V.I. native and national team member Tabarie Henry anchored his Texas A & M relay team to a first-place finish in the 4 x 400 meter at NCAA National Championships in Oregon this past Saturday. The team finished with a time of 3:00.89, currently the third-fastest time in the world. Henry ran his leg of the race in 44.79.
After advancing to the finals in the 400 meter and finishing eighth, Henry expressed some concern, then shifted his focus to the challenge of running the 400 meter in lane one, according to a V.I. Track and Field Federation statement.
For a rare second year in a row, A & M won both the women’s and men’s national team titles, edging out the University of Oregon 55 to 54. A & M Coach Pat Henry also won back-to-back titles as a coach back at Louisiana State University before coming to Texas.
The number "one" kept popping up with Henry at the weekend meet: The one point he earned after his eighth-place finish in the 400 meter decided his team NCAA National title. That one point was earned the hard way, running in lane one. His 4 x 400 meter relay team is number one in college track and field. And he is the first male Virgin Islander to become an NCAA Division I All-American in the 400m and 400m relay.
Although Henry said "it was a tough year," in the statement, he extracted a measure of revenge this weekend. At Penn Relays, his team dropped a baton and Henry was edged out by Mississippi State’s Emanuel Mayers at the tape. But on Saturday it was A & M first past the post and Mayers and Mississippi State in second in the 4 x 400.
To support a June 20 "Olympic Day" fundraiser by the V.I. Olympic Committee at the Carambola Golf Course, the V.I. Track & Field Federation will provide one raffle ticket to each athlete, coach, official, volunteer and parent who have registered and paid their annual registration fee by June 19.
For information on how to register and receive the raffle ticket, email the VITFF at: isv@mf.iaaf.org and go to the federation’s website: http://virginislandstrackandfield.org
