{"id":9397,"date":"2014-03-22T04:46:10","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T04:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/track-kicks-off-outdoor-season-in-puerto-rico\/"},"modified":"2014-03-22T04:46:10","modified_gmt":"2014-03-22T04:46:10","slug":"track-kicks-off-outdoor-season-in-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/track-kicks-off-outdoor-season-in-puerto-rico\/","title":{"rendered":"Track Kicks Off Outdoor Season In Puerto Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Track Kicks Off Outdoor Season In Puerto Rico<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Entries<\/a> \u01c0 Meet Schedule<\/a> \u01c0 Meet Records<\/a>\u00a0\u01c0 Live Results<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

ALBANY, N.Y. \u2013<\/strong> With no rest for the weary, the University at Albany outdoor track schedule commences just one week after the last indoor athlete concluded his season.\u00a0 Last week, Alexander Bowen competed at Division I Indoor Nationals in the high jump, and now he\u2019s joined his teammates in Puerto Rico for the first outdoor competition, the Spring Break Classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Danes won both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s America East Indoor Championship.\u00a0 For the men, it was their ninth consecutive victory, and the women\u2019s second.\u00a0 UAlbany scored athletes in 19 of 20 events on both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s sides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some goals for the indoor season, and we were close on all of them,\u201d said Roberto Vives, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.\u00a0 \u201cWe defended our indoor championships, the men were top three at IC4A\u2019s, the women were top six at ECAC\u2019s, and we qualified one for nationals.\u00a0 That performance helped to elevate the mentality of the team.\u00a0 It helped get the athletes on board with what we look to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor outdoor we have similar goals,\u201d Vives continued.\u00a0 \u201cWe want to win conferences for the men and women, we want to get as many people qualified for NCAA Prelims as possible, about 15-20 or so.\u00a0 Outdoors, we don\u2019t place the same emphasis on IC4A\u2019s and ECAC\u2019s because it falls on the same weekend as our commencement, so it becomes more of an individual-focused meet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The outdoor roster is set to expand somewhat from what it was during indoor, as a handful of athletes who sat out the indoor season will see a return to competition in the spring.\u00a0 With that in mind, each event group has its own projections for how the outdoor season will progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe jumpers did a good job indoors,\u201d said Vives.\u00a0 \u201cBut we\u2019re weakest in the high hurdles.\u00a0 We have one athlete coming back, Jose Farley, who has never competed at UAlbany but has finally been cleared by the doctors.\u00a0 We have two javelin throwers on the men\u2019s side, and one on the women\u2019s.\u00a0 That\u2019s an event that\u2019s been a hole for us on the past.\u00a0 Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong will return to the 400 hurdles, where we placed second at conferences as a freshman.\u00a0 Both our men\u2019s and women\u2019s 4\u00d7100 relay teams should be high quality, and there is school record potential for both teams.\u00a0 Our men\u2019s team could break 40, and our women could break 45.\u00a0 And our men\u2019s 4\u00d7800 relay could dip under 7:20.\u00a0 Jonathan Santana is returning in the 400, and he\u2019s split 45.6 in a relay.\u00a0 Silvia Del Fava could be a 33:00 10,000 runner.\u00a0 She\u2019s ready to take it to another level.\u00a0 And we\u2019re super excited about our mid-distance, with Kathryn Fanning, and Brianne Bellon, and John DeLallo and those guys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be surprised if Michelle Anthony wasn\u2019t around 13.75 or 13.80 for the hurdles,\u201d said Todd Wolin, who works with jumpers, hurdlers, and multis.\u00a0 \u201cShe could also be low 24 in the 200.\u00a0 She\u2019s worked hard, and she\u2019s started doing the little things in practice that she neglected in the past.\u00a0 I\u2019d like her to qualify for regionals, but it\u2019s admittedly tough to do in the hurdles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTynelle Taylor-Chase will do the high hurdles part time, but the 400 hurdles full time,\u201d Wolin continued.\u00a0 \u201cWith her, Anthony, CiCi Simon, and either ToniAnn Werner or Paige Vadnais, we\u2019re hoping to put together a really high quality shuttle hurdle relay for Penn.\u00a0 We\u2019re losing Rochelle Reid in the high jump, but she\u2019ll compete unattached in a few meets.\u00a0 But Ashley Grant is healthy, Min Pacella is jumping well, and Sol\u00e8ne Bastien will high jump more frequently, so the depth will still be there.\u00a0 Katie Dowd is the only javeline thrower I coach, and I expect her to be in the mid 40\u2019s (meters) and qualify for Penn.\u00a0 Our multis athletes, Vadnais and Mary Adeyeye, will do their first heptathlon at the Bobcat Invitational.\u00a0 Bastien will also compete in the multis outdoors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the men, I think we can qualify three or four guys in finals at conferences in the high hurdles,\u201d said Wolin.\u00a0 \u201cFarley is back, and Rudje Beckford is healthy.\u00a0 In the high jump, we might be able to qualify six for IC4A\u2019s.\u00a0 Bowen and Matthew Campbell are already qualified, and we\u2019re hoping to get Campbell qualified for U23 Jamaican nationals.