Women's Track

This is starting to get alarming. We have great facilities, a great city, great coaches and a great school to get an education. Yet we are losing out on top recruits. Something isn't right.
 
There are glaring weaknesses here if anyone actually looks. Maybe not looking is preferred.
The men have kept decent NCAA finishes with a shot putter, high jumper, miler and two decathaletes. The miler and one all-rounder remain.
We were about to have competitive relays with Chriistian and the two Louisiana twins, but that blew up.
The women are passed by LSU, ASU, USC, the Aggies and several others. Bev is a Legend. So was JC.
Something is wrong in each case and not fixing itself.
Does anyone care, it would appear not because "drift" apparent for a few years.
 
I noticed in the recent coaches poll we are ranked behing the Aggies in women's track and field and just slightly ahead of them in men's track and field. If the Aggies will get all six of those State Farm Lone Star Showdown points we will be in serious trouble. As it is it is alarming.
 
The thing I like about Bev, she is able to get national recruits.Some of the recruits we are losing are not ranked national.I think she is filling the roster all the way across the board.Instead of just focusing on sprinters, like she use to do.Which is smart! Hope she gets some sprinter this year though.Do anyone know at this point who we are after of.Great Job Bev
 
In the next few weeks you'll hear some great recruits Bev has signed.

Bev is filling in some nice recruits in the field. Malone will contribute immediately in TJ and her LJ is getting better, and if Kaye continues to improve, she will be a contributor next yr (if not this yr). Our High Jump group will be AWESOME. We have Hooker for 3 more years and Bev also signed one of the top High Jumpers for next yr. It sounds like Kristin Schulz could be a contibutor in the Heptathlon if she continues to develop. I thought Reha and/or Kaye could be another Hept-athlete but seems like Schulz could be the one.

Pretty surprised the development of Jordyn Brown. She looks consistent this year, which is great. I was a little nervous when Michelle Carter left (and that her sis D'andra didn't sign with UT).

PV may be a concern after A Laughlin. I have not heard of any new PV all-americans coming in.

Sprint remains a 'secret'. I think Bev has signed some great potential athletes that I heard of, but people are saying that she might have something more up her sleeves.
 
There are simply too many great Texas HS girls going elsewhere to ignore that there is something wrong.
To try to rationalize around this situation is wishful thinking and declining to see where this program really is.
Bev is a Legend. But there is something missing that we used to have. Perhaps someone else knows the answer(s).
 
The Link

Video of Britney Orville. Here hope for a speedy recovery. She was doing awesome last yr and the injury was totally unfortunate.


BTW... Signing period is on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see who Bev has signed. I've heard of a couple of new high risers but heard it's a pretty solid class outside of those i haven't heard about.
 
it looks like bev's '08 class is filling out nicely...i'm definitely looking forward to next season. my biggest hope for the coming year is that knight returns. believe it or not there had been some talk of her turning pro following high school; i recall an article after she signed with the horns where she said she really wanted to work with bev, but she was vague about what would happen after her freshman year. even sanya stayed for two seasons and marshavet remained for three, so i kind of expect bianca to stay through her sophmore year at least.

with destinee skipping track this season to train with the olympic volleyball squad we will probably have to wait until next year for a shot at a national title. as good as knight and anderson have been this season we really needed hooker to make any kind of a run at a championship, but next year could be an amazing one for the horns. hooker, anderson, knight and a strong incoming class would be hard to beat imo. really hard to predict what will happen given that this is an olympic year so i guess we will have to wait and see what happen.
 
nationally there were quite a few schools that had great recruiting classes, and i don't argue that a&m was one of them. i am still very happy with our incoming athletes...we signed some strong sprinters and a good 400 meter runner out of california. we also signed a top hurdler and the state pole vault champion. as the 400, hurdles and field events are areas we needed to bolster i am glad to see the addition of these athletes to the roster. i still believe, and i think many would agree, that we will be title contenders next season if hooker, anderson and knight all return. there is always the possibility someone may turn pro but the same is true for a a lot of other programs also...at this point there is no reason to believe we won't have everyone back. so....i agree that a&m signed a good class, and i also agree with matterhorn's comment that we need more depth in the 400. i still feel we have the potential to be title contenders next season.
 
