Indoor track nears finish line
Cody Ewers
Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: Sports
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Assistant coach Michael Nikkila said the team builds off the individual success of each improving competitor, especially in the recent case of sophomore Jordan Eccleston who shattered his personal record by 45 seconds this past weekend.
"It really raises the spirits of every athlete, and when they see other teammates doing that it's encouraging," Nikkila said. "A lot of times once you get a breakthrough, everything else is pretty easy. It's very much a mental game, in that, when you workout well, you race well and when you race well, you work out better, etc."
Friday at the Jack McAvoy Memorial Invitational, and only two weeks after freshman Kathy Dirksen took the school record in the 20-lb. throw, junior Anna Leutheuser reclaimed the title with a provisionally qualifying throw of 53 feet, 9 ¼ inches. Sophomore Sarah Steiner also provisionally qualified as she impressively shaved three-tenths of a second off her previous time, earning a personal record of 8.41 in the 55m hurdles.
Junior Katie Hunt finished at Steiner's heels, locking 8.46, but missed the qualifying time. She also broke her longest jump of the year by a little less than a foot - just shy of qualifying in the long jump.
"I definitely think there is a good chance that I'll be able to provisionally qualify at Saginaw this weekend," Hunt said. "I had a great practice yesterday, and my technique has been improving in both events, so things are looking good. After coming so close on Friday, I am excited for another chance, and hopefully that excitement will be exactly what I need."
Juniors Aaron Falk and Jared Krout, and sophomore Justin Dailey reached the provisional mark led by Krout earning first place in the long jump at 23 feet, 5 ¼ inches. Falk also won the weight throw, hurling 58 feet, 11 ½ inches. Both Falk and Krout rank in the Top 10 in the nation.
Krout, a team captain, said he is happy with his team's performance thus far but will continue to push teammates in the coming weeks. Tomorrow the track and field team will push themselves again at the Collegiate Open Classic at Saginaw Valley - the site of this year's upcoming GLIAC Conference Championships.
"We are where we should be, but our goal is to peak at the conference meet," Krout said. "Until then we will be just working on technique at each meet."
This is the "unloading week" for sprinters and hurdlers, meaning they will nearly cut their workouts in half this week, and after three weeks of hard training that's just what they need, Krout said.
Krout also said that as the year progresses they will lessen the volume of their workouts but increase intensity. By the time the conference meet takes place they'll be training at 95 percent, "just about race speed."
With the conference meet at Saginaw Valley about a month away, senior captain Joel Vanderworp said his distance runners will continue to concentrate on steady workout regiments until the big day.
"From a distance standpoint we are looking better," Vanderworp said. "We all met after last year and had a turning moment where we came together. Now it's just staying focused and training every day."
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