Two Texas A&M track athletes set new national high marks at 44 Farms Invitational (2024)

Two national high marks were set by members of the Texas A&M track & field team Saturday as a part of the 44 Farms Invitational at A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium.

Senior Timara Chapman led off the event with a heptathlon first-place finish, scoring 6,219 points. Saturday evening, senior high jumper Lamara Distin took her event with a jump of 6 feet, 5 inches, setting a new meet record.

Both achieved their success in windy conditions not optimum for their events.

“We gained ground today,” head coach Pat Henry said. “The reason we did is because it was in a bad situation, we made some good things happen.”

Chapman set the new high mark while competing in the event for the first time in maroon and white. The graduate transferred from North Carolina State for her final year of outdoor eligibility.

Her scoring total passed the collegiate season high mark of 5,825 set by Jenelle Rogers of Ball State at the Texas Relays.

Last year, Oklahoma’s Pippi Lotta Enok won the NCAA national championship in heptathlon with a score of 6,165.

Chapman took first in the 100-meter hurdles (13.50 seconds), the shot put (44-8, 3/4) and javelin throw (140-11). She finished second in the other events: high jump (5-10 1/2), 200 meters (24.22) and 800 meters (2:24.63).

The score moved Chapman into 13th all-time in the college women’s heptathlon. Over the last decade at the U.S. Track and Field Nationals, only 28 scores bettered Chapman’s performance Saturday.

“Big-time performance for her and actually is a mark that will get her in the national championships and give her a shot at being a national championship,” Henry said.

Behind Chapman, Aggie senior Joniar Thomas took second with a score of 5,914.

Distin, who made her outdoor debut this season Saturday, achieved her high mark of the day on the third attempt at 6-5, moving past Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko’s 6-4 set on March 29 at the LSU Battle on the Bayou. Distin’s jump was over a half a foot higher than Southern California’s Temitope Ojora, who took second.

After setting the new national best for the season, Distin gave three attempts at the collegiate record of 6-6 3/4. She landed awkwardly on the bar on her first attempt and needed extra time to be examined by the trainer before giving it two more goes. Her final attempt was close, but she clipped the bar with one of her calf muscles while falling back onto the pad.

“High jump, that [was] terrible conditions,” Henry said. “When it’s blowing that hard, that’s horrible. You move your steps in too close. Too much wind and she still did well.”

A&M junior Carter Bajoit took first in the men’s high jump with a leap of 7 1/4. He gave three attempts at 7-3, but did not clear any.

Six other Aggie individuals finished in first Saturday, in a field that included Southern California, Minnesota, Sam Houston, Lamar, Rice, Texas-Arlington and Houston Christian.

Sophom*ore Jaiya Covington set a new season best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.99. She joined men’s Jevon O’Bryant in seasons best after the senior posted a 46.31 in the men’s 400 meter.

O’Bryant was the only member of A&M’s primary 4x400-meter relay team that ran Saturday, with several of A&M’s top runners getting the weekend off.

Freshman Ondrej Gajdos placed first in the men’s 800 meter with a time of 1:50.63. Junior Cooper Cawthra’s 3:50.22 in the 1,500 meter placed fist, along with Kennady Fontenot’s 10:18.59 in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase. Fontenot moved into second on the Aggie all-time list.

In the field, A&M football center Bryce Foster placed first in the shot put with two throws of 58-10 3/4.

Finally, A&M’s 4x400 men’s team finished first with a time of 3:10.88. The group, made up of depth runners Cutler Zamzow, Christian Rosales, Kirk Collins Jr. and De Marco Escobar, gave some push to A&M’s A-team that currently sits second in the nation with a time of 3:00.80.

“We’ve got a couple guys on there that want to get on that A group and so they’re doing everything they can in this environment to try and drop their time on the relay,” Henry said. “Those guys lined it up and got after it tonight.”

For the rest of A&M’s track & field team, the mental growth in tough weather conditions was as good as many of the times and distances posted over the weekend.

“Sometimes you always can’t run as fast as you would like to run, because of the conditions,” Henry said. “But you gained ground between your ears and some strength in, ‘I can tolerate this. I can do this.’”