I would catergorize this class as a group of "nice" athletes, but no one that is instant impact. Unfortunately although some may choose to disagree, but we are falling behind other elite programs on the recruiting front, after the misses in recruiting in the monster '07 and now the '08 classses. The entire staff will have to do some of their best coaching to stay in the hunt for a National Title in the coming years.
 
Matterhorn is right. We need to so some good recruiting in all our sports events to stay strong nationally. Right now we are in serious trouble in losing the State Farm Lone Star Cup this year for the first time in 3 years.
 
That was kind of expected... Lots of point scorers out:

Destinee Hooker is out to train for olympics
Chauntae Bayne just eligible for outdoors
Jasmine Lee eligible for outdoors
Jerrika Chapple eligible for outddors

Ashley Laughlin was injured during BIG XII meet
Kira Robinson injured her arm right before the BIG XII meet
Brittney Orville recovering from a major injury last yr
Alandra Sherman also getting back into her element after sitting out

If all is still with the team in outdoors (don't think Gyaisha and Angel are anymore though), they will look much different. They all will need to have career performance to take over A&M though.

Recruiting class is shaping out well! Very well rounded especially one particular Tx track star joins!! If you look at their 2008 indoor times, many are on top of the top times list. One thing is that we find a solid 800 runner to replace Kincy and also Rosby will be a senior next yr. Another hurdler could help too.
 
At Nationals.....

Bianca Knight Just broke the 200 college record w/ time of 22.40!!!! INSANE
Anderson finishes 3rd!!

WAY TO GO LADIES!!
 
Amazing first day for the Horns. Not only did we take 1st & 3rd in the 200, and break records in the process, but Knight and Anderson also finished 1-2 in the 60m prelims. For the record, the two Aggie runners expected to compete for the 60m title (and who beat us at the conf meet) failed to advance to the final! Both finished behind our two runners in the 200 also. Bev always has her squad ready for the NCAA meet! With just three individual competitors and one relay a national title is probably impossible, but sitting in 2nd in the team race after day one is pretty impressive (given our #16 national ranking going into the meet).

I want to make a comment about our '08 recruiting class also. Another post referred to it as nice, perhaps implying it wasn't stellar, or could have been better. My opinion is it's a great class and will make an immediate impact in areas everyone agrees we need to bolster. Lucas' winning height in the State HJ competition would have won the Big12 meet this year, and placed her in the top 5 going into the NCAA meet. She and Hooker should provide a potent one-two punch in the HJ next season. Doyle has already met the NCAA regional qualifying time in the Pole Vault...you have to assume both she and Lucas will be even better once they enter college and focus exclusively on their respective events. We also signed five very good and versatile sprinters who will add depth to the squad and greatly enhance our relays. It isn't easy to address every need in the context of one class, but the Horns did a great job in the areas many felt we needed to focus. We added depth in the sprints to compliment the top runners already on board, enhanced our presence in the field events, and even signed a 400m specialist and a hurdler. If Anderson and Knight both return next year (a big "if" considering the latter is posting some of the top times in the country but I am hopeful Bianca stays through her sophmore year at least), I would put our 7 or 8 person sprint squad up against anyone in the country. I think this is a very smart class.
 
Excellent showing this year at indoor nationals gutsy performances by Knight and Anderson, the 60 and 200 are difficult races to place in the top 3. They placed in the top 3 in both.

Depth issues as I've stated before kept us from winning it all. As AzSt has depth in the field and LSU has depth in the sprints and middle distances. With the few bodies we had make it to NC's, a superb performance.
 
4X400 relay came in 4th in 3:33.69 with 2 halfmilers and 2 sprinters, Knight & Anderson round out a great meet with two 52 seconds splits. Outdoors this team should be solid with Bayne added to the mix.
 
