Outdoor Track Preview
They have had their rest – bring on the competition. The
Colorado State track and field teams are ready to begin the outdoor
season.
On the last weekend in February the men finished second and the
women third at the Mountain West Conference indoor championships.
Now, the teams enter the outdoor season fresh off a week-long
break.
The women’s team has five reasons why it is a team to be
reckoned with.
Five women return to the team after sitting through the indoor
season. Thrower Loree Smith and distance runners Katie Yemm, Becky
Hammitt, Michelle Carman and Jen Kintzley all bring talent and
experience to a young team.
“I think it’s going to enhance our team tremendously,” head
coach Del Hessel said. “They are huge additions to our team.”
Adding Smith, the returning MWC Champion in the shot put and
weight throw, to a skilled women’s throwing corps provides the Rams
with incredible talent and depth.
Hammitt is the reigning 800-meter champ and Yemm adds to the
strong distance group of Nicole Feest and Colleen Blair.
“We should help a lot, add depth, and Loree just dominates in
the throws,” Yemm said.
A few of the athletes head to Palo Alto, Calif., to open the
season.
Yemm, Feest and Blair will travel with Austin Vigil and Dylan
Olchin to Stanford on March 26.
“There are a handful of us that hope to open up strong there,”
Yemm said.
Vigil and Olchin are among the many studs on the men’s team.
If the men can get healthy, they can do some great things,
Hessel said.
Freshmen Drew Morano and Collin Ferguson are back jogging after
suffering injuries early in the indoor season. After a scare at the
MWC championship senior jumper Jacob Benson and his hamstring are
ready to compete.
The outdoor schedule includes four home meets and stops at
Stanford, Nebraska and the Drake relays.
“Drake is always fun,” Yemm said.
The relays have sold out 18,000 seats for 38 straight years, the
longest streak in collegiate track history.
Also important is the Nebraska Triangular on April 17.
“That’s where we’ll really find out what our depth and strengths
are,” Hessel said.
The long, intense season must be run strategically, he said.
“We’re going to be a little more progressive and patient,”
Hessel said. “We’ll get some training done and by mid-April try to
run fast.”
Junior John Woods, freshman Magnus Lohse and the men’s distance
relay team of Mike Nicks, Brandon Kent, Brian Kelly and Paul Michel
must wait to begin the outdoor season. They head to the NCAA Indoor
Championships this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark.
The men’s indoor relay ran an automatic qualifying time at Notre
Dame’s Alex Wilson Invitational Friday, which stamped their ticket
to Fayetteville. The relay team placed sixth at the last chance
meet with a time of 9 minutes, 34.98 seconds. They were just half a
second off of the school record set two years ago in Nebraska and
will look to trim off that time this weekend.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.