Rivalry Renewed: Texas, Texas A&M Alter Collegiate Relay History

First, watch this.

Then, we’ll explain it.

Two one-hundredths of a second.

That infinitesimal speck of time separated archrivals Texas A&M and Texas at the finish line of the Women’s Sprint Medley Relay exactly one week ago at the Texas Relays. Bailey Goggans did just enough to hold off Brooke Jaworski to give the Aggies the 3:38.93 to 3:38.95 victory.

If those marks sound fast, they should.

Both Texas A&M and Texas went under the former collegiate record of 3:39.04, held by the 2017 version of the Aggies’ squad, anchored by former 800-meter, collegiate-record-holder Jazmine Fray. And, back in 2017, Texas A&M took the SMR collegiate record from Oregon by one one-hundredth of a second (3:39.04 to 3:39.05) less than 30 minutes after the Ducks broke it.

You read that right: Oregon originally demoted Tennessee’s 13-year-old collegiate best to No. 2 all-time with their 3:39.05 effort at the Penn Relays; then the Aggies, running at the SEC Relays in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on the same day, pulled away from the field to clip the Ducks on the chart.

Fast forward five years and turn your attention back to Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, because Texas and Texas A&M were just getting started: Texas beat Texas A&M in the 4×200 the very next day by more than four seconds – and in doing so, stopped the clock at 1:29.03, which gave the hosts the second-fastest performance in collegiate history behind Oregon’s 1:28.78; then the Longhorns and the Aggies went head-to-head once more, this time in the 4×400, and wouldn’t you know that they turned in the fastest race in collegiate history (Texas went 3:22.94 for the second-fastest performance; Texas A&M went 3:23.30 for the fourth-fastest).

Pretty impressive, huh?

And, what if we told you that Texas and Texas A&M have a dual meet this weekend? That should be fun.

Also, pay attention to the distance races at the Stanford Invitational later tonight (and by later tonight, we mean past midnight on the East Coast), because Dylan Ko and Dillon Powell of Colorado School of Mines could very well put their name among the greats in NCAA Division II history in the 10,000 meters. Powell already owns the divisional record in the indoor 5000m.

Get your popcorn ready. Collegiate history won’t wait.

(BTW, that’s not all that happened recently among the collegiate ranks when it comes to all-time efforts: Benjamin Azamati of NCAA DII West Texas A&M equaled the fourth-fastest mark in collegiate history in the 100 meters at 9.90; Mykolas Alekna of California continued his torrid start to the season with a monstrous effort in the discus of 66.70m (218-10), which made him the third-best performer in collegiate history behind Hannes Hopley and Sam Mattis, etc.).