After 15 years without a home outdoor track and field stadium, Texas A&M opened the doors to one of the top track and field facilities in the country. The 39.8 million dollar venue is a site to see. But the inaugural opening suffered timing issues with a weather delay hanging overhead. Thankfully competition got underway after a Two hour and fifty-minute weather delay.
The National Anthem sang at 7:40 pm followed by the women’s 4X100 Meter Relay which watched the handgun go up at 7:45 pm.
Outside of five lightning strikes, The Reveille Track and Field Meet hosted by the Aggies took on a new meaning at E. B. Cushing Stadium on Saturday evening.
The meet billed as A&M versus Arkansas (W), Baylor, Clemson, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech watched history in the making.
With the temperature at 69 degrees, Arkansas women held on for the victory in the 4X100 Meter Relay when sophomore anchor leg Keithlin Campbell edged A&M’s sophomore Julia Madubuike (44.05) to (44.27).
The men 4X100 Meter Relay followed with Texas A&M (40.17) out-dueling Illinois (40.28) for the top spot.
Spending time with one of the Aggies’ greats Willie Blackmon, who joined the Aggies track team in 1969 during the integration, shined insight on the program and the new facility.
In the women’s 3000 M Steeplechase, Texas Tech’s Nokuthula Dlamini (10:35.98) led the race after two laps and went on to win the event. Texas A&M’s Ashton Hutcherson finished second (10:41.72).
Texas A&M’s Zephyr Seagraves (9:03.01) defeated Illinois Jesse Reiser (9:05.59) for Men’s 3000 M Steeplechase.
Arkansas’ multi-talented Janeek Brown added to her day by running a PR time of (12.91) in the Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles. Brown’s teammate Paton Chadwick finished second.
“Jannek is talented,” explained Arkansas’ associate coach Chris Johnson. “She’s from Jamaica. She’s a sophomore hurdler. She is dynamic. She can run the 100, 200-meter dash, and obviously the relays. She took a spill at the Texas Relays, but we wanted to get back to the hurdler.”
The quick paste watched the top four finish under (13.20). The victory came after Brown ran a great third leg on the 4X100 Meter Relay. Later, Brown entered her third and final event, finishing second in 100 Meter Dash (11.48) behind Texas Longhorn’s Teahns Daniels (11.38).
Other Aggie wins include Devin Dixon, who won the Men’s 400 Meter Dash, Carlton Orange won the 800 Meter Run and its 4X400 Meter Relay team (3:04.63).
Huge victories for Aggie women included its 4X400 Meter Relay Team (3:34.28).
In the field events, Texas A&M compiled seven wins. Sam Hardin won the Men’s Javelin with a toss of (239-8). Madalaine Stulce took first place in the Women Javelin (174-7). Robin Nool grabbed top honors in the Pole Vault (16-10 3/4). Ciynamon Stevenson and cLaJarvia Brown finished first and second in the Women’s Triple Jump (42-11 3/4). Stevenson took first place. Sophomore Tyra Gittens best the Women High Jump (5-11 1/4)
Likewise, Aggie men Aistian Walker and CJ Stevenson finished first and second in the Triple Jump (49-6 1/4) and (48-8).
Cushion Stadium’s beauty extended throughout the entire facility. The state of art scenery will play host to next season’s SEC Conference Championships and will serve as a regional site for the NCAA the following year.
Texas A&M officials were very efficient, keeping all events in order and ran in a timely fashion. Multiple sets operated much like a domino effect, one race after another.
