Solid results at Nebraska and a look at the MVC race

We’ve officially hit the middle of the indoor track and field season …..

Nebraska

Last week I talked about how we’ve never beaten Nebraska.  And we still haven’t.

But this year was a lot closer than normal on the ladies side.  Here were the team scores:

Women: Nebraska 164, Wichita St 132, Colorado St 131, Illinois St 96

Men: Nebraska 195, Wichita St 123, Colorado St 96, Illinois St 95

The 32 point margin is the smallest margin we’ve had against the Cornhuskers.  The past five years we’ve lost by 49, 57, 107, 160 and 84 points so in that regard it was a successful weekend for the ladies.  Nebraska might be a little bit down this year but they’re still very good.  We were also able to edge out Colorado St by a single point for second place.  CSU has long been one of the best non-BCS track and field schools for many years and they gave us all we could handle.

Our men had a solid meet but Nebraska was just very, very good Saturday.  Going into the meet we had them beating us 184-137 and it was very close to that.  We also had CSU at 128 so defeating them handily was a good victory for our men.

Our in conference opponent Illinois St finished fourth in both meets and had some outstanding performances but they didn’t enter the meet in a way to maximize points so we know they are better than they appeared.

We’ve come away from this meet in the past feeling demoralized and this weekend we came away feeling good.  We know there is a lot of work to do but we like where we’re heading at this point.

A week off

There will be some Shockers competing next weekend but my group will be taking the week off.  Our multi’s and pole vaulters will head to UNI (site of the MVC Indoor Championships) while a few distance runners and throwers will go to Pittsburgh St.

The sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers will take the week off but it doesn’t mean we will “take the week off”.  I like to look at our indoor season in three parts.  Before the holidays was like the preseason.  The first three meets we’ve had so far are like the regular season.  And the last half of our season is the championship season.  Even though the MVC meet is the only “championship” meet (besides NCAA’s), I like our kids to think of our upcoming meets at the Air Force Academy, home and K-State with a championship mindset.  It’s time to get geared up and start putting up some great marks.  Some of the athletes need to do so in order to make our conference team (32 athletes) while our top athletes need to be ready to score the majority of the points to help us win championships.

The weekend off will let us do a couple things.  It lets us get healed up from the various aches and pains many of the athletes get at this time of the year.  It also lets us focus on a good, solid week of training without worrying backing off at the end of the week for the meet.

I like how our group is developing and working together so far.  Now it’s time to take that great foundation we’ve laid and finish the indoor season strong.

A look at the MVC

Even though it’s still pretty early, the MVC picture is starting to develop.  Fortunately the Shockers look to be in the hunt for a couple of championships in five weeks!

Let’s look at the men first …

We thought our men would be pretty good this year and they’ve proven us right so far.  Even though we have been without three guys who should be MVC scorers (Shazz Lindo, Tate Annis and Jake James) we still look like the team to beat on paper.  It’s still too early to tell but I would imagine Indiana St will have something to say about that as well as Illinois St.

The Indiana St men have been tough for us to beat (although we defeated them outdoor last year).  They look to be a little down right now but they have so much experience of winning that they have our total attention.  Illinois St is a rising team under second year head coach Jeff Bovee.  They probably have the best team on the track but they are lacking field event athletes that can score.

Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa have had some good early season performances but I don’t think they are in the title hunt for the indoor season yet.  They could prove me wrong because they have a lot of terrific athletes, but they don’t have the depth of the three teams I’ve mentioned before.  I would also put Loyola in that category.

For the women …

We’ve had a really good start to the year even without Nikki Larch-Miller.  We continue to hope we have her for the MVC Championships but our women are preparing to go to battle without her.  Anything she can give us would be a bonus to an already strong team.

However, Indiana St will still be a very difficult opponent.  They’ve started the indoor season strong too and we’ve gone back and forth with them in recent years in the championship competition both indoors and out.  They’ve got a well-balanced team and a lot of experience of winning so they will be tough to beat.  We respect them tremendously.

Beyond that I’m not sure there is another team in the title hunt.  SIU, Illinois St and Missouri St certainly have quality teams but I don’t think they’re to our level yet.  Give them another year or two and they’ll be there.  Drake is vastly improved and had a good meet this weekend but, like in previous years, they lack the depth needed to battle for a trophy finish.

We are feeling optimistic about our prospects for the MVC Indoor Championships in five weeks – but much is still yet to be done!

Movies!!!

I saw the much talked about movie The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  It was based on a true story about a frontiersman in the 1820s that fights for survival amongst a horrible series of events that includs a terrible bear attack.  DiCaprio has received a bunch of acclaim for his performance and I would agree it was fantastic.  I really enjoyed the movie but I could see where some people wouldn’t.  It was a little long and slow in parts (146 minutes) and was pretty dreadful for most of the movie.  However, it was beautifully shot and very effective in showing how much he struggled to survive every obstacle.  It was also in the winter and made me cold, by the end of the movie I had put my winter coat on.  I must’ve been having a lot of sympathy for DiCaprio’s character haha!  Good movie if you’re patient.  8/10

Next time

I’m going to take a week off of blogging but will be back in two weeks after our meet at the Air Force Academy.

Until then, thank you for reading and Go Shocks!