Cross Country/Track
Indoor Track Season Opens
By
Dec 10, 2007, 16:10

MANHATTAN, KS -- The SBU Track and Field team travelled through rough conditions in route to their first indoor meet of the year at Kansas State University. The meet was held at the Ahearn Field House on the Ward Haylett Track in Manhattan. Thirty seven track and field athletes from SBU made the trip and competed against over 500 others.

The running events were began on a good note when Michael Pierce ran a 4:13.74 in the mile, which placed him 2^nd, and provisionally qualified him for the National Indoor Meet held in Mankato, MN on March 14^th and 15^th. Coach Corey McElhaney commented, “I was impressed by Michael and all of the runners today. Michael had only been running for 10 days following his time off after Cross Country Nationals. We also had 6 guys in the mile run under 4:37.”

In the sprinting events, sophomore Jenny Blair set a new school record in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.07, bettering the old mark by .27 seconds. Trevore Archie missed the SBU record in the 60 meter dash by .01 seconds and missed provisionally qualifying by .02 seconds. Jordan Rowe also ran the 3^rd-fastest 600-yard race in school history, and was within 1 second of the SBU record. This was Rowe’s first time to ever run the 600-yard event. Coach Ranard Adkison stated, “The sprinters and jumpers appeared to be in mid-season form.  We still have room for improvement.  Overall we stacked up well against the larger schools and we appear to be on the right track.”

Coach McElhaney summarized the day, “This is a month earlier than we usually start indoor.  We now have a starting point and know what we need to work on or what we need to maintain.  The athletes recognize the time we have until the MIAA conference meet or Nationals. Coach Adkison and I wanted to give the athletes a race before they went home for the long Christmas / January break.  We had over 10 athletes PR (hit personal bests) in their events.  We were very proud of the athletes and the effort they put out today.” 

The SBU track and field teams have over a month before their next meet.  That meet will be held at Arkansas University on January 11^th.