Both Consol teams take fourth at Tiger Relays

A&M Consolidated track teams both finished fourth at a fast Tiger Relays on Friday, but they found a lot to like.

Despite a gusty wind that affected competition all day, many of the times were exceptional as Consol got its last full tune-up before the District 12-5A meet.

Karis Jochen's runaway victory in the 3,200 meters in 11 minutes, 4.57 seconds under the lights highlighted the Lady Tiger efforts.

When the Tigers made noise, it was easy to pay attention. They got a strong 1-2 finish in the shot put with Michael McClendon wining at 53 feet, 1 inch and Jimmie Gilbert making a huge improvement on his personal record at 52-2. McClendon finished third in the discus at 160-0.

Consol's Chris Nutall returned to competition after hernia surgery and finished second in the long jump at 22-5 and sixth in the 100.

The Tigers most prominent mistake turned out to be a surprising highlight. In the 800 relay, Marcell Mickens fell down and off the track near the Tiger field house while taking the first handoff, but he and his team recovered to finish fourth in a respectable 1:31.68.

The best comeback happened in the 200. The Woodlands' Blake Webb leaped to an early lead, but long-striding Consol sprinter Henry Taylor tracked him down before the finish to win in 21.99.

"I knew his speed and just thought 'Why not go catch him?'" Taylor said. "I was trying to keep on his tail, hoping he wouldn't pull away from me, but once I saw his stride, I just opened up mine more."

On the girls side, Jochen ran side-by-side with Sandie Raines of Humble Kingwood for a lap before leaving everyone behind, pulling away with two laps remaining to run her career-best time in the 3,200.

"There are days when you just feel good and it feels like an easy, comfortable pace," Jochen said. "You feel like you can fly. It was just one of those good days."

The Lady Tigers had two relay teams win silver medals, running a 49.77 in the sprint relay and 1:45.21 in the 800 relay.

Brianna Simpson, who lives in Bryan but is home schooled, gave a few lessons for her pole vault competitors.

The first was to never give up on a vault. Simpson powered over on her first attempt at 10-6, then later cleared 11-0 to win the event.

Simpson, a senior, beat out Karla Padron of Katy Cinco Ranch, who cleared 10-0 on her last attempt for second.

Simpson, who cleared 11-4 at Rice University's meet last week in Houston, fell short on three tries at 11-6.

"It was hard because it was above my hand grip, so the bar is above where I'm holding," said Simpson of her winning vault. "I just have to focus on my technique a lot more than when it's lower than the hand grip."

Consol's Tim Lott made a run at winning the high jump. The deliberate Consol leaper made several runs at the bar before deciding to jump but made it worth the wait, clearing 6-4 to take second. Lott narrowly missed matching his career best of 6-6 set a week ago. The Woodlands' Kenneth LeGassey, who cleared 6-8 last week, narrowly cleared the 6-6 height on his final try.

"I think it was my leg," Lott said. "I didn't kick it at the end. I plan to jump at the Texas Relays and hope I can overcome this and overcome the competition, which I know is going to be tougher. I just try to do my thing, think that there's nobody out here except for me."

Consol's Alex Caruso finished third, also clearing 6-4 on his third attempt.

Humble Kingwood won the girls' meet with 124 1/2 points and Klein Oak claimed the boys' championship with 156 1/2 points.