Track & Field Successes

[VULB#62]

T&F doesn't get much play on the forum (except for opinions on the track that doesn't exist, of course).  But I just noted that a few youngsters did quite well at the Duke Invitational in Durham, NC this weekend against some real D-I competition.

Men:
Jeremy Getz - 3rd in the javelin (that's my former event and Getz has surpassed the top post-1997 javelin rules distance mark to hold the VU best distance in the event.  He's threatening to surpass my record -- hope he does!)
Andy Rixon - 10th in the hammer

Women:
Jessica Richardson - 4th in the 10K
Sarah Drozdowski - 4th in the Hammer (season PR)

[valporun]

VULB#62, I would have mentioned something about it, but I hadn't gone over to the athletics website yet. Glad to see we have a few individuals in contention for some HL recognitions this season.

[VULB#62]

Run, I think both of us can agree that Valpo is the kind of university that could be a powerful magnet for the typical  track and field kid who is academically inclined, enjoys a diverse (in the broadest sense) range of experiences, a family-like campus, and is largely self motivated. The fact that VU can attract a few kids of the caliber we see here, despite the total absence of a track and field facility underscores that.  Imagine how good VU T & F would be, and the positive image that would project, if that damn track was built.

Now there are rumblings about moving to the MVC (primarily for basketball and I certainly don't begrudge that move at all), but if the banter is correct about exit fees and entrance fees being in the $2 million range just to administratively change conference names and schedules etc., why wasn't that money available to invest in a tangible track facility years ago?  I asked that question in the MVC string but got no takers.

For reference:
Current MVC schools with a track and field facility:
Wichita State -- Cessna Stadium http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205086880
Indiana State - Marks Field - http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15200&ATCLID=1097434
Illinois State - Redbird T&F Complex - http://www.goredbirds.com/facilities/redbird-track-complex.html
SIU - $3.96 million (2012) Track & Field complex - http://www.siusalukis.com/facilities/facilities-track.html
NIU - Messersmith Complex - http://www.unipanthers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26200&ATCLID=205146033
Missouri State - Plaster sports complex - http://www.missouristatebears.com/facilities/plaster-sports-complex.html
Drake - Drake stadium (Home of the Drake Relays) - http://www.godrakebulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=15700&ATCLID=1137170
Bradley - (has M&W T&F but I can't find a track facility on their website)
Evansville - No T&F program
Creighton - No T&F program (but leaving for the Big East)

I'm an Easterner and many, if not most, of the colleges out here offer a wide range of athletic teams.  Very few of whom that can be considered great.  But these schools maintain a pretty large stable of available sports.  It's just what's expected out here.  Valpo, offering 19 M&W sports, is pretty close to what I am used to seeing.  I applaud that, I really do.  It's not D-III MIT with 30+ or D-I Harvard with 40 or D-I Boston College with 21 and the facilities to support them, but we're darn good compared to a lot of HL and MVC schools with bigger student population bases and probably a more intense interest in college athletics out there than back here.

The track is a one-time capital expense. 8 Years ago a really nice complex would have cost, say, $2 million, but today $3 million -- it's always, we can't afford it.  But we can switch conferences and write two $1,000,000 checks over night? 

T&F scholarship requirements are minimal.  Participation, in a good program, can attract upwards of 40-50 men and women who would choose Valpo because of T&F (alluding to enrollment growth here).  It mystifies me -- it truly does.  My bet is that there are many, many T&F kids who would have loved to apply to Valpo because of all it offers in every element of education and campus life, but they crossed VU off their list because of no track.

I sent my two kids to D-III New England schools.  Both schools had great athletic programs (Middlebury-29 sports; Colby-33 sports) and a vibrance on campus that was extraordinary.  I remember my days on campus long ago and my Valpo campus experience reminds me so much of what my kids experienced -- to an extent. Where it falls short, and pretty much has always fallen short, was in athletic facilities to support whatever sports were offered.

I really, really wanted to win PowerBall a few weeks back.  Had that happened a new Brown Field stadium and a new track would already be on the drawing boards and ready for the fall of 2013.  Actually I would have exercised some donor leverage and made the FB field separate from a dedicate T&F complex right behind the FB/Soccer field. The room is there for it if the Brown field visitor bleachers are moved closer to the playing surface.   

[talksalot]

Hay VULB#62...   Middlebury?  My old stomping ground... Panthers had a great season this year!  My grandfather was Dean of Faculty for MANY years ... late 40s -70s... and my father built the campus radio station in the early 50s.... good memories!

[VULB#62]

Beautiful campus, challenging academics, super facilities, and the scenery is spectacular. Sitting in the FB stadium watching a game with the Green Mountains as the backdrop is a great experience.

[valpotx]

I know that I have said it before, but my sister was a starter on Middlebury's volleyball team all 4 years (2001-2002 to 2004-2005 seasons), and was also a cheerleader lol.  Where else but at a D-3 program can you do that?    She actually turned down a VU soccer scholarship offer from Coach Anthony in order to play volleyball at Middlebury.

[agibson]

Jeremy Getz - 3rd in the javelin (that's my former event and Getz has surpassed the top post-1997 javelin rules distance mark to hold the VU best distance in the event.  He's threatening to surpass my record -- hope he does!)

