Track & Field Report: Aggies to close out home slate with Alumni Muster

Following a weekend at the Bryan Clay Invitational and Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, Texas A&M track and field returns home to host the Alumni Muster this weekend. Along with a track program spotlight, Pat Henry joined TexAgs Radio to discuss A&M's last home meet. 

Key notes from Pat Henry interview

• Paul Ereng is a World Record holder and an Olympic gold medalist. We've known each other for 25 years, and I have had the honor to hire him on staff.
   
• We had a very good weekend. It was a great competition. There were eight conference schools and ten from around the country. It was a great meeting in Florida. The one in California always ends up good for our distance runners. 
   
• For Victor Kibiego’s second steeple of the year, that’s as good as you can get. He's running well. He’s healthy. We think he is going to run another ten or twelve seconds faster. 
   
• Lianna Davidson is creeping up a little better each week. She looks better each week. People think that with javelin, you just run down and throw the spear, but it's the toughest event on your body. There is nothing tougher. You are running fast and have to put that front foot down in front of you and pin it over the top of you. You better be in good shape, or you'll tear your knee clear up. It's a tough event.
   
• To step on the track and run 3:40 for 15,000 meters... Sam Whitmarsh has run maybe two 1500s in his life. That is pretty incredible. No one does that. I have never seen an athlete do that. The guys who beat him were pros. He would have beaten them with another ten meters. He didn't know how to run the race quite right, but he ran awfully fast. Sam is a talented guy. 
   
• 44.9 for Auhmad Robinson in the 400-meter. The guy that beat him ran neck-and-neck down the straight-away. He beat him by a one-hundredth of a second. Beat him indoors as well. They are the only two guys in the NCAA who have run under 45 seconds indoors and outdoors, so he's having a really good season. 
   
• We've had a lot of good years. We've had good years in spring sports. It's good to see that a number of spring sports are doing well. It is a really good time. 
   
• We have been doing very well. Our performances have been consistent, and that is what it takes to stay at the top of that thing. I'm pleased with it. It is great. That’s what happened yesterday. What happens tomorrow is what makes it, and you have to think that way. If you are thinking about what you did, you are probably going to get beat. 
   
• We talk about sometimes getting to the show is a big part of it. Getting to the championships is the most important thing for them. What happens at the championships is an elite group steps up. It never fails. Those are the most successful people. Sometimes, they come out of the blue. Sometimes, you've seen it, and they are able to replicate it. It takes a certain person or athlete to step up at the championship time of the year and get it done. 
   
• We've won some championships here. Those kinds of teams are different, they have a different feel. I've been telling this team for three or four months you can feel a different element of success for the group. More people are willing to lean on each other and have expectations and when you do that the team comes together. It doesn't come together for individual efforts. It comes together when people start to have expectations for each other. That is what I have realized in my sport.
   
• We have a few non-collegiates that will be in this meet. A few collegiate teams, so it won't be very big. We’ve competed really hard this past weekend. Next weekend will be difficult. We’ll be in Philidelphia, and it’s a great competition and will step it up. This week, we're looking to get some things done on our track. It's our last meet, so we're looking forward to it. 
   
• Auhmad being number 11... At most other schools, he would be the number one time. At our institution, we've had some great quarter-milers. All Olympians. To be in his shoes, he's done very well. He is striving to move up that ladder. There has only been one other guy in college to run that fast. He's doing great. 
   
• John Baker is a transfer and, unfortunately, got hurt. He’s a long jumper, and he's a talented guy. He got down the runway and had some good efforts and some good jumps, but his good jumps are in front of him. He is just getting his feet wet, and he knows that. If you don't jump 26 feet, you aren't going to score. He knows the challenge, and I think he has the ability to step up.
   
• I am happy with our group right now. We have two situations where someone is a little hurt and another a little sore but I think they'll be back not this weekend but this following weekend. 
   
• I want people to see who our athletes are. I could say a few things about these people, but when you get them in the building, people will have a better time listening.