IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/10/07 CONTACT: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
SILVER CITY—Patrick Henry, one of the premier track and field coaches in the nation, having excelled in coaching championship teams on the high school, community college, university and international level will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree during the Western New Mexico University fall commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 14, beginning at 7 p.m. at the WNMU Fine Arts Center Theatre.
A native of Albuquerque, N.M., Coach Henry, earned a master of art degree in school administration from WNMU in 1979 and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of New Mexico in 1973. Henry also graduated from Del Norte High School in Albuquerque in 1969.
Henry’s
first job as a coach was at Hobbs High School in southeastern New Mexico where
he led his teams to five state championships. Between 1983 and 1987, he molded
a powerhouse men’s program at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, sweeping
both the 1987 National Junior College Athletic Association Indoor and Outdoor
Championships.
In 1987, Henry was named the head track coach at Louisiana State University for men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track. Under his guidance, LSU became a benchmark program in the collegiate ranks. Several of his athletes went on to experience tremendous success at the international level. LSU produced 37 Olympians and 38 World Championship competitors during his tenure, including three Olympic gold medalists and six medalists at the World Championships.
Between 1987 and 2004, Henry’s LSU men’s and women’s track teams achieved 27 NCAA championships. The women won 12 outdoor national championships and 10 indoor crowns. The men captured three outdoor championships and two indoor titles. And, overall, his men’s and women’s teams won a total of 19 Southeast Conference titles. He is the only coach in NCAA history to win both men’s and women’s track and field national championships in the same year.
In 2004, Henry accepted a position as head coach of the men’s and women’s track teams at Texas A & M University and they have earned two Big 12 Titles since he joined the university. The NCAA-U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected Henry as the South Central Region Women's Coach of the Year during the 2007 indoor season as well as the Midwest Region Women's Coach of the Year for the 2007 outdoor season. Henry also claimed conference Coach of the Year honors twice when the Aggie women won Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor championships last year.
After serving as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team during the 2006 World Cup in Athens, Greece, Henry embarked on a larger role as an international coach when he served as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team during the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Overwhelming success from the men's team led to a record 10 gold medals, bettering the previous best of nine set in 1991 and 2005. In addition the men's team totaled 19 medals, the best tally by the United States since the 1991 World Championships.
Henryhas received many national honors, including being named both men’s and women’s NCAA Coach of the Year on three occasions and a recent induction into the NCAA-U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is serving as the President of the NCAA-U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2007-2009 term.
Henry is a devoted husband and father, married to the former Gail Duggin of Albuquerque and together they have a daughter and son-in-law, Seth and Shelly Daigle; a son and daughter-in-law, Brandon and Brandie Henry; and three grandchildren Katie Ruth, Avery, and Morgan.
“Patrick Henry has served as a splendid role model for young people everywhere and has had a tremendous impact on the track and field sport in the United States. It is an honor to recognize him with an honorary doctorate degree from WNMU,” said WNMU President John Counts.
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