2 successful sports get new homes in ’18
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M’s athletic director described the pressing need for an outdoor track-and-field complex for celebrated coach Pat Henry by referencing another Texas legend. “Coach Henry and his team are on the road more than Willie Nelson,” the athletic director said.
That was eight years and two A&M athletic directors ago. But Bill Byrne went to bat time and again for Henry, to no immediate avail. Henry, the most decorated coach in A&M history, once explained the Aggies’ track plight.
“We haven’t run a home (outdoor) track meet in seven years,” Henry said. “We’ve got people graduating who’ve never run a home meet in front of their peers. If that was baseball, basketball or football, there would be an uprising.”
Henry said as much five years ago — with no uprisings along the way. Some great news finally greeted Henry on Wednesday, however, something more rousing than any Willie Nelson quip.
The A&M regents approved a new track venue to the tune of almost $40 million. The 3,000-seat stadium will be located at the corner of George Bush Drive and Penberthy Road and adjacent to the current stadium.
The idea is for the new digs to play host to everything from high school meets to Olympic qualifying events. Softball showcase
To boot, the regents threw in a new $28.6 million stadium for Jo Evans’ softball squad, another program that has represented the university quite nicely on the national scene with 14 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, despite competing in what’s considered the worst venue in the Southeastern Conference.
Softball, too, will be at a different location, with both venues taking over land used by the recreational sports department.
The 2,000-seat softball stadium will be at the southwest corner of Tom Chandler Road and Penberthy Road, near the Mitchell tennis center.
Both are expected to open in time for their respective 2018 seasons.
The 12th Man Foundation, the athletic department’s private fundraising arm, is accounting for at least $25 million of the projects, according to regent documents. All of the money for the stadiums will come from athletic department funds or private donations, A&M spokesman Alan Cannon said Wednesday, and a fund-raising campaign continues.
“I could not be more happy to finally get a facility that we’re going to be able to run some home track meets here at Texas A&M,” a proud Henry said.
Why did it all take so long?
Football brings home the financial bacon, and because of that, it took priority over the nonrevenue sports, at least in the minds of the money folks. A&M finished a $485 million renovation of century-old Kyle Field last summer — paving the way for the athletics administration to push for a couple of new homes for two high-achieving non-revenue sports. Not on the fast track
Along the way, Henry and Evans showed incredible patience — in part because they had no choice — in going about leading their programs.
Henry’s showing since his arrival a dozen years ago is particularly astounding, considering the A&M men and women have won a combined eight national outdoor titles. From 2009-11, A&M became the first school in history to win three consecutive outdoor national championships on both the men’s and women’s side.
“The fact that (the Aggies) won eight national championships without competing at an outdoor home meet is unbelievable,” new A&M athletic director Scott Woodward said.
When Byrne hired Henry from LSU in 2004, he gave the title-hoarding coach the choice of a new indoor or outdoor complex. Henry went with the indoor, to really set the A&M program apart from others with one of the nation’s top indoor venues.
It did at the time, but Henry never envisioned it taking so long for the other.
Now, ideally for A&M in less than two years, fans will be able to stroll in and around two more pristine red-brick structures on west campus, built in the same architectural scheme as the new Kyle Field and baseball’s handsome Blue Bell Park.
“Fans will be able to come in and see the whole track meet,” Henry said of the new stadium’s unique design. “The events will not be spread out so far you can’t see what’s going on.
“You’re going to be right on top of the action.”