Texas A&M men win first indoor track and field national championship

Pat Henry does it again.

Widely regarded as the top college track and field coach in the nation, Henry added to his personal trophy case on Saturday after the Texas A&M men's team came from behind to edge Florida by a half-point and win the national indoor championship. To make it even sweeter, the Aggies' first ever indoor title came in its own back yard at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the A&M campus.

"This was a fine championship because of the crowd and because of the volume in this building," Henry said after the meet. "I think we have the best indoor facility in the country. It's great to win this one here."

The title came in dramatic fashion, with the Aggies trailing Oregon and Florida entering the final event ... the ever-popular 4X400 relay. They needed to win the event to earn enough points to claim the title. A&M got off to a great start with senior and Taylor High School product Fred Kerley leading off and giving the Aggies a nice cushion over the Gators. But the Ags got behind in the second and third legs and handed the baton to junior Mylik Kerley - Fred's brother - hoping he could make up about four meters on UF anchor Ryan Clark.

And boy, did he ever.

With a raucous maroon and white crowd cheering him on, Kerley ran a very smart and determined two laps around the indoor track and turned on the jets down the stretch to blow by Clark and claim the 4X400 relay with a meet record time of 3:02.80, taking home the overall national championship for Texas A&M.

"I have a lot of power at the end of my race," Mylik Kerley told ESPN immediately following the win. "In my head, [my goal was to] stay patient, stay patient until it's time to attack. I feel like I attacked at the right moment coming down the home stretch."

"I know we have a good 4X400, so you hope it comes down to that," Henry added. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Florida. Those guys lined up and ran very fast. We had to come from behind to beat them."

For Henry, the men's title gives him nine team national championships as head coach of the Aggies and a total of 36 team division one championships in his illustrious career. Henry had previously led A&M to four men's outdoor titles and four women's outdoor titles but this is A&M's first team indoor championship and indoor title #13 overall for Henry, dating back to his days at LSU.

A&M finished on top of the men's standings with 46 points, followed by Florida at 45.5, Oregon at 38, Georgia at 35.5 and Arkansas at 33. In a display of SEC dominance, LSU finished sixth, Alabama placed eighth and Tennessee tied for tenth. Seven of the top 10 finishers on the men's side were out of the SEC.

The Aggie women finished in a tie with Mississippi State for 12th in the final team standings. Oregon won the women's team title with a meet record 84 points and now owns seven women's indoor championships in the past eight years. Georgia (51) and Alabama (37) placed second and third, respectively.

Texas A&M looks to carry its momentum from indoor season into the outdoor phase of the track year. A&M's first outdoor meet begins this Friday at the Baldy Castillo Invitational on the campus of Arizona State.

No rest for the athletes as they dive right into outdoor season, but for fans and supporters, it's celebration time in Aggieland. In what has been an up-and-down year in A&M sports, Saturday night offered something worth celebrating. The Aggie men are back on top as national champions in track and field.