Texas A&M Aggies capture inaugural Island Relays

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama — Veteran coach Pat Henry remembers his last trip to The Bahamas in October to participate in the homegoing service for his former Olympic sprinter Shavez Hart. This time, he was in a more celebratory mood as his Texas A&M Aggies captured the inaugural Island Relays over the weekend.

Henry, now in his 18th season as the head coach at Texas A&M, watched as his Aggies dominated the men’s division with a 58-point advantage over the Arizona Wildcats and trailed the Oklahoma Sooners by 36 in the twoday meet that concluded on Saturday at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex.

“It’s a great place to come. I think my team had a great time. We’ve been here since Monday and the people have been so kind to us,” Henry said. “It’s the week after our NCAA appearance and for some people, we hit it hard and for others, we took it easy.

“But for the most part, what we tried to get done here this weekend is we just wanted to take it easy and get through this week without any injuries.”

Henry, who has coached at Texas A&M for the past 18 years after spending 19 years at Louisiana State University where he coached strongwoman Laverne Eve, said it was hard to come here for the funeral of the 29-yearold Hart in January, but because they enjoyed their time here this weekend, he’s looking forward to bringing the Aggies back in the future.

Texas A&M took the men’s crown with 198 points over Arizona, who had 140. Oklahoma was third with 132, the South Carolina Gamecocks were fourth with 125 and the University of the Bahamas Mingoes rounded out the field with 19.

On the ladies’ side, the Sooners took the title with 193 with the Aggies following with 157. The Wildcats got third with 152, the Gamecocks were fourth with 99, the Vanderbilt Commodores were fifth with 54 and the Mingoes completed the table with just one.

The Aggies got something to celebrate on the ladies’ side as Camryn Dickson took the title of the fastest woman at the meet in the 100m in 11.81, holding Arizona’s Neysia Howard, who was second in 11.96 with Mikayla Hayes of Oklahoma getting third in 12.14.

“I just really wanted to get out and save my drive phase for as long as I could,” Dickson said. “It was a little windy today, so I just let the momentum carry me through to the line since I was tired going through the line since I was a little tired from the last 60-40 metres.”

Coming off what she felt was a pretty good indoor season, Dickson said she is looking forward to the rest of her outdoor season, especially getting it started here in the Bahamas where “it’s amazing and I’m so blessed that track has brought me all the way here.”

In the men’s 100m, it came down to a photo finish as Anthony Greenhow of South Carolina nipped Trayvion WhiteAustin of Arizona, in times of 10.66 and 10.67 respectively. Demarius Smith, unattached, clocked 10.76.

“I was just coming off the 4x1 and so I had to rest my legs, so I just tried to stay strong,” Greenhow said. “I don’t have the best start, so I knew the guy who came second had a really good start, so I had to stay to my race, which is my finish.”

Greenhow said he couldn’t ask for a better place to be in than in the Bahamas.

Portugal native Rogerio Amaral, representing