By LISA AWAITEY
The Cornell men’s and women’s track and field squads look to this weekend for a strong start to the 2014-15 season. The Red’s first challenge is the Greg Page Relays hosted in Barton Hall on Saturday, December 6. The relatively small meet will kickoff the season and hopefully get the Red off to a constructive start.
“The Greg page relays are actually a very early season meet, and a lot of [people] won’t be competing,” sophomore distance runner James Gowans said. “For those that are its an opportunity to run and evaluate the team’s training early before the big competition starts.”
Sophomore polevaulter Grant Sisserson returns this year after a competitive and impressive freshman showing.
“I think the team’s main focus for the Greg Page Relays is just to get our bearings,” Sisserson said. “This meet doesn’t really carry that much weight in the grand scheme of things and the first meet doesn’t always go as planned for everyone. However, I’m certain that this meet will help us as a team in beginning to get used to the untold amount of success that awaits us.”
The team looks to powerful and consistent athletes like Sisserson to get the ball rolling early in the season.
“The most important things for me to work on right now are power and speed,” Sisserson said. “Although the pole vault is extremely technical, the majority of the vault is dictated by the run. Becoming faster and stronger will yield the biggest improvements.”
The Greg Page Relays are just the beginning for this competitive team. The Red looks to capitalize on the momentum from the cross country season in the Relays as well as future matches, according to freshman Oseoba Airewele.
Sophomore distance runner James Gowans said that the meet provides the Red with a valuable opportunity to evaluate its abilities early on in the season. (Connor Archard / Sun Sports Photography Editor).