The track team looks to keep its lungs clear of the Los Angeles smog for its spring break meets. The left coast will be the site for the Long Beach Classic on the 17th and the Spring Break Invitational at Irvine, Ca., on the 24th.
Schools in the west have been traditionally very strong in track. Some good WAC, Big Sky, Pac-10, and Big-10 teams are expected to compete.
“We are expecting to face some good competition,” said men’s coach Nathan Taylor.
This trip will afford the track team more than a good tan. Besides gaining some competitive experience, these meets will be a good barometer for relative team progress.
The men’s team is already highly touted as shown in its No. 24 national ranking following the indoor season.
The Spring Break meets will mark the turning point in the year, as the tracksters transition from the indoor to the outdoor season, which features some events that are exclusive to mother nature’s domain.
Taylor gleamed, saying, “There are good differences between the two seasons, in that we have many guys who do very well in the strictly outdoor events.”
Both the men and women are coming off very successful indoor campaigns.
The men will be led into competition by distance aces Colin Moore and Geoff Van Fleet, jumpers Scott Lundy and Travis Offner, throwers Brett Coffing and Jeremy Blanchett.
The women also have strengths in areas across the board; Meredith Freimer and Kim Chatman anchor the distance crew, Karen Chastain heads the throwing events, Danielle Brown and Jamie Reed are expected to provide points in the jumps, and Katy Jay will headline the sprint crew.
Competing against west coast scholarship teams this weekend, the Red will hope to prove that money isn’t everything and that the east can hold its own on the track.
Archived article by Donald Lee