she set in winning the Penn Relays.
Lucas became the world junior leader in the 200 with her time of 22.79 seconds, which she set in placing third at the Big 12 Championships. On all-time junior lists for the 200 Lucas moved to No. 6 among the U.S. list and No. 20 in the world.
Lucas ran the second leg of Texas A&M’s national championship effort in the 4 x 100, where the Aggies posted a school record of 43.05 for the victory at the NCAA meet. She earned three All-America honors during the NCAA Outdoor Championships and totaled four in her freshman year.
The career best of 52-8 ¼ (16.06) Sharif set in placing fifth at the NCAA Championships currently ranks eighth on the world junior list for the 2007 season.
Sharif produced the best season among freshmen in this event. Indoors he won the Big 12 title and finished ninth at the NCAA Indoor meet. Then outdoors, Sharif added a third-place effort at the Big 12 Championships and a runner-up at the Midwest Region.
Among the incoming freshmen joining the Aggies in August, Mayo tops the junior entrants in the 100 with a clocking of 11.16 set in 2006 and is second only to Lucas in the 200 with her best of 22.88. Beard is the top entrant in the 400 by over a second with a time of 51.63 she ran this season.
