Well
the MVC Indoor Championships came and went this past weekend. We took home two trophies and were just a
fraction away from bringing home the two biggest trophies.
The MVC Indoor
Championships
If
you aren’t aware by now our men won the MVC Indoor Championships by nine points
and our women finish second by 10. Both
meets could have gone either way in terms of winning and losing. Here’s a brief recap …
Women
Before
the year began we thought we’d have the team to beat but an injury to our
highest point scoring athlete, Nikki Larch-Miller, put that in serious doubt. Our ladies rallied around each other and
heading into the meet it looked like it would be a battle with Indiana
State. Once the heat sheets came out we
realized the Sycamores had also lost a couple of great athletes and wouldn’t be
the factor we’d originally thought. Add
to that our best pole vaulter was also out with an injury and all of a sudden
it was a four team race that included Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
Both
UNI and Illinois St had great meets the week before MVC’s so they came in
hot. Honestly we thought UNI might be
the team to watch because the meet was being held at their home track but
Illinois St ended up running past everyone to take the title. In only his second year at the helm, Jeff
Bovee has done a great job of getting the Redbirds to the top of the
conference. We had our chances on Sunday
and with two events to go (3k and 4x4) we held a one point lead. Unfortunately we weren’t able to outscore
them at the end and had to settle for second.
Our
ladies have won several titles in recent years and we were hoping to kind of
“steal” this one. Outdoors we should be
a little better as we add the Javelin, 4x100m relay, Discus, 3000m Steeplechase
and 400m hurdles – all events we have good athletes. I think we will be ready in Terre Haute,
Indiana, in the middle of May for the MVC Outdoor Championships.
Men
Wow! It was a mix of up and down emotions all
weekend long for our men who have finished second for seven MVC Championships
in a row.
On
paper, we were a solid favorite although we knew Indiana State, Southern
Illinois and Northern Iowa would be threats.
Once the meet started two things happened that were eerily similar to
2015 Outdoor: SIU started having an incredible
meet and we had two events that went in the wrong direction.
Our
most consistent weight thrower fouled out (ranked #2 in the MVC) and our top
Pole Vaulter (also ranked #2) had an off day after competing in the Heptathlon
all day. On top of that SIU took
advantage and had incredible move ups in multiple events. At the end of the day our considerable
projected lead had vanished and we were left regrouping in the hotel Saturday
night.
There
were no special rah-rah speeches from Coach Rainbolt, just plainly spelling out
where we were and that we still had a great opportunity to win. All season long we sensed our guys had a
better focus and in the end we had a great day Sunday and held on for the
victory. A huge sigh of relief came over
the coaching staff as our men started to celebrate as the 4x4 came to a
close. These guys were not going to be
denied and the celebration afterwards was special indeed! Even the ladies who had just lost their own
close battle were very happy and celebrated with the guys like we had won both
titles. Aside from winning both in 2010
this was probably the most satisfying result of my 10 years at WSU. Don’t get me wrong – we aren’t happy with
losing the women’s meet but considering what we went through we were very happy
with how both teams competed and rose to the occasion.
As
a combined team we had projected 252 points for the weekend (men 136, women
116) and we scored 252.5 (men 141.5, women 111). I’d say we were pretty close on that
prediction.
NCAA Indoor Championships
The
NCAA Indoor Championships are possibly the most difficult meet in the world to
qualify for and we are lucky to have two Shockers heading to Birmingham,
Alabama, in two weeks.
There
are events, even in the Olympic Games, that are easier to qualify for than the
NCAA Indoor Meet. Only 16 athletes per
event make it. To put it in perspective,
there are 18 guys who broke 4 minutes in the Mile this year that WON’T qualify. Want to make it in the High Jump? You need to jump as least 7-2. 25-4 in the Long Jump won’t get you there
either.
We
did have someone make the Long Jump, however.
Freshman Jared Belardo (#1 freshman in the NCAA) bombed a 25-9.5 jump
Saturday to not only win his first MVC title but also move to #9 in the nation
and punch his ticket for Birmingham.
Junior Breanne Borman negotiated a hard fought and emotionally draining
Pentathlon to improve her previous score by 12 points and get the 16th
and final spot.
I’m
lucky to have daily contact with both of these athletes and they have
definitely worked hard to earn these honors.
They will be rewarded with at least Second Team All-America honors and
if they finish in the top-8 they’ll get First Team.
Indoor
season is almost over!
Outdoor season
For
the rest of the team we will turn our focus to the upcoming outdoor
season. This week will be very light to
get everyone recovered and rejuvenated (coaches and athletes) before heading to
our first meet in Texas over Spring Break.
I
am currently on an airplane to go recruiting for the week. Because of goofy NCAA rules I can’t talk
about where I’m going but let’s just say it isn’t Siberia! There is a growing number of amazing coaches
and athletes in the MVC each year so we gotta keep pushing forward to stay on
top!
Going viral
My
blog from a few weeks ago hit unexpected heights in terms of viewing and
conversation. First it got a mention in
the Oregonian (a Portland newspaper) website and then got linked on the main
page of the Track & Field News website affectionately listed as “Wise Guy
solves college track problems”. But then
the creator of Letsrun.com, a website mainly known for its crazy message board,
put it up and then all heck broke loose.
Most
of my blogs get around 1000 to 1500 views per post and some of the more popular
ones get upwards of 3000. The one I did
on No Selfie September ended up around 5000. My solution to solving college
track and field’s problems is now over 10,000 views and climbing. I thought it would get some discussion going
amongst the coaches I’m friends with and maybe a little further but I never
expected this. Most of the credit needs
to go to the goofballs on Letsrun who gave nearly 100 replies on how they
liked, hated or had their own ideas on the topic. It definitely touched a nerve with a lot of
people within the sport and I’m convinced that it will lead to more serious
discussion in the coming months.
I
got many, many suggestions and critiques of how to do it better and in my next
blog I plan on responding to most of them so keep an eye out for that.
I’ve
always wanted to have a cult following.
Movies
If
you’re here to listen to me talk about movies (all 8 of you), I have seen
plenty lately including the Jesse Owens biopic Race. However, I don’t want
these blogs to be excruciatingly long so it will have to wait for another
time. I’ve also gone a little crazy with
purchasing movies on DVD lately and I may start another blog project like last
year again soon.
Next time
My
response to the dozens of nameless guys on Letsrun on how to solve the problems
of college track.
Until
then, thank you for reading and Go Shocks!
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