Track & Field Report: Pat Henry's Aggies open 2025 campaign on Friday

Hosting the McFerrin-12 Degree Invitational, Texas A&M track & field kicks off its 2025 indoor season this weekend. Entering his 20th season in Aggieland, head coach Pat Henry joined TexAgs Live to tell us more about his squad and 2025 schedule. 

Key note from Pat Henry interview

• The new studio is really nice. It’s big. You can bring a few people in here.
   
• It never stops. We have been training since the first day of class. It’s time to get going. 
   
• We have the McFerrin-12 Degree Invitational this weekend. Twelve degrees is the degree of the track on the turns. If it is more than 12 degrees, it’s an illegal track. Any major track had to be 12 degrees. Some people try to sell their track as the best in the country because of “this” or “that.” It’s who you put on the track.
   
• We have eight or nine teams coming in this weekend. That is a bunch. This facility has only been used a little bit for competitions. We only had four or five schools at each of those competitions last year. We are breaking new ground right now, and it looks like it will be very cold.
   
• The outdoor track we use as a warmup for the indoor track, but if it's really old, it puts a hiatus on some things. We use the football building for warmups and to get the motors going. We have a football coach that is very receptive. He is for a dual-sport guy.
   
• TCU backed out. They think the roads will be too bad between here and Dallas. 
   
• We have our returning group from last year. We didn't lose many people. We have new ones that I think will be big contributors. We can’t get everybody started this weekend. Ja'Qualon Scott is the best hurdler in the country. If there is anything a bit off with him, I won’t run him. You can’t take those chances.
   
• Because of the numbers we have back, I feel good. We have two great half-milers back. We have really good quarter-milers back on both sides. I feel better about our men’s team than our women’s team right now. Our women’s team will be fine. We are a little bit younger on the women’s side. Some things may happen a little bit earlier on the men’s side. 
   
• We have great interest from high schoolers in coming to Texas A&M. We have a high school meet on Saturday. This is the first time we have done this because we don't have the other building right there. We have over 5,000 people enter this track meet. We only take a certain amount. 
   
• All of these young track athletes may not be just track athletes. They are football players. They play volleyball. They are working on speed. It’s a great environment when that building is full. I encourage people to come to a track meet. If you come once, I think you will come back.
   
• Deon Lendore was one of my volunteer assistants. He had been with me for 10 years. He is probably one of the finest athletes we have ever had here in track and field. He was a three-time Olympian. We have a memorial we are introducing for him. His mom will be there. The quarter-mile will now be the Deon Lendore 400-meter.