March 9, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - Regional awards announced by United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Tuesday included Texas A&M junior sprinter Jessica Beard receiving the South Central Women's Track Athlete of the Year honor.
Aggie head coach Pat Henry was selected as South Central Women's Head Coach of the Year and assistant coach Vince Anderson earned the South Central Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.
All three will be eligible for national honors when voting takes place following the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. A banquet recognizing the regional honors will be held Thursday evening on the University of Arkansas campus.
Beard, undefeated in the 400 this indoor season, won her third consecutive Big 12 title with a winning time of 51.15 to break the conference record of 52.23 as well as her Aggie school record of 51.77. She became the fastest American ever on an oversized track, bettering the previous mark of 51.38.
In addition to her victory in the 400 at the Big 12 meet, Beard placed second among an A&M 1-2-3-4 sweep in the 200 with a time of 23.18. She then anchored the Aggies win in the 4 x 400 with a split of 50.9 seconds as Texas A&M won the event for the fourth consecutive year with a time of 3:33.20 that broke the conference meet record.
Since the Aggie women first won a Big 12 Indoor team title in 2007, Henry has claimed the head coach honor four consecutive years in the conference and now has been selected as the South Central Coach of the Year for the third time in the past four seasons.
Anderson has now collected his fifth regional Assistant Coach of the Year honor since 2007 and this marks his second indoor coaching award. His event areas recorded victories in the 60, 200, 400, 60 hurdles and 4 x 400 relay during the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
Other awards from the South Central Region, which covers schools in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, included Dorian Ulrey of Arkansas as the Men's Track Athlete of the Year. Field event honors went to LSU's Walter Henning and Tina Sutej of Arkansas. Men's coaching honors were awarded to Arkansas head coach Chris Bucknam and LSU assistant coach Derek Yush.
National Rankings
An updated version of the national rankings, with data from only those athletes who have made the NCAA Indoor Championship field, produced a new No. 1 in the men's division.
Florida moved to the top position with defending champion Oregon sliding into the No. 2 spot while Texas A&M settled into No. 3. This ended a five-week run by the Aggies as the top-ranked team in the nation. Rounding out the top 10 are 4. Arizona State; 5. LSU; 6. Texas Tech; 7. Minnesota; 8. Arkansas; 9. Florida State and 10. Virginia Tech.
The women's rankings remained intact with the top two teams as Oregon is still No. 1 with Texas A&M No. 2 for the fourth consecutive week. LSU moved from sixth to No. 3 ahead of Florida and defending champion Tennessee. The rest of the top 10 includes 6. Clemson; 7. Arkansas; 8. Penn State; 9. Villanova; and 10. Louisville.
Cross Country Team Honors
All-Academic Team honors were awarded to Texas A&M for its men's and women's cross country teams by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2009 season.
For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Championship and also have a minimum 3.00 team cumulative GPA.
The Aggie women produced a 3.31 GPA while the A&M men had a 3.04 GPA. A total of 176 women's cross country programs and 135 men's programs earned All-Academic Team status.