The Texas A&M track & field team (men No. 1, women No. 9) is set to begin competition at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Starkville, Mississippi this Thursday.
“In our sport, everything we’ve done we’ve rehearsed to get to this point,” head track and field coach Pat Henry said. “It’s all been a rehearsal and now it’s time for the play to start… [Now, we] see what we can do and [what we can] all put together on the same day. That’s what this conference meet is about.”
A&M will have to put on a real show in order to walk away from Starkville with trophies in hand. As good as Henry’s Aggies have been, they reside in the toughest conference in the nation for their sport. The SEC currently houses six of the top ten men’s squad and seven of the ten best women’s teams. Other favorites like Oregon and Texas won’t face a field this stout until the NCAA Championships begin the second week of June.
“The competition level at the Southeastern Conference Championships has always been really good,” said Henry. “It is a very, very competitive conference. If you do well at this kind of meet, then it just build confidence going in to the next meet knowing that you have the ability to compete on a high level. That’s what this is about, competing at a high level and doing your absolute best at that one time.”
The Aggies are finally healthy as a unit with key seniors Bralon Taplin and Olivia Ekpone both being cleared to perform after recovering from leg injuries that have held the pair out of competition at times this outdoor season. Coach Henry has been watching his team progress since the season started back in December and he said he was confident in his teams’ chances this weekend.
“I feel real good about this group,” said Henry. “I’ve always felt good about our teams, and this group is no exception. They’re a competitive group of people. They want to win, and they want to win as a team… That’s track and field.”
The 2015 SEC Outdoor Championships will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday with the women’s hammer throw and the men’s decathlon. The three-day event will be held at the Carl Maddox Track Facility in Starkville, Mississippi.
