BATON ROUGE, La. – Lianna Davidson and Katelyn Fairchild recorded podium finishes as the Texas A&M men’s and women’s track & field teams completed day one of the SEC Outdoor Championship meet at Bernie Moore Stadium on Thursday.
Texas A&M javelin throwers Lianna Davidson and Katelyn Fairchild added 16 points to the Aggie women’s team point total as Davidson claimed the victory and Fairchild earned third place. Davidson led throughout the entire competition with her opening toss of 184-1/56.11m, then went on to better that mark with her final throw of 189-1/57.65m. Her final mark betters her No. 2 performer mark in Texas A&M history. Fairchild’s second throw of 183-1/55.81m held her in the top three for the entirety of the event, finishing with the bronze medal. Davidson and Fairchild are the first Aggie duo to earn podium finishes in the women’s javelin competition since 2018.
Sam Hankins scored the Aggies’ first points of the meet, finishing fourth in the javelin with a toss of 233-4/71.14m to add five points to the team total. Hankins finished fifth in the javelin at the 2021 SEC meet before taking a year off due to injury. Entering the year, his lifetime best was 230-1/70.13m, and he has equaled or topped that mark at six of the seven meets he has thrown at this year.
In the 400m hurdles, James Smith II clocked the third-fastest time of the day at 49.30, a personal best. Smith’s mark makes him the No. 4 performer in school history and advances him to Saturday’s final, which is scheduled to run at 7:05 p.m. CT. Bryce McCray clocked his second-fastest time of the year at 50.65 to finish 10th overall.
Eric Casarez clocked 30:24.77 in the 10,000m to finish seventh overall, one spot behind his placement last year. Leading the race with just over two miles to go, Casarez tripped and fell to the ground. Making up ground on the following laps, he found himself back in the top pack with a mile to go. As the leaders pulled away, Casarez powered through the final laps to hold his place and earn two points for the Aggie men. Jonathan Chung registered 31:36.57 to finish 15th overall.
On the women’s side of the 10,000m, Maddie Livingston…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Texas A&M Athletics – 12thMan.com…