The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TEXAS A&M senior sprinter Shavez Hart had another impressive showing on the track for the Aggies this weekend as he rewrote the school record books and the IAAF top list on the season.

At the the Texas A&M Invitational, Hart highlighted the day for a group of record-breaking seniors with his time in the 200m.

Hart ran to a first place finish in 20.57s, the fastest time in the world this season and the second fastest in Texas A&M school history.

With this weekend’s performance, he regained the top time in the world so far in the 2015 season.

Aaron Ernest of LSU ran to a time of 20.66s Friday at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but held the mark for less than 24 hours before it was surpassed by Hart.

He also won the 60m in 6.67s, but was fond of his 200m feat which he highlighted because of a win over teammate and fellow senior Deon Leondre.

“The meet record was nice because [Leondre] actually beat me in that race [last year] and he was talking a lot of trash,” Hart said to Richard Croome of theeagle.com. “This is my event.”

Hart led a group of Texas A&M seniors which took first place in 11 individual competitions to go with an additional two second places and two third places. Their efforts allowed the Aggies to generate large margins of victory on both sides, the women winning by 73.5 points and the men finishing more than 100 points ahead of second place.

“It’s senior day here and we have a big team as most people know, when you got 28 seniors it’s a good group of seniors and they showed it today,” A&M coach Pat Henry said. “Some of those seniors really did a fine job. With Shavez Hart in the 200, 20.57 is getting it. That’s a tremendous run right now.”

In January, Hart was awarded for his then world-leading performance at the Aggies’ Invitational. Hart raced to a time of 20.76s in the 200m to take first place and SEC Men’s “Runner of the Week.” He finished ahead of Baylor’s Trayvon Bromell who ran 20.80s and was denied the sprint double after he won the 60m in 6.61s.

Bromwell is the defending NCAA 100m champion. Fellow Aggie Bralon Taplin also finished at 20.80s, No. 10 on the school’s all-time list, to win the second section and place second overall. His previous indoor best time of 20.66s, set in March 2014 in College Station, Texas.

The Abaco native is the second fastest Bahamian sprinter of all time with his 10.16s posted in July (2013) at the CAC Championships in Morelia, Mexico. He transferred to Texas A&M following a career at South Plains College where he won the sprint double at the 2012 National Junior College Championships.

Hart is projected to be one of the top performers on a stacked Texas A&M squad.

The US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association currently ranked the Aggies at No.4 in the country. Hart entered 2015 ranked third in the 200m and tied at No.14 in the 60m.