Former A&M track star Jessica Beard talks A&M HOF induction

Key notes from Jessica Beard interview

• It was a great surprise to find out I was being inducted, I got a phone call from the Lettermen's Association and I was in awe. It is a great honor. I asked who else was going to be inducted and that only added to everything.
  
  
• At the time I was being recruited, I had run the top time for my class, so I was looking to my dad for a decision on where I should attend college. His advice was to get out of the cold and go somewhere hot. LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M were the three I went to and visited. A&M just had a lot of the things I was looking for in coaching and education. Everyone was so friendly, it was the first time I heard “Howdy!” Coach Henry was very honest with me, he told me that what you see is what you get and I appreciated that. The people in my major, the coaching and the girls on the team were very genuine. Everyone was so welcoming.
  
  
• The coaching staff is good at what they do, they take the time to learn about each athlete individually. It is a big deal for your coach to look at you and be able to tell you what you need to work on. They were genuine and told you exactly what they expected of you. They are great men and great coaches that let you know that you were great. That is why it all worked out so well, they love what they do. There was passion behind their coaching, a lot of advice given and they just knew what to say and do to get us ready and prepared to compete. I was very blessed to have them coaching me while at A&M.
  
  
• One thing that was important to the national title run was that Coach Henry had done it before. He told us that if each person did what they were supposed to do, then we would reach this goal. We took it one track meet at a time. There were so many major things that lead up to it. They told us, “Do what you can do and do your job, your team is depending on you.” To get it done and win multiple national championships was awesome.
  

The Burgess Banquet, hosted by the Letterman's Association, is open to the public. For more information or to purchase tickets to the event, click here.