After a long season with tough and competitive track meets, the No. 3 men and No. 4 women’s track teams head to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon to compete in the NCAA Track & Field Championships which begin on Wednesday.
Both the Aggie men and women will be looking for their fifth national titles, the men last winning in 2013 while the women are seeking to repeat as champions from a year ago. The Championships will span from Wednesday to Sunday and will be televised on ESPN networks. Texas A&M Head Coach Pat Henry spoke about the impact that the exposure of collegiate Track & Field could have.
“It’s going to be a different experience,” Henry said. “The new format is a little bit television driven and I think that’s a good thing. We have a lot more hours live on TV now and it’s spread over four days. I think that’s very important for our sport.”
The Aggies will bring six national champions to Eugene, most notably senior Deon Lendore in the 400m. Lendore is seeking to become the fourth sprinter in the last 35 years to win back-to-back national titles in the 400m. Lendore reflected on this career as an Aggie and his final meet as a collegiate athlete.
“I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself, but I’ve also got to remember this is my last meet as a collegian,” Lendore, the 2014 Bowerman award winner, said. “After all that I accomplished last year, coming into the meet this season there will be a little more pressure on me. But I’m trying to just have fun with this one, seeing it’s my last one for Texas A&M.”
Sophomore Shamier Little will be attempting to complete an undefeated season in the 400m hurdles. Little set the A&M school record with 54.68 to win the SEC Championship last month.
“I want to PR and have one of my best races of the season in the 400 hurdles to finish off the collegiate portion of my season,” Little said. “The meet format will be a lot different, and maybe a bit weird. However, it’s going to be cool to sit and cheer on the guys without worrying about preparation for our events on the same day.”