I agree....great performance..finishing 4th with just 3 individual competitors and being ranked 16th going into the meet. And if Destinee had been competing we would have made it even closer. In addition to the great show put on by our sprinters, the 4th place in the 4x400 was really sweet considering we were ranked last among the 12 quartets inthe field. I also agree we should be strong during Outdoor season with Bayne in the lineup. I think we will be favorites in both the 4x100 and 4x400 at the NCAA meet; in fact I can easily see us putting 45 points on the board in just 4 events (2 relays + 100 & 200). It will then be up to a few others including Kincy in the 800 to add to our point total. Best news of all from the Indoor meet...Aggies finish 7th
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We should be in the thick of it Arizona State is very strong in the field with a good mix of quartermilers to compete in the 4x400 as well. LSU will be favored to win outdoors in the 4x400 with Brooke Morris, Tavia Thomas, Nickeshia Wilson, and Lawrence (Who it seem like she has been on their campus 6 years). If Kincy can progress nicely and get into 52 second shape we should be in the chase as well. I would run in this order outdoors in the 4x400 Kincy, Bayne, Anderson, & Knight on anchor.
 
I like that lineup...the interesting thing about Anderson, Knight and Bayne is that all three are top 400 runners, but are obviously more valuable from a point perspective in the 100 & 200. If I remember correctly Bayne pulled a surprise and ran the 400 at the Big12 meet last year even though she had not competed in the event during the regular season. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I think she actually won the final.
 
To all that say Bev can't coach.. Her squad just placed 4th with 5 athletes and 4 events!! She sure did bring Anderson and Knight along very well this year.

The 4x400 might be Knight, Kincy, Bayne and Lee. I think they might Utilize Anderson in 4x100, LJ, 100, 200. Maybe if Kincy, Lee and Anderson's time are identical, they'd they'd utilze Anderson along with Lee. They are both great relay runners. The fact that Kincy was anchor for 400 kinda indicates she will likely be on the relays again.

I would imagine Bayne will much better than last yr as she was just getting her feet wet at UT. Lee has always been a solid contributer, but hopefully she'll have a breakout year.

Chapple is question mark. Her HS and Freshman years were awesome!! She looked like a star. I think she even raced in the Olympic Trials in HS. She has potential, but hopefully she will be able to live up to that potential before she graduates.

I do hope Orville recovers soon. She was showing a lot of progress in the 400H. The injury was a big blow.

Ppl had expected big things from Kira Robinson and Alandra Sherman. I hope they too can reach their potential.

In regards to our recruiting class, They are currently solid performers with a ton of potential. They haven't run that amazing race like a Vashti Thomas, Erica Alexander, Purvis...etc.. but they are showing a lot of improvements. Angele is young and she might have the biggest potential. I think Ashley Starks is still raw and can be elite. LaKeidra is throwing down impressive numbers and beating some big names during indoor and this wknd at a national outdoor meets. Alex Pegram's # are probably in the Top 20 regardless of HS class and still improving.

I still hope we are looking at some 800 and hurdlers. It's ashame we lost Janine Davis and Devon Williams. Williams definitely would have been our future of 800. Bev had done well with hurdlers, just kinda weird not seeing a star hurdler.

The Field athletes are really solid, headlined by Victoria Lucas. She is the star of the 3.

The only thing about this class, maybe besides Lucas, it might be too much to ask for to expect them to be a contributor at Nationals. This class has to replace Bayne, Kincy, Laughlin, Lee, Chapple and possibly Knight (who all are big contributers at all levels), so there is a huge pressure on Bev and her recruiting. The concerns seem to be pretty legit. Each in the recruiting class are all very young and one year can do A LOT as far as improving on PRs. If they continue to show improvement as they have been, a few of them could score a couple points in nationals. We'll see how they improve during the outdoor season. LaKeidra does look pretty good.

Also there might be at least one addition to the class that will definitely be an immediate impact Freshman athlete! You'll definitely be glad to have her. Think she surprised B Knight in an event by taking the title last yr.
 
i have no idea what to expect from chapple...i'm not even sure where we will see her as she competed in shorter sprints subsequent to her freshman year. no question she has the ability to be a top 400 runner...it isn't easy to make the NCAA final as a freshman, but it seems she hasn't focused on the event since her early success. i actually thought her remaining eligibility was for indoor season, and i noticed her name on the start list in the 400 for an early season meet but she didn't compete after all. i guess she is eligible for outdoor also? i think lee will be integral to the success of the 4x100....btw did jasmine compete during indoor season? i don't think she did but i could be wrong. if she didn't, does anyone know why?
 
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