Texas A&M became the first school to win the men's and women's NCAA team titles in the same year since 1990 at the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The championships concluded on Saturday.
As the anchor runner in the men's 1,600m relay, the Aggies' Justin Oliver held on to second place to give A&M the outright men's team title. "When it got to the 300 mark and I saw I was still second place, I see the finish line, I see the trophy at the finish line waiting on me," Oliver told the Associated Press. "We're the national champions. Texas A&M. No one else. That's all I could say. We did it."
The Aggies tallied 48 points in winning the men's crown. Had the Aggies finished third in the 4x400m relay, there would have been a four-way tie for the title with Florida, Florida State and Oregon, each with 46 points.
The Texas A&M women's team was victorious with a seven-point margin over Oregon. Arizona State was third with 41 points and Florida State was fourth with 40. The Aggies won the men's title without a single individual champion the entire week. On the women's side, Texas A&M's Porscha Lucas won the 200m in 22.81 Saturday, a day after contributing to a relay win.
Aggies Coach Pat Henry is in his fifth year at College Station after winning 27 NCAA team championships while coaching both men and women at LSU. He was the last coach to sweep the men's and women's outdoor titles, at LSU in 1990.
"This one is something we've been working very hard to do," Henry said. "This one is very, very special to me because it's a new one. It's a new championship."
In addition to their runner-up finishes in the team competition, Oregon produced six individual championships: Galen Rupp in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, Rachel Yurkovich in the javelin, Ashton Eaton in the decathlon, Brianne Theisen in the heptathlon and Andrew Wheating in the 800 meters.
For more information on the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, visit:
www.ncaa.com.
