March 2, 2011
IRVING - Texas A&M senior sprinter Jessica Beard and Aggie head coach Pat Henry were selected for Big 12 postseason honors following the conference indoor championships held this past weekend. Beard was chosen as the women's Performer of the Year while Henry received the men's Coach of the Year honor.
The men's Performer of the Year went to Oklahoma Mookie Salaam, who won a 60 meter and 200 meter double while also running on the Sooner's fourth-place 4 x 400. Nebraska's Gary Pepin received the women's Coach of the Year honor. Freshman of the Year awards went to Nebraska's Mara Griva, winner of the women's long jump and triple jump, as well as Texas Tech's Kyal Meyers, who won the men's pole vault.
In winning the 400 meters with a conference indoor record time of 51.68 seconds Beard also became the first female in Big 12 history to win an event four consecutive years at the indoor conference meet. Beard also anchored Texas A&M to a fifth consecutive victory in the 4 x 400 as the Aggies set a Big 12 record of 3:32.85.
Beard, who also placed second in the 200 meters, scored 20.5 points at the Big 12 Indoor meet to share high point honors with teammate Jeneba Tarmoh, who won the 200, placed second in the 60 and ran on the 4 x 400 relay.
The Texas A&M men won the Big 12 Indoor team championship for the first time in the 15-year history of the conference. It also marked only the second time in A&M's track and field history that an Aggie team claimed an indoor league title. The previous conference indoor team title occurred in 1980 with a Southwest Conference championship.
In scoring 134 points the Aggie men produced the second highest winning point total in winning a Big 12 Indoor championship. Texas A&M finished 28 points ahead of defending team champion Oklahoma.
For Coach Henry this award is his ninth Big 12 Coach of the Year honor on the conference level and it's his first time receiving the men's award. Henry also received 14 SEC Coach of the Year honors while at LSU.
Aggies Travel to NCAA Last Chance Qualifier
Texas A&M will have a select group of athletes competing this weekend to improve their rankings on the national list prior to the selections being made for the NCAA Indoor Championship field.
A pair of Aggie jumpers, Prezel Hardy, Jr. compete in the 200 meters (7:15 p.m. Friday) at Arkansas.
Traveling to Iowa State for competition on Saturday will be A&M quarter-milers Tabarie Henry, Bryan Miller and Demetrius Pinder, as well as 800 meter runners Michael Preble, Oscar Ramirez and Joey Roberts. The 400 will be run at 1:10 p.m. and the 800 is set for 2:15 p.m. in Ames, Iowa.
Typically the field sizes for NCAA Indoor events range between 14 and 18 athletes. Howell (21.05) is currently 23rd in the 200 while Hardy (21.18) is 48th and Collier (23.64) ranks 30th. In the 400 Henry currently ranks 12th with his season best of 46.33 while Miller (46.48) and Pinder (46.50) are 17th and 19th. Roberts ranks 19th in the 800 with a 1:48.89. In the long jump Echard ranks 20th (25-1.25) and in the triple jump Stewart is 36th (51-0.75).