Panthers show up even with minimal support

mollz13 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:27:15 +0000

This past weekend the men’s and women’s track and field teams had pretty remarkeable performances for such a small meet. On the women’s side there were only four other teams competing against the Panthers. On the men’s side there were only three other teams. However, that didn’t cause the Panthers to hold anything back. Chandra Golden had an outstanding performance in the 60 m hurdles. She finished second with a time of 8.56, which happened to be a personal record for her. Shawana Smith took first in the 200 m with a time of 25.63. The Lady Panthers also went 1-2-3 in the 800m with Erica Foltys in first, Megan Gingerich in second and Caitlin Napoleoni rouding out in third. Napoleoni also finished in second place in the mile. Crystal Jones had another great weekend by finishing fourth in the 400m. Bridget Sanchez followed right behind her in fifth. Jones ran a time of 1:00.27 which happens to be her bets so far this year. Megan Carney is another to note with her second place finish in the 600 m with a time of 1:38.58. Carney, who used to be a 400 m runner, is now training for the 800 m run. Over in the throws, Kandace Arnold finished first in both the shot put and weight throw.

On the men’s side there were some very exciting races. Freshmen sprinter Zye Boey finished first in the 60 m with a time of 6.66 which happens to be a NCAA provisional mark and also ranks him fourth in the nation this year. Boey’s time was also good enough to become the new school record. Boey also finished first in the 200m with a time of 21.52. Teammate DeMarcus Brooks followed behind Boey in both events for second place.

Senior mid-distance runner David Holm also hit a NCAA provisional mark with his first place finish in th 800 m. Holm ran a time of 1:49.60 which also happened to be a new Lantz Fieldhouse record. Freshman Sean Wiggan followed Holm for second with a time of 1:52.35.

The Panthers also picked up 1-2-3 in the 400 m. Pat Tortorici finished first with a time of 51.08 with Brenton Pegues and Reid Basting following for second and third place. The men also picked up first place finishes in the 600 m (Marcus Williams), 1000m (Jason Springer), 3K (Nic Atkinson), high jump (Ian Winston), and long jump (Tyler Carter).

Overall the Panthers did amazing this weekend, however, most people wouldn’t know it. There was nothing in Monday’s paper about the meet. Even though it was online, the meet still should have gotten more recognition. Also, there is no advertising for the meets. On the panther website you see all these advertisements for basketball and football all of the time. It’s very rare when you see anything about track. I find this a little sad considering the fact that the Track and Field teams have been some of the most successful sports on campus. The men’s track team has won the Indoor Ohio Valley Conference Championship 8 times in the past 10 years. When they did not win in 2000 and 2008, they were the runners-up. I think that deserves some recognition. Also, on the women’s side, we have a lot of talent this year to receive first place once again. However, when we look up into our stands all we see is our family members and closest friends. The only other students who show up are the ones who have to work because of class.

I feel something needs to be done fast in getting more awareness out there about Track & Field. Some of our best student-athletes are on the track & field teams, but barely anybody knows it, because they don’t take the time to notice.

Back From Break

mollz13 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:53:20 +0000

The track team is back in action this week, practicing as hard as ever. The break was long, but Coach Akers kept us busy with workouts. We had to come back Friday the ninth to get started with practice. Friday and Saturday’s practices weren’t as bad as to be expected. However, we don’t have a meet until the 24th so that gives us plenty of time to get back into the groove or school and practice. Monday we had a moderate workout for the sprint crew. We all started off with a 400m while the men long sprint crew had a 600m. The short sprinters had 3 sets of 3x150m at 22 seconds which is a moderate pace. The long sprinters had 2 sets of 400m, 300m, 200m. I’m not sure of their times but I bet they were moderate just like ours. We all started off with a 400m while the men long sprint crew had a 600m. Then after everybody cooled down we did team abs. I’m not for sure on what is ahead for Wednesday and Friday, but since we don’t have a meet this weekend they will both be workout days. Today is our block day. We work on starting blocks and then after we are done with our starts we head over to do plyometrics. Then we end the day with four 100m strides and 100 abs. We have a lot of work ahead of us before the Indoor Ohio Valley Conference Championship, and believe me, we want that gold.

Home Sweet Home

Panthers show up even with minimal support

Back From Break