Faith Academy grad to compete at national track meet
CAPTION: University of Nebraska thrower Augustus Henry holds the poster that says it all. He will compete in the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships in the javelin. Photo courtesy of the University of Nebraska
Javelin thrower Augustus Henry will be making his NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships debut Wednesday, June 10.
Henry, who is a member of the University of Nebraska track and field team, will compete at 8:15 p.m. locally Wednesday, June 10, and is one of 24 throwers in the competition. The 2021 Faith Academy of Marble Falls graduate is in the second flight. ESPN will show the meet on its family of networks.
The former Flame advanced to the national meet thanks to his finishes at the NCAA West Regional Track and Field Meet May 27-30 and the Big 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 15-17.
At regionals, Henry was sixth overall with a heave of 238 feet and 11 inches.
The reason he competed at regionals is because of his qualifying mark of 211-10 at the Big 10 outdoor meet and finished 12th overall.
Ironically, those were two of only three meets Henry competed in this year because he has battled injuries throughout his collegiate career. This year was no different, he said.
Henry chuckled as recalled an incredible turn of events that led him out of Texas and to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Out of high school, the former Flame had signed to be a decathlete for Rice University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a minor in business in four years.
After graduation and with two years of eligibility remaining, he decided to transfer to the University of Houston for a semester. But once the calendar turned to 2026, Henry was on the move to Lincoln where he is pursuing a master’s in supply chain management.
“They were ranked No. 1 in the nation in the javelin, and they have a very good decathlon (program) here as well that I wanted to train with,” he said. “So I decided to come to Nebraska because of their javelin and the decathlon program and I want to do both still and I plan to do both next year. Unfortunately, I was only able to do javelin this year, but that’s why I came here. And it was a no-brainer choice for me to come to Nebraska.”
CAPTION: Augustus Henry checks the javelins before heading to the scratch line. Photo courtesy of the University of Nebraska
His journey to Lincoln began at the 2025 regional meet at Texas A&M. Henry was only competing in the javelin because of injuries.
“I brought three javelins to the meet, and (meet officials) impounded all three of them, so they took all of my javelins, and I had no javelins to compete with,” Henry said. “So I had to borrow, I had to scavenge for somebody else’s javelin to use, which completely caught me off guard and I had a terrible meet.”
But not all was lost. Nebraska head coach Justin St. Clair, who also serves as the program’s throwing coach, watched Henry compete.
“He didn’t say anything to me, he didn’t talk to me,” the former Flame said. “But he saw me. After that meet, I went into the portal and he reached out immediately to me and he saw my potential. Because I was throwing super far in the javelin with terrible form. Last year was my first year training the javelin, and this is my second year training it, and so he saw my potential. He messaged me and he said, ‘Augustus, I want you to come up here to Nebraska, and I’m going to take you to nationals in the javelin and the decathlon.’ And nobody else could compare to that with their offers. So I absolutely took him up on that offer.”
Henry described the hurdles he faced during the season. He said he tore his quadriceps “and I severely sprained my ankle multiple times to where it was black and purple, and I couldn’t walk on it. And that was a couple of weeks ago.”
Nebraska officials weren’t sure the athlete would be able to withstand the excruciating pain that comes with competing. But he has shown his strength of mind, will and heart are stronger than what he may physically feel when he steps to the foul line.
“I had to anyways, and it worked out,” Henry said. “I describe it as relentless determination, and I have to do whatever it takes, no matter what I have to sacrifice. Pain, I have to sacrifice time with family and friends and free time and everything that a normal college student goes to college for and enjoys. I have to sacrifice every single day as well as eating. I have to eat for performance, I sleep for performance. So definitely a lot goes into it for sure.”
The national meet is in Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and Henry said it’ll be a family reunion of sorts. Several family members who live in Oregon, and they have offered to take him to Hayward Field, one of the most historical track and field facilities in the country. But Henry declined.
“The first time I go into that stadium, I have to qualify for it, I have to earn it and I have to be there by competing in there,” he said. “That’s the first time that me and my family will go into that stadium. And so now I’ve qualified. And now my entire family from all over the country, and especially in Oregon, will be there and supporting me and I’m excited for what’s going to happen. I could never give up on my dreams.”
Photo courtesy of the University of Nebraska
