Track & Field Report: Pat Henry recaps A&M's showing at SEC Indoors

Despite finishing 10th on both the men's and women's sides, Texas A&M had a number of standout performers at the SEC Indoor Championships last weekend. On Tuesday, Pat Henry recapped the Aggies' weekend in Fayetteville on another edition of the Track & Field Report.

Key notes from Pat Henry interview

• You know I am not pleased with what happened this weekend. We had a couple of unfortunate things happen but some good things as well. NIL is making a huge impact for some people.
   
• Certain states have different rules, and the coaches have been able to be involved a lot in other places. If you look at the results we finished way down the line at this meet, this typically doesn't happen with this program. It shows who is and isn't playing this game. I think in the end it's going to hurt athletes, but the problem is, I have to start playing the same game everyone else is. I’ve been doing this for 50 years. This is a huge change for coaches who have been in it a long time.
   
• It changes the size of the roster. They have people at some schools that have 12.6 scholarships. When you look at someone's roster, and they have 15 internationals and 42 out-of-state athletes. There is no way we can do something like that at Texas A&M... not unless we are using NIL or tuition waivers, and A&M doesn’t have tuition waivers.
   
• Athletes that do more than one sport are better athletes and more teachable as a result. Any time I get a football player, he has a different physical toughness about himself. They learn to withstand and get beat up. They are a different athlete, and that is okay. In some sports, that can definitely help. Javelin coach Juan De La Garza will go watch some softball games and look for some girls that have a great arms and will see potential and sign some of those girls.
   
• Lamara Distin is one of the best high jumpers in the world right now. She jumped 6-4.75, and she tried to jump two meters. That is the world championship automatic qualification. She will still go to the championship, but she wasn't an automatic qualifier.
   
• Tierra Robinson-Jones got a lot better in the quarter-mile this weekend. She's going to continue to get better and faster. Some people can rise to the top on these kinds of occasions and some cower. Every once and a while, the weight of the competition is a lot for some people.
   
• Bryce Foster is back from an ACL injury, and he threw 61’ plus. That's the farthest he has thrown. He will be back to do the outdoor season as well.
   
• Some people need to change both physically and mentally. Some guys need to get better, and some of that is involved in age. Eric Casarez, you are in those exact events where age is a dictator. They have to be more dedicated on and off the track.
   
• I've been doing this a long time, and I've never seen as many dropped batons, especially at the breakpoint at the mile relay. The number of people that lost it at that point this weekend was shocking. We stumbled around on the first one and one went down, and then another one did. We weren't really fast, but we scored. Our women are the best relay in the country. Going into the last laps of the relay, the baton got knocked out, and we weren't able to finish the race. That was frustrating.
   
• The NCAA Indoor Championships iare coming up. Auhmad Robinson got a little hurt at the SEC meet. He hurt his hamstring about 30 meters into the quarter. Both mile relays advanced. Both 4x400m relays advanced. Both jumpers advanced.
   
• We’re moving into outdoors now. Most of indoor season, we missed a lot of training because it was so cold on some days. Indoor teaches you a lot about yourself and where you are this time of year. When you have a championship, and you are in a group of 27 people to compete, it shows you where you are right now. That doesn't dictate where you will be for outdoors. You have to bounce back from failure which is what I am hoping we are going to do.