By RONALD CHAWE –
ZAMBIAN runner Gerald Phiri opened yesterday’s action at the Texas A and M Invitation with a dominant win at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
The United States based runner clocked 6.68 seconds to win the 60m final with Trey Harts grabbing second place after timing 6.72 seconds as Whitney Prevost’s time of 6.74 seconds earned him a third place finish.
Phiri’s Aggie teammate Dominique Stafford posted a 6.75 seconds time for fourth place to produce a first and fourth finish sandwiching team Baylor.
In the 200m race, Phiri ran 21.24 seconds finishing third with Team Barton’s Alonso Edward winning with a time of 20.89 seconds.
Chris Dykes finished as runner-up with a time of 21.07 seconds while Tran Howell’s 21.36 second speed saw him in fourth place.
This Invitational event served as the final regular season meet of the indoor season for Texas A and M, who will host the Big 12 Championships in two weeks and the NCAA Indoor Championships in a month.
Speaking in an interview, Phiri expressed happiness with his performance and that he is now looking to end the brief indoor with a bang next weekend.
“Slowly but surely making progress, I got the win here in Frisco timing 6.62seconds, I am glad to be healthy again and I am really happy with my execution,” he said.
The Zambian star missed out on a medal at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix after finishing fourth in the final held on February 1 this year clocking 6.72 seconds, a time that barely fell short of his personal best and Zambian record of 6.52 seconds.