Texas
Texas A&M, Auhmad Robinson Highlight Thrilling SEC Indoor Championships
Texas A&M senior Auhmad Robinson puts his hand around Aggies coach Pat Henry after the team won its … [+]
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Auhmad Robinson threw his left hand over Pat Henry’s shoulders and put his index finger in the air, signaling a first for even the Texas A&M men’s track and field team on Saturday inside the Fasken Indoor facility.
The Aggies’ first SEC Indoor Track and Field Championship.
It certainly did not happen without one last effort, with Robinson, the Texas A&M senior competing in his final conference meet, opening up the 4×400 with a 46.92-second split before Kimar Farquharson finished things off with a 45.22 second dagger, giving the Aggies and Henry, the 20-year head coach and nine-time NCAA team champion coach, a time of 3:03.09 to take down Arkansas, which had won five straight SEC titles dating back to 2020.
“All week, we’ve been saying we got a chance to make history,” said Robinson, highlighting the fact that the Arkansas men have won the meet 24 times since 1993. “This is our first SEC title ever win. So we did it as a team.”
And what would the SEC Indoor Championships be without surprise moments like this, the nation’s best track and field conference taking it down to the final inches over three days as the season heads to a close this month at NCAA Indoors in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Texas A&M men earned a first, the Arkansas women claimed their 11th straight title, and both finished the night as SEC champions, capping off a wild few days of championship racing.
We were there for the ride. Here were the top three moments.
The Arkansas women celebrate after winning their 11th straight SEC Indoor Championship title on … [+]
Texas A&M senior Auhmad Robinson wins the 400 meter final at the SEC Indoor Championships in 45.07 … [+]
Auhmad Robinson’s Final Hurrah With Aggies At The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships
Perhaps no sprinter in the country runs with more heart than Robinson, who claimed the first two SEC indoor championships of his career, clocking times of 45.07 seconds in the 400 meters and 3:03.09 in the 4×400.
While the Texas native out of Houston is just five-foot-eight inches, he packs a punch on the track, a year ago lowering his 400 meter personal best to 44.91 seconds.
He ran no slower than 45.62 this indoor season, proving he was the man to beat at SECs. But it was up to him on Saturday while the stakes were raised.
What pulled Robinson closer to the sun, he said, was the fact that this was his last conference meet.
“The majority of this team are seniors,” he said. “So this really meant a lot, and not just for me but for them. Just for us to have, like, that last memory, to get a ring that last time out.”
In a thrilling 400 meter final, Robinson edged Georgia’s Will Floyd at the line, clocking an NCAA No. 3 time of 45.07 to Floyd’s 45.24. Later, as the Aggies led by just three points over Arkansas going into the final event at SECs, Robinson was placed on lead rather than anchor to set the tone.
Across the track, the Aggies also saw wins from its distance medley relay team and Blake Harris in the heptathlon and from Samuel Whitmarsh in the 800m.
Whitmarsh earned his second straight SEC title, legging past Mississippi State’s Abdullah Hassan in 1:47.69.
“If it was easy, they would say everyone would do it,” he said.
Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler, a 2024 Olympian, ran the NCAA’s second-fastest 400 meters in history on … [+]
Aaliyah Butler’s NCAA Pursuit Continues At The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships
A return to earth may have come for Aaliyah Butler this indoor season after the 21-year-old qualified for the Olympics and reached the semifinals of the 400 meters in Paris for Team USA.
She returned to Georgia and went back to the college oval.
But on Saturday, she made sure there was no malaise, factoring into two SEC Championship wins as she clocked the second-fastest time in NCAA history in the 400 meters, hitting 49.78 on the clock.
“I just kept thanking God and trusting my coaches,” Butler said. “And that’s what happened today. I just ran my race and executed the way I wanted to.”
With the meet winding down, she finished with a 49.87 split on the anchor of Georgia’s winning 4×400 relay, helping the Bulldogs to a time of 3:26.42 – while also outlasting South Carolina, which earned a 49.86 split from Jameesia Ford, also the winner of the 200 meter final, on the team’s third leg.
