Aggies ready for another run at relay history

Texas A&M is favored to win fifth indoor championship in men’s 4x400, but Florida and Alabama also capable of challenging all-time performances by U.S. national teams

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Texas A&M is one of five programs with at least four NCAA Division 1 indoor titles in the men’s 4x400-meter relay, winning in 1994, 2010, 2011, and, most recently 2015.

But the Aggies could enjoy their finest moment, and perhaps the greatest collegiate relay performance in history, in the meet’s final event Saturday at their home venue at the Rhonda and Frosty Gilliam Jr. Indoor Track Stadium in College Station.

Fred Kerley, Devin Dixon, Richard Rose and Mylik Kerley helped Texas A&M set the collegiate record Jan. 28 by clocking 3 minutes, 2.52 seconds at the Razorback Invitational, then lowered the mark Feb. 25 to 3:02.39 at the SEC Indoor Championships, with Florida taking second at 3:02.73 and Alabama placing third at 3:02.92 in the fastest race in history.

“Early in the season they ran pretty well and they felt very good about themselves, so that’s continued to grow,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry, whose team won the 4x400 five years ago the last time the Aggies hosted the indoor championships.

“But if you look at what happened at the SEC Championships, there are three teams that are prepared to run real real fast and they’re all going to be in the same heat. You don’t run for time here, that isn’t what we run for. What we run for is to try to win. And to beat these guys here is going to be a tough task.”

Led by Fred Kerley, one of four collegiate runners ever to run under 45 seconds in the indoor 400, the Aggies have the opportunity to challenge the world and American records set by a pair of U.S. national teams.

“It’s all coach Henry and coach (Alleyne) Francique,” Fred Kerley said. “It’s the way we train. We train hard every day.”

Kerron Clement, Jeremy Wariner, Wallace Spearmon and Darold Williamson ran 3:01.96 at the 2006 Tyson Invitational in Arkansas, but with no post-race drug testing conducted, their performance is only recognized as the American record.

The world record of 3:02.13 recognized by IAAF belongs to Kyle Clemons, David Verburg, Kind Butler and Calvin Smith from the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Poland.

“It’s going to be a great race and you don’t ever know what will happen indoors, more so than outdoors, because all it takes is a bump and everything is messed up,” Henry said. “But our group is excited about it. They’re excited about the opportunity and being at home, they are certainly excited about that opportunity.”

Unlike the outdoor championships, the indoor 4x400 is only a timed final, which gives Henry the opportunity to evaluate the earlier performances of his athletes before making a decision on the lineup, which could potentially include Robert Grant, that will compete Saturday for the relay title.

“You still go right up until it’s time to go,” Henry said. “You kind of wait and see what happens after (Friday) before you make some major decisions about what you do on Saturday on a relay because we only run it one time, so we’ll watch what happens (Friday) with the guys that are competing. I hope that I have five guys that are ready to go and four are going to get to run.”

Fred Kerley is attempting to equal the accomplishment of former Aggies standout and Bahamian Olympian Demetrius Pinder in 2011 by winning the individual 400 title and 4x400 championship in the same year.

“It would mean a lot,” Kerley said. “I go into every race like it’s my last race, so there is no advantage to (being at home). I just have to execute the race like I’ve been doing.”