Aggies reel in title with memorable relay

Texas A&M delivers dramatic 4x400 performance to rally past Florida, capture first men’s indoor team championship in front of home crowd

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Texas A&M had previously won 4x400-meter relay national titles, but none this dramatic.

The Aggies had captured NCAA Division 1 team championships before, but never this emotional.

And Pat Henry is one of the most decorated track and field coaches in the sport, but perhaps no victory was more satisfying to him than the one produced Saturday by the Texas A&M men’s team in front of 3,829 captivated spectators at Rhonda and Frosty Gilliam Jr. Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas.

Needing to win the 4x400 against Florida in order to capture their first indoor team title, Mylik Kerley anchored the Aggies to a come-from-behind victory in a championship record 3 minutes, 2.80 seconds to secure a 46 to 45.50 triumph over the Gators.

“I knew that Florida wasn’t going to give up easy. I knew I had to come in and do my job. My job may be sometimes to save the relay, sometimes just to hold the lead. At that point, it was just to make sure I did my job and made the right move at the right time,” said Mylik Kerley, who followed the legs of older brother Fred Kerley, Robert Grant and Devin Dixon with a 45.39-second split to hold off Florida in 3:03.52.

“The crowd was just roaring and I was feeding off their energy. I don’t really believe in the hometown advantage, I just believe the best come to win. When it came down to my leg, I knew I had to just go win it for the team.”

Henry has won 36 national team championships, including 13 indoors, the previous two at LSU in 2001 and 2004. He also has nine titles with the Aggies, but Saturday’s was the first indoors in either gender.

“This was a fine championship because of the crowd, because of the volume in this building, it was a pretty amazing win. I think we have the best indoor facility in the country, it’s great to win this one here,” Henry said. “That’s why you coach. The guys have trained and you try to put them in an environment like that, but they earned an environment like that. It’s just a great thing that happened. It’s like throwing a touchdown pass with no time remaining.”

Texas A&M prides itself on its tradition of the 12th Man in football, but the Aggies needed only seven scorers to edge four-time champion Florida and Oregon, winner of the past three titles.

Audie Wyatt placed second in the pole vault with a 18-2.50 (5.55m) clearance and Will Williams was runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 25-10.75 (7.89m) to give the Aggies 16 points entering Saturday’s competition.

Lindon Victor added four points to that total by placing fifth in the heptathlon with 5,976 points, setting the stage for the Kerley brothers in the 400 and the relay.

“You look at it and think it comes down to this relay, but (Friday), Audie Wyatt gets second in the pole vault, he wasn’t supposed to score. Will Williams gets second in the long jump, he wasn’t supposed to score,” Henry said. “That 16 points got us going. That was a huge part of this victory.”

Fred Kerley won the 400 in 44.85, the third-fastest performance ever by a collegiate runner trailing only Kerron Clement (44.57) in 2005 and Kirani James (44.80) in 2011, and Mylik Kerley was third in 45.75 to give Texas A&M 16 additional points and an opportunity to win the title head to head with Florida in the 4x400.

“I wasn’t worried about the time in the 400. Just the win,” Fred Kerley said. “It really started off yesterday with Audie and Will, and Lindon got some points (Saturday), so it came down to the 4x400.”

When Texas A&M set the collegiate record twice this year by clocking 3:02.52 at the Razorback Invitational and 3:02.39 at the SEC Indoor Championships, Richard Rose was part of the lineup with the Kerley brothers and Dixon.

But Henry and veteran assistant Alleyne Francique decided to go with Grant instead of Rose in Saturday’s final and the Aggies had enough to hold off Florida’s Kunle Fasasi, Grant Holloway, Eric Futch and Ryan Clark.

“It was a great performance because I don’t think anyone gave us a chance to win the team title,” Francique said. “To win it in front of our home fans on our home track is beautiful.”

It was the second bitter disappointment of the day for Fasasi, who was earlier disqualified in the 400, taking away an apparent fifth-place finish and four potential points for the Gators. Florida missed another potential scoring opportunity Friday when 60-meter hurdles champion Holloway, also considered among the favorites in the long jump, didn’t advance to the final.

Despite long jump champion KeAndre Bates adding a second-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 54-6.50 (16.62m), it wasn’t enough to get Florida over the top.

Texas A&M took advantage of the opportunity by winning its fifth indoor title in the 4x400 relay, but none were as thrilling or meaningful as this one for the Aggies.

“I know we have a good 4x400, so you hope it comes down to that,” Henry said. “You gotta give a lot of credit to Florida. Those guys lined up and ran very fast. We had to come from behind to beat them. My hat’s off to Florida.”