“I believe (SECs) is the hardest meet ever,” said Butler, who was fourth in the SEC outdoor final last year despite clocking a time of 49.79 seconds. “It brings up my nerves like that.”
Butler was just shy of the NCAA record of 49.48, a 2023 record last accomplished by Britton Wilson of Arkansas. Butler also pulled along Arkansas’ Isabella Whittaker, who was second in a time of 49.90, an NCAA No. 3 all-time performance.
South Carolina’s Jameesia Ford won the 200 meter final at the SEC Indoor Championships in 22.44 … [+]
Missouri’s Drew Rogers, celebrating at the line, won a thrilling 3,000 meter final on Saturday at … [+]
Missouri’s Drew Rogers Shocks In The Men’s 3K Final At The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships
The most surprising finish of the night took place in the men’s 3,000 meters.
Nine runners entered the SEC final with season-best times faster than Missouri’s Drew Rogers.
In fact, the sophomore didn’t even own a 3K effort inside the NCAA’s top 50 performances on the season.
But when the race became tactical, Rogers found himself in a position to contend. Arkansas’ Yaseen Abdalla, Patrick Kiprop and Reuben Reina broke off over the final laps.
Rogers was not in a great position, finding himself in seventh or eighth at times. Reina made a big move on the backstretch and looked to be in a prime position to win.
“Obviously, there was crazy talent around here and I respected everyone going in,” Rogers said. “But I knew I had a fighting chance, and there was no one in there that was better than me. And when it comes down to 400, I believe that I’m better than everyone.”
Rogers responded, ultimately winning over Reina – the SEC champion in the mile – in the last meters in 7:53.61, which was a new Missouri record.
He ran his final 400 meters in 57.99 and his last lap in 27.08.
“It’s been a long road,” Rogers said of his win at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. “We have this new coach now (Kyle Levermore). He’s stuck with us. He’s been through thick and thin with us. I owe it all to him and without him, I don’t think I would be where I am. So it’s been a long road, but we just believed and kept bringing the program up, so I’m blessed to be where I am.”
Next up on the calendar for college athletes is the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which take place from March 14-15 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
A North Texas man reported missing earlier this week was found dead Friday, and police say a co‑worker has confessed to fatally shooting him and stealing his car.
The suspect, Gregory D. Lewis, 34, remains in custody and faces a forthcoming capital murder charge, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.
Lewis is accused of killing 31‑year‑old Thomas King, who had been last seen in his Taco Casa work uniform. King was reported missing on Tuesday after failing to return home Monday from the fast‑food restaurant in the 1100 block of Bridgewood Drive.
Car found at Arlington motel
Police said King’s car was found at the Quality Inn on I‑20 in Arlington, and surveillance video showed Lewis arriving in King’s vehicle shortly after King left work.
Detectives identified the man in the video and arrested him on unrelated charges.
Body discovered on Fort Worth’s East Side
King’s body was located on Friday in an open field on Fort Worth’s East Side, authorities said.
According to police, Lewis confessed to shooting the victim and stealing his car.
Medical examiner review pending
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
CBS News Texas has reached out to Taco Casa for comment.
Texas
Exclusive | Mexican mayor urged relatives in US to vote for Texas Dem for Congress who would ‘take care’ of their city
WASHINGTON — A Mexican mayor earlier this month urged her constituents to get their relatives in Texas to vote for House Democratic candidate Bobby Pulido because he would “take care” of their city if elected to Congress.
“We need to get out the vote for him,” said Patricia Frinee Cantú Garza, mayor of General Bravo in Nuevo León, less than two hours from the US border, in a recent Spanish-speaking Facebook reel,which The Post reviewed and translated.
“Talk to your families in the United States. Make sure they go vote,” Garza added, noting that she would be presenting the keys to the city to Pulido, a two-time Latin Grammy winner, on April 3.
“When he becomes a congressman,” she also said, “we want him to take care of Bravo.”
