Track teams prepare for only home indoor meet
The Utah State University track team is seeking improvement in its only home indoor meet of the season, Saturday at the Fieldhouse from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Aggies will host Long Beach State University, which is traditionally strong in sprints and throws, the University of Utah, which has a strong all-around women’s team and a strong men’s distance team, and Southern Utah University, which has good athletes throughout.
But this early into the season the Aggies are not worried as much about their competition, Head Coach Gregg Gensel said.
“What I like to see is steady improvement throughout the season,” Gensel said. “I want everybody to perform a little bit better than the week before, and that’s our goal every week, is to get a little bit better. And as we get a little bit better each week, then in May, when we need to really be a better team, we are.”
Although winning is important to the USU track team, constantly improving and preparing for the tournament really is the most important goals the team has.
Saturday will be the first meet of the season for the distance runners because the coaches didn’t want to them to get hurt or worn out.
For the hurdlers and pole vaulters, this will be their second meet. Even then, the coaches may hold out a few athletes until later.
Despite the late start of numerous events on the Aggie team, because this is the only home, indoor meet of the season, the Aggies feel like they have the upper hand, assistant coach Stan Croft said.
“It’s nice to stay home because all their friends get to come over and watch,” he said. “They get excited and when they’re excited we usually have good performances.”
In addition to having the home crowd, Gensel said there are two more advantages to having the meet at home.
One, he said, is that his team does not have to worry about what it is like to run on the track because they practice on it all the time.
The other advantage is not traveling, meaning the athletes can sleep in their own beds and hang out with their friends.
“All that stuff makes you feel comfortable,” Gensel said. “People who are relaxed and comfortable tend to do better.”
To help the athletes feel relaxed about Saturday’s meet, the coaches have been treating it as an intensified practice, Croft said.
Because of the way the indoor track is setup, it will not include a 200-meter dash, and the 400-meter dash is expected to be slower than on other tracks. Because of this USU will have athletes participating in events they have never done before, he said, which should make it fun for them.
The Aggies will possibly be without last week’s first place shot put winner, Josh Sides, who injured his elbow at the Air Force Invitational, but will still have Mark Burton. Burton was only seven inches behind Sides at the AFA Invite, finishing in second place.
In addition, Croft said he expects Jill Steele and Yance Fosset to do well in the 800-meter run, along with Jana McKinney in the hurdles.
He said he is also expecting a big performance from Kelli Burton in the shot put. Burton finished third in at last week’s invitational.
Sides said he thinks the whole team will be up for Saturday.
“They’re really excited because we don’t have too many home meets, so when we get a chance to compete here, it’s pretty fun,” he said.
–csmo@cc.usu.edu