Track & Field Report: Henry's top-ranked Ags headed to Azuna & Gainesville

Splitting up this week, Pat Henry's No.1 men's and women's squads are heading to the West and East Coast this weekend to participate in the Bryan Clay Invitational and Tom Jones Memorial Invitational. Pat Henry joined TexAgs Radio to preview the meets. 

Key notes from Pat Henry interview

• The rankings are based on performances that you've done until this point. We have been pretty healthy, and we've had some great performances, so it is reflective of where we are now.
   
• We have a meet this weekend at Florida, which will have eight or nine SEC schools and most of the ACC. There'll be 20-plus schools so it will be a tremendous competition this weekend.
   
• Timara Chapman's performance was the No. 13 female performance in that event in the history of our country, which tells you how good that performance was. We've had a couple that are right in front of her, but to score 6,200 right now is great, and she leads the country.
   
• Lamara Distin just looks real, real good right now. We'll find out more about her this weekend when it's a different competitive environment, but I think she's going to be prepared.
   
• Abigail Martin is a new freshman for us who throws discus. She improved 11 feet this weekend and threw 196 something. She's one of the best discus throwers we've ever had, and she's a freshman. She's a well-put-together lady, too, and she can really throw that discus.
   
• I think in track and field we have a little more stability. In my sport, we have 56 men and 12 scholarships. That's the NCAA limit. That doesn't divide into 56 very well. Like athletics used to be, there's a commitment from each one of our athletes, not every one of them, but there's a financial commitment to their education. They pay out of their pocket, and that creates stability, and I think that's good.
   
• I felt really good about our performance at the 44 Farms Team Invitational. The level of competition continues to get better and better, but the athletes are making the competition inside themselves inside the competition.
   
• Heather Abadie broke the school record in the women's pole vault with a mark of 4.36 meters. She jumped a little higher than that in indoors. It's the middle of the outdoor track season, so she's getting better.
   
• We're taking eight people to California. We'll see what Eric Casarez can do. He better get it done.
   
• The Florida meet is a big one. Anytime you bring Florida, LSU, Georgia and Tennessee together, you're going to have a great competition.
   
• Arkansas is taking some people down there. Ole Miss has some of the better specialists in the country. Mississippi State has a great half-miler and a great thrower, and they'll be there. The SEC is always going to be dominant in our sport.