The city ceremony celebrating Pulido in General Bravo never received enough funding and was cancelled, the Mexican outlet El Norte reported.
Pulido has headlined concerts in General Bravo as recently as November 2023. Local officials promoted the show and the current mayor and her husband, then-mayor Edgar Cantu Fernandez, appeared.
“Bobby doesn’t know the mayor and has never met her,” a Pulido campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “He declined the invitation, didn’t attend the event, and isn’t responsible for unsolicited comments made by other people.”
Bradley Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said the statements wouldn’t pose legal or ethical issues for Pulido — but that the remarks may have a political cost, given the focus on foreign involvement in US elections in recent years.
“If you were making financial contributions, that would be a different thing, but just to exhort people to vote,” Smith said, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for them.”
Jessica Furst Johnson, a partner at the Republican-aligned campaign finance and election law firm Lex Politica, noted that event appeared to function as an in-kind contribution to Pulido’s campaign but it would be difficult to determine without “more details.”
Congressional Republicans have thus far failed to pass a bill this session aimed at beefing up identification requirements for voters when registering, though many have said laws as currently written are too lax and could lead to non-citizens casting ballots.
State investigations and audits have shown in recent years that thousands of non-citizens ended up being registered, but few have ever illegally voted. Those who have are federally prosecuted.
Pulido is challenging incumbent GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the Texas district this November and has faced questions from the press about his ties to Mexico, where he has said he maintains a home for parts of the year.
The Latino music star admitted to splitting time with his family between there and Texas just two years before launching his campaign, telling a YouTube show in a 2023 interview that he’s a “summer Mexican” but “winter Texan.”
“We live on the border,” he has also said. “My wife and I have a house in Mexico. So, we travel there, and we spend time over there.”
There was no indication of a current mortgage on a property either there or in the US, according to financial disclosures that Pulido filed April 15 with the House. Those filings also revealed he holds a checking account at a Mexican bank.
“Bobby lives in his family home in Edinburg, Texas, where he was born, raised, and is raising his own family,” the Pulido campaign rep noted. “He is in complete compliance with all House disclosure rules — the property you are referencing is not his primary residence so is not required to be listed.”
AUSTIN, Texas — Criticism is mounting over the threat to withhold public safety grants from Austin and other major Texas cities, with opponents arguing the move is politically motivated as both the governor and attorney general seek office this year.
“Defunding the public safety for political reasons was wrong when the Democrats did it; still wrong when the Republicans do it,” the former executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, Charley Wilkison, wrote on X.
Criticism is mounting over the threat to withhold public safety grants from Austin and other major Texas cities, with opponents arguing the move is politically motivated as both the governor and attorney general seek office this year. (Photo: CBS Austin)
The statement came hours after Governor Greg Abbott threatened to cut $2.5 million in public safety funding to Austin. The governor expressed opposition to Austin’s decision to update its policy governing how police handle administrative warrants used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in immigration detentions.
“The city has updated its general orders to align with state and federal law and also to protect the Fourth Amendment of Austin residents who should be free from unlawful search and seizure,” said Austin City Councilmember Mike Siegel.
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Houston and Dallas are also facing similar threats from the governor.
“The statement from the governor’s office was really disappointing and frankly it’s wrong on the law and it’s wrong on what’s good for public safety,” Siegel said.
In a statement provided in response to a request for an interview, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas said, “Law enforcement officers continue to be dragged into political warfare while real public safety issues are ignored.”
The president of the Austin Police Association did not respond to a request for comment regarding the potential impact on officers.
A request for comment to the governor’s office received a previously issued statement from Abbott’s press secretary, which read: “A city’s failure to comply with its contract agreement with the state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws makes the state less safe. It can have deadly consequences. Cities in Texas are expected to make the streets safer, not more deadly.”
Siegel defended the city council’s position, stating, “I can speak for myself as one of 11 voting members of our city council. We’re not going to sell our values for a couple million dollars in public safety grants.”
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