Texas A&M women top field events, Texas' Crouser sets meet record in men's shot put

Dwayne Golbek of Arkansas competes in the high jump at the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Friday, March 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Jay Janner) AUSTIN CHRONICLE OUT, COMMUNITY IMPACT OUT, MAGS OUT; NO SALES; INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM (The Associated Press)

Danielle Dowie, right, of Texas, gets past LSU's Chanice Chase to win the 400 Meter Hurdles at the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Friday March 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Jay Janner) (The Associated Press)

AUSTIN, Texas – The top-ranked Texas A&M women got a strong performance in the field events Friday at the Texas Relays, winning the discus and triple jump.

Aggies sophomore Shelbi Vaughan defended her title in the discus with a school-record throw of 198 feet, 10 inches. Vaughan also set the national high school record at the 2012 Texas Relays, held at the University of Texas.

"It's a very comfortable venue for me to throw in. I love the atmosphere and the rings here," Vaughan said. "My first goal this year is to throw over 200 feet."

Vaughan was the 2013 Southeastern Conference champion as a freshman and already owns the 10 best throws in school history. She was undefeated as a collegian until a back injury in qualifying for the 2013 NCAA championships. That injury also came at the same track.

"I was a little hesitant, because last year I was here with a hurt back and threw three fouls I threw from the same ring today, so I just put the nerves behind me and went out and threw a good one.

Texas A&M's LeQue Moen-Davis of Texas A&M won the triple jump at 43-4¼. The Aggies, who finished second at the 2013 NCAA championships, also won the sprint medley relay in 3 minutes, 49.56 seconds.

Texas junior Ryan Crouser, the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor champion in the shot put, set a Texas Relays and school record with a mark of 69-9½. Crouser broke the meet record of 69-2¼ set by Randy Barnes of Texas A&M in 1986.

Barnes set the American and world record in 1990 at 75-10¼, which still stands.

Crouser's mark Friday is the best in the world so far this year and came on his last attempt.

"My last throw, nothing left to lose," Crouser said. "On your perfect throws, your mind is perfectly blank and not thinking anything ... when it came off my hands, I knew it was a great throw."

Omar Craddock, who won two NCAA outdoors national titles and one indoor championship at Florida, won the men's triple jump with a leap of 55-8½, while competing for USA Performance. South Florida's Matthew O'Neal posted the top collegiate mark at 53-0.

Former four-time U.S. women's champion Kara Patterson posted the top mark in women's javelin with a throw of 198-4 for team ASICS. Florida's Marija Vucenovic had the top college throw at 186-1.The Gators sophomore from Serbia finished second in the 2013 NCAA outdoor championships.