SHSU Set To Take Islanders Dash By Storm
4/3/2014 4:19:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
One week after working overtime between the famed Texas Relays in Austin and the Victor Lopez Classic in Houston, the Sam Houston State men's and women's track & field teams switch back into training mode with action at the Islanders Dash from Corpus Christi this Saturday.
“We're going to run a lot of races,” head coach David Self said. “We may not run as fast which is okay because we ran fast when we needed to and now we go back into a training mode as we gear up for the conference meet.”
Several SHSU athletes hit post-season form last weekend with the Kats setting school records in four events in addition to gaining the confidence of not just participating but competing alongside some of the nation's finest athletes at the Texas Relays.
“It's one thing to talk about running against BYU, Indiana and Wisconsin,” Self said. “Then you line up next to them and you see the success. You see, 'yeah, we can do this.' You don't want them to necessarily get to the first round of the NCAA meet or the finals and have it be a culture shock.”
Included in the realm of recent record holders is junior Adrienne Quillin who was a walk-on just hoping to earn a spot with the Kats prior to the 2012 season.
“She has come such a long way,” Self said. “She came into this program as a walk-on and has worked her way up in our program to being a school-record holder, conference champion last year, conference leader this year and she has another year left.”
For the younger Bearkats – in particular a combined 19 freshmen competitors between the two squads – the competition, top two finishes at the indoor championships and fast-paced outdoor schedule are providing a whirlwind of a first year with Sam Houston.
“You see some flashes of things in the fall but a lot of times freshman will have a rocky year,” Self said. “Basically every kid on our team has been to the (Texas) state meet and most of them are state meet medalist and that's one of the best high school track meets in the country. Now, every race you run is like the pinnacle of your high school career.”
As the squads' head into their third meet of the season and tenth of the year, Self emphasizes the transitioning role of the coaches and athletes.
“At this point, there needs to be a whole lot of internal motivation (for the athletes),” Self said. “As coaches, we are there to guide them down the road and get them towards those goals the best we can.”
The Islanders Dash will kick-off on Saturday with the 3,000 running events which will be followed by the field events before concluding with the afternoon running events.
“In track and field sometimes we get tied up in the numbers too much,” Self said. We just want to see them compete hard. If somebody does something good, respond and come back and make it a competition. Don't just go through the motions or worry about what the tape measure and stopwatch says; go out and beat some folks.”
QUICK HITS
• The Bearkat men boast two athletes in the top 25 rankings nationally – Matthew Viverette (20th in the 400 meter hurdles at 52.12 seconds) and Rodney Jones (24th in the 400 meter dash at 47.61 seconds)
• SHSU is one of only six schools (California, Louisiana Tech, South Carolina, TCU and Texas) in the country to have two men's 4x100 relay squads ranked in the top 40 times nationally
• The SHSU women rank second in the Southland Conference with athletes in 12 top five positions and are tied for first in the league with four athletes holding the top spot in their events
• Sophomore Ashley Jenkins' third place hammer throw at the Victor Lopez Classic gives her four top three finishes in 2014, one-upping her 2013 total of three with five meets still remaining
• Since the start of the 2014 indoor season, the Bearkats men's and women's track and field programs have set school records in seven indoor events and four outdoor events
QUOTES
Head coach David Self on record-setting performances in sprint medleys:
“When you have teams such as these, we kind of start moving in that direction. The sprint medleys were kind of designed for that. We knew we had a chance to run against some really good competition to pull us along and we knew we had the personnel on both sides. When you look at everyone's PR's and put them together, it's like, 'this group can get this done.'”
On performance of Alyssa Dooley:
“Having Alyssa in the 1500 in PR shape this early is great. She redshirted outdoor last year and sat through the indoor season so it's been since indoors 2013 since she's competed and she has come right back in and done some good things.”
On motivating athletes to reach peak performance:
“You have team goals just like (SHSU football head coach K.C.) Keeler or (SHSU baseball head coach David) Pierce does with their teams but it's done a little differently for us. Our team goals are achieved through premium individual performances. You take each kid a little different; you have to find the thing that motivates them.”
