BLOWING AWAY THE FIELD Aggie men trounce nearest competitors to grab Big 12 track and field title By Rusty Burson

In 35 years of coaching at Texas A&M, track and field coach Ted Nelson has, for the most part, seen it all in his sport. But what happened May 16-19 at A&M’s Frank G. Anderson Track and Field Complex even caught Nelson off guard.

Going into the meet, Nelson believed his men’s team could win the Big 12 outdoor title at home. But run away with it? Destroy the competition? Record a landslide win?

Those things were never even a consideration. At least until everything began unfolding.

The Aggies not only won their first outright conference title since the 1981 Southwest Conference championship; they did it in tremendously convincing fashion. A&M scored 159 points, the most ever for a Big 12 men’s team. The next closest competition was Texas.

But the Horns were so far back in A&M’s dust (38.5 points back, to be exact) that they were barely discernable. And Missouri, Baylor and Kansas State, the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 finishers, didn’t even appear on the radar screen.

This was a statement win if ever there was one.

"I was surprised (by the margin of victory)," said Nelson, who was treated to a Gatorade dunking by his team. "But a team can get on a roll, and we did that. That happens in any sport, and for a while there it just seemed like everything that happens is good for you. But at the same time, we really didn’t fire all of our bullets.

Texas A&M track and field coach Ted Nelson earns a well-deserved Gatorade bath after the Aggies won the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

"Or actually, we fired some bullets that came up blank, like Kris Allen in the hurdles, who didn’t score. Two (pole) vaulters (Richard McDonald and Chad Walters) should have placed, but didn’t. But those things happen, and we overcame that. Some other people really stepped up and took their place."

The Aggies’ main man during the meet was senior Bashir Ramzy, who scored 24.5 points in helping A&M earn its 18th outdoor championship in school history. Ramzy won the 110 hurdles, took third in the long and triple jumps and ran a leg on the victorious 4x100 relay squad.

It was a perfect end to what has been a brilliant career for the Dallas Lake Highlands product.

"When we recruited him it was on a recommendation from one of our former coaches who said this guy can be a triple jumper on the college level," Nelson said of Ramzy. "Well, we needed a triple jumper at that time and took him to be our triple jumper.

"As it turned out, he was much more, becoming a two-time Big 12 high-hurdle champion, a triple jump champion and ran on both relays. It’s incredible what the young man has done and been able to accomplish, especially since he wasn’t really considered a great track man in high school. I attribute a lot of that to Bashir’s fortitude and the work that coach (Abe) Brown has done with him."

Ramzy, along with senior Kris Allen, sophomore Mike Mills and freshman Adam Wooten won the 4x100 with a time of 39.41, equaling the team’s season-best. It also set the tone for Saturday’s finale. Texas passed out of the zone on the second handoff and did not finish, allowing the Aggies to open up a 47-point lead over Missouri and a 61.5-point lead over the Longhorns.

"The 4x100 relay is just one race, but it’s the first team situation you get, and if that goes good for you, it’s infectious," Nelson said. "I was a little apprehensive going into that race because Brandon Evans wasn’t able to run. But Mike Mills substituted in there so well in the second leg. I was just elated at how well he ran and how well we did as a team. When we won that, I started thinking that this might be our day."

It turned out to be a glorious day for the Aggies. And not just the current team members.

"We’ve been the bridesmaid several times, and first place is so much better than second place it’s incredible," Nelson said. "In 1996, which was the last Southwest Conference championships in Lubbock, we by far had the best team, but we had some unfortunate things happen to us, and we didn’t win.

"A lot of those young men who were on the ’96 team were back here for the meet this year. The elation that they should have felt after the 1996 meet they got to experience this year. I hugged a lot of their necks and told them that, ‘I know this doesn’t make up for it, but maybe it will help.’ They all said they were just as happy now as they would have been then. And for me, it ranks right up there at the top (of my all-time list) to be able to do it at home and in front of our fans."