Track & Field Report: Pat Henry previews Battle on the Bayou

Following the Texas A&M Invitational last weekend, Texas A&M track & field will head to Baton Rouge for the Battle on the Bayou. Head coach Pat Henry joined Wednesday's edition of TexAgs Radio to discuss his team's performance in the outdoor season. 

Key notes from Pat Henry interview 

• Everyone is talking about the basketball team. Buzz Williams has a tremendous group of athletes. I would never want to play Texas A&M. They fight. He's done a great job with them. It's good that they played Houston but too bad that they played Houston. 
   
• The first US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Rating Index is a reflection of the performance of your team up until that point across all disciplines. It's not a vote of who people think is the best. Its result based. Both groups are doing well. We are talking a lot about consistency of effort. This group has had that ability. We have a great group, and if we stay healthy, we can be really good.
   
• One thing I want to say about our program we might not win every year. Once you win one, people think you are going to win from then on. We have been fortunate to win a few. If we're in the mix, I’m going to feel good about where we are. If you are in the mix, you have an opportunity. 
   
• We have a young man that the world of athletics is keeping out of competition. They are the governing body of our sport. The NCAA follows them. Issam Asinga is going through a situation with them. I think it will be positive, but we're seeing when this ending to this issue is going to come up, and they keep stringing it out. 
   
• Katelyn Fairchild and Lianna Davidson are tough. You wouldn't know that when she walks in front of you, but she is. Women's javelin is the hardest event on your body, including the triple jump and other events. You have to plant that front foot and boy, you better be tough to do that. Those two ladies are tough but are really good. They will have to contend on a national level, and right now, they are ranked in that top group. 
   
• Sam Hankins has thrown over 250 to 255 feet in the first two meets, and those are big throws when you think of a football field being 300 feet. He’s thrown over 250, and he’s doing really well. 
   
• With Carter Bajoit, it was a matter of time. If you are consistent, something big will happen for you, and it did. He's jumped 7-foot-4 and three-quarters, and he's done really well. We're really proud of him, and he can jump higher. If you look at the video of the 7-foot-4 jump, he could have jumped 7-foot-7. 
   
• Abigail Martin and Carlie Weiser are both young throwers. Abigail threw three out of bounds in her first meet and had no score, then the second, she came at number two or three at Texas A&M ever at 177-feet-plus. Carlie is a putter and a discus thrower, and she continues to improve. She is a local girl, so it’s good to have both of those young throwers. 
   
• Talking about some people who didn’t compete at the last meet, we put most people on the track. We didn't necessarily put them on the track in their event and/or double a lot of people. For the most part, we’re healthy, so we have people on the track. We had a really good competition last week, a step up from spring break. This weekend we go to LSU, and it will be another step up. 
   
• We’re the only sport in the SEC that the SEC doesn't get involved in scheduling. That tells you right there. That's the problem. It allows some things to happen that are bad for the sport, in my opinion. We need to be a team sport. We need to be a scored meet every time we get on the track.
   
• Someone has to win, and someone has to lose. I’m dead set against it being anything different. Now we’re forced to take seven distance runners and go to Stanford to get on a track where the vast majority of the greatest distance runners in the country are all going to go to one site. It's going to be one of the most competitive situations, and we advance by time. We’re going to send people to a place that will be the best for them. I do not like doing this at all. If you're going to play the game, you are going to play the game. 
   
• Bryce Foster is looking a lot better. With that knee operation, he is getting back into Bryce Foster. He is looking more like Bryce Foster. When you can move across a ring like he’s doing, then he’s well, and that's a good thing to see.