I enjoyed reading the Torch piece on him a couple weeks back
http://www.valpotorch.com/sports/article_06a65910-97d7-11e2-9e12-0019bb30f31a.html

To think that he's just a sophomore, didn't compete in track and field in high school, and is still listed on the VU web page under "jumps".  Could have a high ceiling.

What was the rule change in 1997?

[VULB#62]

They changed the weight and flight characteristics.  World class throwers were routinely exceeding 300 feet and they wanted to pull that distance back in to a reasonable range. Maryanski broke my record which hung around for 10 years.  Getz's 208 surpasses the post 1997 record by 21' and is right behind me and Al Petersen right now.  But he's only a sophomore.  I didn't hit my stride until I was a senior -- more mature body, some lifting made that possible (in those days weights were for body builders and no one knew how to do event-specific weight training). 

I agree that his distance with the post 1997 javelin is probably the equivalent of 225' or maybe even more.  That would place him squarely in the lead.  With good technique coaching and good weight training he will add a minimum of 10' per year onto whatever PR he winds up with at the conclusion of this season.  So look for 228 in two years.

[agibson]

They changed the weight and flight characteristics.  World class throwers were routinely exceeding 300 feet and they wanted to pull that distance back in to a reasonable range.

Funny!  It sounds like the constraint was basically, "We'd like the event to fit comfortably in existing facilities."  As performance improved, people were threatening to hit athletes in other events, throw it into the stands, or out of the training facility, etc?  So they just made the thing harder to throw?

[Valpo89]

My son is a very good student and a good high school runner at VHS. He has run a cross country time close to qualifying for athletic aid (16:10 for the 5K), but he is actually better in track. I think he'd be interested in running at VU, and he would certainly be encouraged if he could get an athletic/academic package that would come close to a full ride. But the fact that our high school has a state-of-the-art track while our university has nothing, that's quite discouraging. I see the girls distance runners doing speed work in my neighborhood all the time. It's just not right.

[VULB#62]

Totally agree, 89.

[VULB#62]

They changed the weight and flight characteristics.  World class throwers were routinely exceeding 300 feet and they wanted to pull that distance back in to a reasonable range.

Funny!  It sounds like the constraint was basically, "We'd like the event to fit comfortably in existing facilities."  As performance improved, people were threatening to hit athletes in other events, throw it into the stands, or out of the training facility, etc?  So they just made the thing harder to throw?

That's pretty much it.  In world class stadiums the javelin approach runway stretched from outside the track radius to about the back line of a football end zone or a soccer goal line.  A 315' throw would land 10' from the high jump pit at the opposite end.  And if it landed flat and skidded, look out!

[valporun]

Distance runners commonly were doing training workouts in neighborhoods, Fairgrounds Park, the grass around Eastgate outer perimeter, Ben Franklin's track, VHS track, Thomas Jefferson's sand-like track (before it became a parking oval), and various other places where we could do some interval work, or some tempo timed-runs and such. It wasn't any fun having to go a few miles from campus to do workouts, and worry about traffic, especially in the October-March time change where it was dark by the time practice started at 4PM.

[VULB#62]

Both the men's and women's track team came in last at the Horizon League meet in Ypsilanti, MI this weekend.  There were some individual bright spots however.  One was Jeremy Getz who won the javelin.  Here is the writeup from teh VU release:

Sophomore Jeremy Getz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished first in the javelin throw on Saturday to lead the Valparaiso men's track and field team at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Getz won the event with a distance of 200' 5", which was 9' 3" better than the second-place finisher.

I checked the meet result and the HL meet record was 58.50 meters; Jeremy threw 61.08 meters so he not only won the event, he set a new meet record.  And he upped it by 2.58 meters or 8' 5 1/2"   That's a sizable increase, but it's 8' off his PR.  Shame the release didn't point that out.

[valpotx]

The men finished last (6th out of 6), but the women were 6th out of 7.

[VULB#62]

Yep, you're right.  Squeaked by Detroit 38.5 to 38.   

[valporun]

If only we had some solid sprinters, but the one we had, Julian Smith, transferred to Illinois after last season. We had a lot of events with either no one in them, or no one that was competitive enough to score any points. Relied a lot on field events and Jessica Richardson to score points in this meet, that doesn't help when UW-Milwaukee scores loads of points on Day 2.

[vu72]

We had another sprinter last year, seems to me he was a freshman or sophomore.  Did he transfer out as well?

[valporun]

I don't see him listed, whomever it was, but either transferred or quit, not sure?

[vu72]

I don't see him listed, whomever it was, but either transferred or quit, not sure?

The guy's name is Nick Kowaleski and he is listed on the roster.  Last year he ran second in the 100 (10.59) and fourth in the 200 (21.95).  Maybe he was injuried.  The roster shows 10 sprinters, with 1 freshman, 6 sophomores and 3 juniors.  Maybe they are inexperienced or just a little slow!

[valporun]

In terms of Nick, it looks like, from the Miami (OH) Redhawk Invitational results, he was injured in the 100m? He clocked a DNF (DID NOT FINISH), and he was running in meets prior to this, so all I can guess is maybe a hamstring tweak, so Coach Moore and the training staff decided to sit him out this year. He still has two more years to compete, so not having him this year is fine with me. With the rest of our sprinters, I would definitely agree with "just a little slow", but that's what we get when our program doesn't give scholarships in the same manner that Milwaukee might, and we don't have a track to consistently train on. I did read in the President Heckler Interview thread that the track will start to get more planning done on it, which means it must have the money now.