A&M's Henry ready for NCAAs

Whoever said "you can't tell the players without a program" never met Tabarie Henry.

In part, it is the Texas A&M senior's extravagant dreadlock hairstyle and beard that gives the man with the best college time in the 400 meters this year a combative look. He looks like he would fight you for a win.

And on the track he will.

"That's the fun of it," Henry said. "You go out there and you know you're physically stronger than the next guy. You know you're in shape. It's fun to see where you can take your body."

Beneath the distinctive locks is a thoughtful young man who can be as easy-going off the track as he is an intense competitor on the oval.

"A lot of people know me from my hair and my tattoos," Henry said. "I think if I change any of those, I wouldn't be Tabarie Henry. They would say 'He's changed.' I think I'm going to keep the hair as long as I'm running and I'm going to keep the tattoos, as well.

"That's who I am. The guy with dreads and tattoos."

A&M head coach Pat Henry admits he has kidded the sprinter about his hair.

"Every once in a while I'll say something to Tabarie about his hair, but it's just a joke," Pat Henry said. "I said someday when you have to get a job, you know you're going to have to cut it. That's about as harsh as I get with him."

It's hard for the coach not to say something, for the hairdo almost screams for attention.

"I trimmed it down after New York," Tabarie Henry said, refering to the New Balance Invitational in early February. "It doesn't bother Coach Henry too much, but deep down inside, I think he doesn't like it when it's down. He'll say, 'Where's your rubber band? Put it up.'"

Honestly, Tabarie Henry likes it pulled back, too.

"I don't like it [down] either, at any time, because it gets all in my face," he said.

A native of the Virgin Islands, Tabarie Henry spent most of his young life in Miami where he attended Halland High School. He likes the heat, something he rarely experienced at the West Regional in Euguene, Ore., last week.

"I picked up a cold when I was up there," Tabarie Henry said. "I'm still dealing with a stuffy nose. It was pretty tough going from hot to cold to wet to dry to humid. It was pretty weird."

But it didn't affect his performance. He advanced to the NCAA national meet in the 400 along with teammates Demetrius Pinder and Bryan Miller. He also helped A&M's 1,600 relay team advance, running the second leg behind leadoff runner Miller.

If the weather changes bothered him, Tabarie Henry didn't show it.

"He relaxes every day," Pat Henry said. "We have a meeting under that tent and we stretch and do some flexibility together, and Tabarie is always about as relaxed as anybody we have on the team."

And yet on the track, Tabarie Henry doesn't relax. Quite the opposite, says Coach Henry, who adds that for whatever reason, sprinters who tackle the 400 seem to have the same trait.

"Those guys are great, great competitors," Pat Henry said. "If you aren't the best competitor in the race, you're not going to win when it gets down to the great ones."

Tabarie Henry enjoys that competition and the drive for success.

"It's a tough race," he said. "You have to be mentally strong to run the 400. You're going to feel pain no matter how fast or slow you go. Sometimes it's a good pain when you run fast."

Tabarie Henry moved to Miami at age 5. Team championships eventually became part of his resume. His high school, Hallandale, won the 3A team championship, with Henry finishing second in the 400 and running legs on the 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

"I started in the 800. That didn't work out too good, and I just tried the 400," he said. "I ran like 54 [seconds] when I first began. That was my sophomore year in high school. My high school coach got my times down, and I stared to love the 400."

In some way, he's the same guy who grew up in Miami, but Henry also recognizes how far he has come.

"I'm just a Miami kid growing up trying to survive, out of the 'hood, and I made it," Henry said.

Someday, he hopes to give something back to the Miami community where he grew up, but for now, there's no time to even visit.

"I can't," Henry said. "I'm the type of guy who thinks if I miss two days of practice, I'm out of shape, so I try to be here, always be in school and get things done the right way."

Recruited out of Barton County Junior College in Kansas, Henry placed eighth in the 400 at last year's NCAA meet while anchoring the 1,600 relay team to the championship in a school-record 3:00.89. The Aggies already have broken that record this year, winning the Texas Relays in a meet-record 3:00.45.

He wanted to better his individual performance at this year's NCAA indoor meet, but disaster struck when Alabama's Kirani James fell to the track in front of him, killing his momentum and any chance to medal on his home track at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. Henry finished fourth while teammate Demetrius Pinder won the gold.

"Everything happens for a reason," Tabarie Henry said. "Things didn't go exactly a planned, but when I came outside, it was looking pretty bright for me. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn't able to run as fast as I wanted to indoors. I was down for a little while, but Coach talked to me and got my head back in the game."

Tabarie Henry proved he had his head right early in the outdoor season, winning the LSU Invitational in 44.83, which remains the collegiate best for 2011.

Can he duplicate or exceed that at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, this week?

His coach knows it's possible -- so long as Tabarie realizes he has to work for it.

"The level of competition brings the best out in Tabarie," Pat Henry said. "When he knows that this guy -- and it may be Demetrius -- is in the race, I'm going to have to be my best to win. When Tabarie knows, I can win this no matter how fast I run, then he's not going to run as fast. He's going to do what it takes to win."

Henry, Pinder and Miller will run in the semifinals of the 400 at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Drake Stadium. The final will be at 8:02 p.m. Friday.

The 1,600 relay semifinals are set for 8:30 p.m. Thursday with the finals at 1:50 p.m. Saturday to wrap up the meet.

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Drake University will webcast the first two days of the meet at GoDrakeBulldogs.com and NCAA.com. CBS College Sports will have a live broadcast from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. CBS will broadcast the meet live from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. The A&M men's team is ranked first. The Aggie women hold the No. 2 rankings. Both are seeking three-peats, with a chance to win the NCAA Outdoor title a third consecutive year.