\u00a0 Youssef Benzamia is healthy, and we\u2019re looking for him to get into U23 French nationals.\u00a0 Alfonso Scannapieco will high jump more, outdoors, after being limited with an injury during indoors.\u00a0 Kingsley Ogbanna has hit the standard for USA junior nationals.\u00a0 And if we can get Christopher Stephenson jumping like he\u2019s capable, we\u2019ll have scary depth at this event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike the women, the men will run their multis at Bobcat,\u201d said Wolin.\u00a0 \u201cNick Mattera will also do it at conference championships, most likely, while Matthew Catera will wait until IC4A\u2019s if all goes according to plan.\u00a0 And in the pole vault, Scannapieco is looking to improve on his honorable All-America mention from last year, and break the school record, at which he is currently tied.\u00a0 Nathan Hiett we\u2019re looking to qualify for NCAA prelims, and with Mattera, Catera, and Donald Dibari and Stefan Buechele, we may be able to qualify four to IC4A\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur men\u2019s 4\u00d7800 has room to grow,\u201d said Matt Jones, moving to the distance events. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to break the school record, and maybe get under 7:20.\u00a0 We used IC4A\u2019s to get some seed times for the 4\u00d7800 and distance medley relays for Penn.\u00a0 You need a seed time to get into the championship section at Penn, and we\u2019re going to use the Texas Relays to try to improve on our 4\u00d7800 and DMR times.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We want to compete the best we can at conference championships, and we want to qualify as many as we can to NCAA prelims, which take the top 48 athletes in each event,\u201d Jones continued.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest deal for UAlbany for outdoor is the opening of the new track, in the same location where the old track used to be.\u00a0 The new track, designed by former 800m champion Don Paige, is essentially the same track as exists at the University at Oregon in Eugene, where many national championships and Olympic trials are held.\u00a0 The old track had seven 42\u201d lanes, while the new one has nine 48\u201d lanes.\u00a0 The straightaways themselves are shorter, about 85 meters, and there are three shotgun extensions on the track, including one for the 1,500 start.\u00a0 Both the javelin and the discus can be contested on the infield, and there is an additional throwing pit up by the softball field.\u00a0 The high jump apron is large enough to run two pits at once, should the need arise.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new track also means that UAlbany will be hosting meets on campus for the first time since the 2011 season.\u00a0 Three home meets will be contested this year: the Dogfight, the Spring Classic, and a Last Chance meet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe new track is great,\u201d said Vives.\u00a0 \u201cIt adds a great new element to our program.\u00a0 And it allows our athletes the chance to compete in front of their peers, in front of the university community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But before any of that can happen, the Danes have some business to take care of this weekend.\u00a0 The team departed for Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning, and have spent the week preparing to compete in the Spring Break Classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe outdoor season is quick,\u201d said Vives, \u201cand I tell our athletes they need to take advantage of opportunities to run fast.\u00a0 We\u2019re coming off a strong indoor season.\u00a0 We used to train through this meet, and may have missed qualifying opportunities.\u00a0 So this year, we\u2019re working on getting the marks early, so we can pull back and focus on training.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That seems to be the conventional wisdom among the entirety of the UAlbany coaching staff.\u00a0 The weather in the early meets, in Puerto Rico and Texas and California is more conducive to producing fast times, without having to deal with the cold and the wind and the rain attributable to the Northeast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPuerto Rico is a rust-buster,\u201d said Jones.\u00a0 \u201cWe want to see what fitness the athletes have.\u00a0 We want them to run fast if they can.\u00a0 If we\u2019re lucky, we\u2019ll see a few regional qualifying times.\u00a0 Under the right conditions, a lot of those performances can happen.\u00a0 Early season, warm weather, maybe we can pop a good time.\u00a0 It\u2019s about being ready when the opportunity is there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe athletes are hungry to get going again,\u201d said Vives.\u00a0 \u201cThere has been no let down since indoor, and they are all motivated.\u00a0 We expect everyone to gel at the same time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\nThe Albany Student Press<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Track Kicks Off Outdoor Season In Puerto Rico Entries \u01c0 Meet Schedule \u01c0 Meet Records\u00a0\u01c0 Live Results ALBANY, N.Y. \u2013 With no rest for the weary, the University at Albany outdoor track schedule commences just one week after the last indoor athlete concluded his season.\u00a0 Last week, Alexander Bowen competed at Division I Indoor Nationals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[983],"tags":[1820,2314,1699,1700,1789,289],"class_list":["post-9397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-albany-student-press","tag-kicks","tag-outdoor","tag-puerto","tag-rico","tag-season","tag-track"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}