Outdoor season begins
Bill Welt
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Sports
With the track and field indoor season coming to a close, Western's track and field team is getting ready for the new outdoor season, which is slated to begin on March 21.
Western finished their indoor campaign at The Summit League Championships last weekend. The men's team finished fifth and the women's team finished fourth in the conference.
"I don't think we could have been much better," said head coach Michael Stevenson. "We got a couple kids that ran awfully darn fast at the end of the year and a lot of kids were going in the right direction. Things were going well for them. I think it gives us some momentum at least to take into the outdoor season."
One of those kids on the men's side was senior Kevin Deegan in the 800-meter run, who finished first in the conference championship. Deegan finished the run with a time of 1:53.61.
On the women's side, senior ChrisDell Harris led the Westerwinds by finishing first place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.61.
In addition to Harris, junior Nikki Klier had a record-setting performance last weekend in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.97 as she finished the event in first as well.
"I think when we go outside and level the playing field where we have a good track and train like we want to train, teams should get better," Stevenson said. "So I would like to think that we can move up from the fifth place finish during the outdoor season (on the men's side). On the ladies' side, it's a little tougher because fourth place was pretty far up there."
Stevenson believes it is tougher for the 'Winds to increase on their indoor finish in the conference because of the lack of depth and the injuries they have to counter throughout the track and field season.
Another challenge Stevenson's squad has to face is the Midwest's unpredictable spring weather. The possible cold and windy weather may slow down and prevent some athletes from breaking into the record books.
"Even on our home track meet in the middle of April, it snowed. So you just never know what you're going to get weather wise, and that's a big determining factor on how fast kids run sometimes," Stevenson said. "We'll hope for good weather this year, and we'll try to make sure we're going to a couple places to set Kevin (Deegan) up and some other kids up to have better opportunities."
Western's track and field team will start their outdoor season at Mississippi State in Starksville, Miss. on Saturday, March 21 for the LaCoste Invitational.
Western finished their indoor campaign at The Summit League Championships last weekend. The men's team finished fifth and the women's team finished fourth in the conference.
"I don't think we could have been much better," said head coach Michael Stevenson. "We got a couple kids that ran awfully darn fast at the end of the year and a lot of kids were going in the right direction. Things were going well for them. I think it gives us some momentum at least to take into the outdoor season."
One of those kids on the men's side was senior Kevin Deegan in the 800-meter run, who finished first in the conference championship. Deegan finished the run with a time of 1:53.61.
On the women's side, senior ChrisDell Harris led the Westerwinds by finishing first place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.61.
In addition to Harris, junior Nikki Klier had a record-setting performance last weekend in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.97 as she finished the event in first as well.
"I think when we go outside and level the playing field where we have a good track and train like we want to train, teams should get better," Stevenson said. "So I would like to think that we can move up from the fifth place finish during the outdoor season (on the men's side). On the ladies' side, it's a little tougher because fourth place was pretty far up there."
Stevenson believes it is tougher for the 'Winds to increase on their indoor finish in the conference because of the lack of depth and the injuries they have to counter throughout the track and field season.
Another challenge Stevenson's squad has to face is the Midwest's unpredictable spring weather. The possible cold and windy weather may slow down and prevent some athletes from breaking into the record books.
"Even on our home track meet in the middle of April, it snowed. So you just never know what you're going to get weather wise, and that's a big determining factor on how fast kids run sometimes," Stevenson said. "We'll hope for good weather this year, and we'll try to make sure we're going to a couple places to set Kevin (Deegan) up and some other kids up to have better opportunities."
Western's track and field team will start their outdoor season at Mississippi State in Starksville, Miss. on Saturday, March 21 for the LaCoste Invitational.
Be the first to comment on this story