WALNUT, CA – Julia Abell improved her No. 2 time in school history as the Texas A&M men’s and women’s track & field teams wrapped up the second day of competition at the Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on Thursday.
Running the 3000m steeplechase, Abell finished third overall with a personal best time of 10:24.67, to top her previous best of 10:25.72 set at last year’s SEC championships. Abell’s mark is the second-best performance in Texas A&M history, less than a half second off Annie Fuller’s school record of 10:24.38, also set last year. Abell improved her season best time, topping her mark of 10:44.36 at the Raleigh Relays in March.
Joniar Thomas earned an eighth-place finish in the heptathlon, scoring 5557 points to become the seventh-best performer in school history. On Wednesday, the first day of the event, Thomas started with a 14.02 in the 100m hurdles, followed by 5-2.5/1.59m in the high jump, 35-4.5/10.78m in the shot put and ended day one with a 24.39 clocking in the 200m. Thomas showed out on day two, opening with a leap of 20-1.5/6.13m in the long jump, then a javelin toss of 132-2/40.28m before powering through a huge personal best of 2:24.04 in the 800m. Thomas’ final score is a personal best, topping her previous total of 5256, and registers as a Grenadian national best.
In the men’s multi-event, Thatcher Frankfather placed fifth in his first ever decathlon, scoring 7151 to lead the trio of Aggie freshmen including Landon Helms and Blake Harris. Frankfather’s Wednesday included a 100m time of 10.86, 22-3/6.78m in the long jump, a shot-put toss of 45-5.25/13.85m, a high jump clearance over 5-10.75/1.80m and ended with a 49.40 in the 400m. Sitting in fourth place going into day two, Frankfather got the day started by finishing the 110m hurdles in 16.50, leading into a personal best throw of 149-1/45.44m in the discus. He then cleared 13-5.25/4.10m in the pole vault, tossed 170-9/52.05m in the javelin then used his strength to clock 4:54.48 in the 1500m.
Helms finished right behind Frankfather in sixth place, scoring 6787, setting personal bests in the shot put (38-9.5/11.82m), javelin throw (134-7/41.03m) and 1500m (4:47.77). Harris scored 6495 to bring the trio home in 11th…
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