Whatever the final team scores are tomorrow, we can still win a number of events. Need to keep doing that and let the rest sort itself out.

Coach Henry has said in the past, that a team must do better than expected in order to win the title. This is not always the case (e.g., Kansas WOMEN last year -- they cruised), but usually it is.

We definitely had to do somewhat better than expected this year in order to win. Hopefully, we can win the MEN's 4x400 and beat Florida and Oregon in the WOMEN’s relay.

We have to beat the Florida WOMEN. Maybe we can bump them from behind and get them disqualified. I am still upset about that.

We were not really expecting Prezel Hardy 13 points but to further lose Shavez Hart 200m points is heartbreaking. Note that Florida's Arman Hall made both 200m and 400m finals. Our guys didn't even run near their season best in the 200m

Sounds like we've had more downs than ups tonight. Bummer.

Just hoping for top 5 finishes from both sides now.

We have to finish in the TOP 5 in both. Can u imagine any other sport we have in which year after year, it would be devastating for us to finish out of the TOP 5 even once?

I am so thankful for Coach Henry, his staff, and our student athletes.

Well, top 5 will be a stretch for both teams now. 200m was disastrous for both.

This was not our day!

Hated to see Kamaria pull up in the 200. I hope it's not too bad. She'll be out of the 4 X 400 tomorrow. Great job Brea! Wonder which of our coaches lodged the successful protest.

Brea was fortunate that her first (and best) throw was allowed, otherwise she would have finished sixth. Her other five throws were not up to her standards.

Any final thoughts, Trini?

Another year another indoor disappointment.

Its seems that every year we underperform at indoors and have a great outdoor championship. Lets hope that continues.

I am still in shock at all the developments. The same thing is happening every year. Remember last year Deon Lendore was the favorite for the 400m and won his semifinals convincingly, only to encounter a calf injury in the last 200m of the final when he was way ahead of everyone and was passed in the home stretch. He ended up 6th and we lost valuable points.
I don't think we can depend on sprints and hurdles anymore to win an indoor title. When our sprinters end up with an injury or perform badly, we don't have the depth like the other teams to rebound,
We need to get a couple more top field athletes and more importantly some strong middle distance and distance who can score at the NCAA.
I find it hard to believe that we cannot recruit such persons.
Look at Florida and Oregon, they both have a couple of middle distance and distance athletes who can score for them. Also a distance medley relay team.
It seems that our sprinters disappoint at indoors and then perform better at outdoors.
While this is Ok, we need to find the right mix indoors that would take the pressure away somewhat form our sprinters. We had three sprinters in the 60m, only one will score. We have three sprinters in the 200m, only one scored (5 points). If wasn't for Brea then we would have so far behind and if wasn't for the protest Brea would have finished 6th because her other throws were not up to her standards.
I love my Aggie team but this is heartbreaking every year at indoors.
I wish them well today and hope we can still get a top five finish.
Look at Oregon men, they we not expected to be in the picture and they rose to the occasion and could well win the title. They still have a lot of scoring opportunities today.

You're right on, Trini.

We had a very bad day yesterday, both MEN and WOMEN teams.

Current projected points with changes from yesterday:

MEN:
1. Arkansas – 49 (gained 11.75 points)
2. Florida – 47 (lost 3.5 points)
3. Oregon – 42 (gained 20 points)
4. Arizona – 36 (lost 1 point)
5. Florida State – 30 (gained 6 points)
6. Alabama – 28 (gained 19 points)
7. Texas A&M – 22.25 (lost 20 points)
8. Wisconsin – 21 (lost 12 points)

WOMEN:
1. Florida – 61 (gained 14 points)
2. Oregon – 44.7 (lost 4 points)
3. tu – 40.5 (gained 2.5 points)
4. Kentucky – 37 (gained 3 points)
5. Georgia – 36.5 (lost 4.5 points)
6. Texas A&M – 31.5 (lost 11 points)
7. Dartmouth – 29 (gained 5 points)

Aggies in today’s finals with current best performance ranking:

Wayne Davis – 60mH (tied for third)
Deon Lendore – 400m (first)
Shamier Little – 400m (fifth)
Jennifer Madu – 60m (tied for seventh)
MEN – 4x400 (first, current record holder)
WOMEN – 4x400 (fourth)

Chase Wolfe – pole vault (ninth)
LaQue Moen-Davis – triple jump (fourth)
Jena Hermann – pentathlon (twelfth)

Interesting questions for the fans.

Would you rather have Henry change things up to possibly target indoor track a little more possibly at the expense of the outdoors.

While there isn't a huge difference between indoor/outdoor sprinting, the sprinters that Henry recruits tend to be better suited for outdoors.

I think taller/larger sprinters have some difficulties learning to run the banked curves of the indoor track. Henry also tends to have sprinters that are better performing in 100 vs 60. I think that you really see this across the board except for a few sprinters (Brown, Hardy).

Hemann in 4th place going into the 800. One of her worst events in the 800 coming up.

