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The Spectator
Track Finishes Last Meet: A Season in Perspective
By James Russell '09 and Scott Bickard '11Sports Writers
Trying to time a runner's peaking schedule is nearly impossible. Even Olympians, who sometimes temper with this sensitive entity for four years, still may fail. Such is the nature of the beast. The State Championships at St. Lawrence University proved to be a mix bag for the peaking schedules of the Hamilton squad. While some athletes built on their previous performances, others regressed into the depths of track Hell.
It was the final meet for those not moving on to Nationals or ECAC's (aka anyone not named James Russell '09, Rebecca Yaguda '09, Kristen Selden '09 and, of course, Peter Kosgei '10). "Just have fun with this one," Coach Hull had said in practice the week before. The team, of course, had been tapering for the last two weeks in the hopes of entering or maintaining their "peek period." The 800-meter relay quartet of Cam Gaylord '09, James Grebey '12, Cuffie Winkler '10 and Kosgei were the first Hamilton athletes to test how well their bodies have held up over the course of the season. For some further intrigue, talks of a school record in the relay had been in the air ever since Russell, Gaylord, and Winkler all dipped sub-2 a few weeks back, and when Kosgei announced his plans to enter the same event. Unfortunately, weather conditions and a mishandled early lead proved to be the downfall for any sort of record chase. However, a 1:50 final split from Peter Kosgei gave them the come-from-behind victory in 7:59 (6 seconds off the record). Luckily for the "boys of 8," their 800-meter "open editions" went much faster. Grebey and Gaylord each set college PRs (1:58.07 and 1:58.75) while Winkler finished in just over 2:01. Had three of them run the same times in their relay splits, in addition to Kosgei's 1:50, the record would have been discarded like an old lover's note. "It's bitter, but it's also sweet," Grebey said.
Keith Gross '09 and Devon Lynch '11 also tested the resolve of their bodies, this time in the 3000-meter steeplechase. As mentioned in the preview of States last week, Gross was only ten seconds off the #1 seed and felt strongly that he could contend for a top spot, if not the outright win. The race turned out to be more competitive than he realized after a 5:04 first mile, which Gross deemed "the fastest steeple mile split I'd ever run." Still dealing with nagging injuries, he still managed a respectable 10:08 (ninth place). On the women's side, Emily Potter '12 continued her ascent into steeplechase stardom with her second place 12:02 finish. If you're scoring at home, that's All-State and a new PR.
Before Liz Wahl '10 ran her 200m dash, a teammate of mine remarked how nervous she was before the race. Turns out that was the extra edge she needed to run PR's in the 200m and 100m, (26.12 and 12.63 for 4th and 3rd, respectively). In more female star news, Yaguda continued her journey to regain national form by placing 7th in the pole vault.
Sprinter JP Traylor '10 ran the best 200m of his college career (23.61s) and Amir Burk '12, a name we haven't seen much of this season, found himself on the fifth place podium in the triple jump. Indoor Nationals member Tigar Ductan '09 also entered the triple jump for the first time in three weeks and finished 2nd.
It looks like Meredith Fitzpatrick '11 wishes the season spanned a couple more weeks. The sophomore smooth strider has been extremely environmentally unfriendly this season by throwing out her old times and replacing them with new ones each week. Fitzpatrick's new toy was a 4:46 ECAC qualifying 1500-meter run. If she continues this momentum into cross-country, expect a return trip to Nationals.
But the team needs more bodies! So football players/soccer players/any one with a nice set of legs, talk to Coach Hull about running some of the faster events for the team, from the 100 to the 800. You may find yourself an unlikely star. For Grebey and Yaguda, both will have their chance punch their ticket to Nationals on Thursday at the "Last Chance Meet." And then of course, we have Kosgei. He's helped the team so much this year, and unselfishly enters relays to help his other teammates score points. Kosgei has qualified for just about every event in Nationals, which begins in two weeks. He should go largely unchallenged in the steeplechase; however, the 5k could prove to be a highly competitive race.
? We've tried to keep this professional up to this point, but, as this is the last Spectator Track Update of the year, forgive us if we lose our sense of professionalism for just one paragraph. We'd like to thank the Spectator for giving us our weekly post. We also usually give our "Grebey's Golden Spike" Award every week to any athlete who has shown great improvement, but this week we would like to give the award to all those people who support us. The coaches are obvious recipients because we would be nowhere without them. The trainers help get our war-torn bodies back out on the track, and the diner crew always makes sure we never go unfed when returning late from a track meet. Ray, our Carnegie custodian, has been supportive all year. He always asks how we've done, plus he keeps the radioactive levels of our bathroom in check. Murph always keeps our gear fresh so we always run in the whitest of T's. Dave, our bus driver, has been driving us to meets ever since we can remember, and he is as much a part of the team as anyone. So, to all of those who make what we do possible: Thank you.