Hemann finishes 8th in Pent. New school record.

Ignoring A&M in the team race

Florida looks like they are in very good position to win the women's title.

Mens race looks to be race between Arkansas and Florida.

Hemann's eighth place finish and another school record by over 100 points is an exceptional accomplishment.

Wolfle clears the first height of PV on his first attempt. We need to start scoring where we aren't expected to in order to try to get close to 5th.

Among others, Wolfe is competing against Wisconsin's Cato for points in the PV.

Projected points prior to the start of the running events and the last four field events:

MEN:
1. Arkansas – 47
2. Florida – 47
3. Oregon – 45
4. Arizona – 36
5. Florida State – 30
6. Alabama – 28
7. Wisconsin – 23
8. Texas A&M – 22.25
9. Stanford – 19


WOMEN:
1. Florida – 62.5
2. Oregon – 44.5
3. tu – 44
4. Georgia – 39.5
5. Kentucky – 37
6. Texas A&M – 32.5
7. Dartmouth – 29

Congrats to Jenna Hemann on another school record.
She ran 2:23.58 in her weakest event,
At the SEC championship, she ran 2:19.85 for 826 points. Had she ran anywhere near that time she would have ended up with 4243 points which would have moved her up a couple of places.
She has another year and could contend again.

It might be a challenge to get right mix of athletes for the indoors. However the Aggie fans only see the athletes compete at home only indoors since we don't have an competitive outdoor facility. Typical our sprinters don't do well in the 60m but in the 100m, which should encourage us to recruit some top athletes in other events. A couple years ago we were strong in the long jumps and triple jumps with some top athletes such Julien Reid, Tyronne Stewart etc. Since then we have been struggling with the jumps and Florida and Arkansas have taken over. We had some strong 800m runners in Joey Roberts and Michael Preble. We have some young guys and would improve in the future, the challenge is to constantly have guys each year who can score in the middle distance. Typically our sprinters do well from freshmen up to senior level. However our field an distance runners may do well more when they are juniors and seniors.
I notice this indoor season two athletes are not competing. These are Shelbi Vaughn and Anne Kunz. They both competed last semester in Volleyball and Soccer. i don't know if they are injured or the the new policy is rest the two sports athletes for the indoor seasons. I don't think this is the case, since Sierra Patrick did compete indoors and was part of the volleyball team last semester.
The other interesting thing about our recruiting class this year is that there is no standout athletes on the women side. All top high school athletes went to Oregon, Arkansas, Florida, USC etc. Traditionally we would get a couple of high school athletes who represented the US at junior championship meets. Well none came to A&M. We got a sprinter from Mexico on the women's side. This must be a first. None of the top sprinters and hurdlers in the country sign with the Aggies.
I know coach Henry can bring out the best in any athlete though.

[This message has been edited by triniaggie (edited 3/15/2014 7:29p).]

Wayne third in the 60mH for 6 points.

Trini, I read your previous synopsis of the recruits we did not get. That was an extremely impressive report, sad but very informative. I hope it is not a sign of things to come. Thanks for sharing that info with us.

The things that are hard to know with recruiting is what kind of money you can throw at your recruits.

I think we are starting to get hurt quite a bit in recruiting with the lack of facilities.

If you are looking at going to texas, Oregon, A&M, or Arkansas there is one school that doesn't fit in terms of facilities.

Other people have mentioned this before, but we really need a top-notch outdoor facility. With the success that the outdoor track and field people have had, the current facility is an embarrassment. You think you'd plow back in money in an extremely successful sport.

That said, what are the realistic opportunities for holding a big-time outdoor meet at A&M? I suspect the NCAA will never allow the national meet to be held in a location as hot and humid in June as it would be in CS. I think that's a huge advantage for places like Kansas, Iowa and Oregon.

I'd be interested in other's opinions.

Texas has held significant meets. Common place for the Western "regional" meet is Austin and Fayetteville.

We need and deserve an excellent outdoor facility. We would never have the NCAA meets here, but we could hold other excellent meets.

At least, it would attract better recruits and others to train here. I feel that it would be a HUGE plus but it would have to be an excellent facility.

Indoor vs. Outdoor reply...

When I started following T&F, I remember asking the question, "What is the difference between Indoor and Outdoor track?" Someone jokingly replied something like, "No one cares about indoor track."

As I watched more, I see that here is some truth to that. Outdoor is much better and more natural. So as a fan, I would answer no to the trading our outdoor success for indoor. I still enjoy watching the individual competition though.

... like what Lendore just ran!!!

Deon Lendore NCAA Champion in 400m

nice run by Shamier Little in the 400. Something positively unexpected for A&M.

Projected points after 400m:

MEN:
1. Oregon – 57
2. Arkansas – 49
3. Florida – 43
4. Arizona – 34
5. Texas A&M – 28
5. Florida State – 28
5. Alabama – 28
8. Stanford – 19
9. Wisconsin – 18