Track?

VULB#62 · February 22, 2014, 01:00:00 PM

Wouldn't be surprised Tex. Valpo fields more sports teams than any other HL school plus has football. YSU is FCS scholarship in FB so that means a lot of $$$. My guesses would be in bold.

Valpo -- 19*
Detroit -- 17 **
UIC -- 16
CSU -- 16
Oakland -- 16
WSU -- 15
UWGB -- 14
YSU -- 14*
UWM -- 13

* football schools
** has Men's LAX (large roster and travel budget)

Lehigh, where new HFBC Cecchini came from, by comparison, fields 23.

sliman · February 23, 2014, 09:24:04 PM

UIC web site lists 18 sports (non HL sports are gymnastics for men and women). Regardless, the biggest difference is budget demands obviously is the tuition differences between the private and tax-supported schools.

LaPorteAveApostle · February 24, 2014, 11:16:37 AM

Quote from: valpotx on February 22, 2014, 11:45:07 AMI believe that we are in the top 3 in athletic department budget in the HL. Can someone confirm that?

Too much work to bury it here in a track thread, but here:
http://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=1763.msg42581#msg42581

VULB#62 · February 24, 2014, 12:24:25 PM

Hmmm........... didn't figure on UIC, but got 2 out of the 3.

vu72 · March 01, 2014, 07:55:46 AM

Here is the official announcement from Mark LaBarbera. My recollection of the person being honored was slightly off. It wasn't Luther North but rather Walther Lutheran in Chicago. Should be a very nice addition to the athletic facilities.

It is my great pleasure to announce the upcoming installation of the Warren G. Hoger Track at Brown Field. This state-of-the-art eight lane track will provide an outstanding competition facility for our track and field program, as well as invaluable training space for all our other teams and the general student body. The Hoger Track will include all of the additional areas needed for a full Division I meet, including jumping pits and the equipment for the steeple chase. For the first time we will be able to host home track meets including, potentially, the Horizon League championship. The project will also improve the aesthetics and landscaping at Brown Field, where we host football and soccer games.

The lead gift for this project was given in honor of Warren Hoger '53, a member of the Valpo Athletics family, who competed in track and field for the Brown & Gold. Mr. Hoger has gone on to a long and distinguished career as the track coach at Walther Lutheran High School in Chicago. We are thrilled that Mr. Hoger's example of service, commitment to faith and pursuit of calling will be held up to future generations of Valpo students through this new facility. An official dedication will take place at halftime of the Homecoming football game on Saturday, October 11.

Construction on the track will begin shortly after our basketball seasons are completed. We hope to have construction continue throughout the summer so that the track will be complete before student-athletes report back to campus in August. Some additional fundraising for this project is still needed. If you are interested in making a gift please contact Associate Director of Athletics John Kuka.

historyman · March 01, 2014, 11:56:32 AM

I still think calling it the Grim Track in honor the 30+ year track coach & athletic director at Luther North HS would have been more appropriate.

LaPorteAveApostle · March 01, 2014, 12:53:02 PM

Only if he had a brother.

vu72 · December 04, 2014, 07:05:57 PM

Speaking of Track, (if anybody other than valporun was...) Here is a great piece from the Valpo Athletics site about a Valpo grad's and former Track Star's success story. He has some great stories about how far the program has progressed under Mark LaBarbera.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/news/articles/2014-15/14182/worth-the-weight-valpos-bartholomew-finding-his-niche/#.VIEE1THF8TA

valporun · December 09, 2014, 11:47:52 AM

Quote from: vu72 on December 04, 2014, 07:05:57 PM
Speaking of Track, (if anybody other than valporun was...) Here is a great piece from the Valpo Athletics site about a Valpo grad's and former Track Star's success story. He has some great stories about how far the program has progressed under Mark LaBarbera.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/news/articles/2014-15/14182/worth-the-weight-valpos-bartholomew-finding-his-niche/#.VIEE1THF8TA

Not only did he have wonderfully true things to say about the track and facility changes under Mark LaBarbera, he also changed the game of weight throwing in track. He has over 500 clientele from Division I track down to the NAIA ranks. He's doing great things for himself in the world of track and friend weight throwing. Great to see someone taking away from the monopoly that was companies just trying to get into a niche market they had no business being in. Even Gill Athletics is losing clientele to Steve, and that says A LOT about what he's doing. Go check out www.dominatorathletics.com, and see what he's doing in the track and field world.

valpotx · December 09, 2014, 12:50:14 PM

Run, can you explain some of the differences in his products versus the competition? I don't know a single thing about throwing weights.

LaPorteAveApostle · December 09, 2014, 01:28:26 PM

Quote from: valpotx on December 09, 2014, 12:50:14 PMI don't know a single thing about throwing weights.

I bet you do...just...light ones.

bbtds · December 09, 2014, 01:42:14 PM

Quote from: valpotx on December 09, 2014, 12:50:14 PM
Run, can you explain some of the differences in his products versus the competition? I don't know a single thing about throwing weights.

Oh, come on, you have no trouble at all throwing your verbal "weights" around.

I think that our former track athlete found that companies used unnecessarily expensive materials in a niche side industry of track & field, weight throwing, and he was able to make good throw weights with much cheaper materials that were of good quality through innovation and his own hand crafting skills. He was able to price the competition out of the small niche throwing weights market and corner that market. Those companies that were priced out of the throwing weights market still have large portions of the other track & field equipment markets and decided facing off with our Valpo grad was not in their best interests.

I'll think he should be the first recipient of the Valpo Carl Fisher award!!!

webbvufan · December 09, 2014, 05:28:59 PM

While on the subject of track, my daughter attended the shot put clinic at VU this past Sunday. I came away very impressed with Coach Moore and Coach Pukstys. They are extremely knowledgeable and both seem to be great guys. They also did a fantastic job working with the kids. Give ML credit; he seems to have a knack for finding quality coaches for all of our athletic teams. Hopefully this is the right place for this post.

valporun · December 10, 2014, 12:57:12 AM

valpotx, bbtds summed up what I was going to say. Steve basically did his research on the overall cost of each part of a weight implement, and rather than just throw a random price on it to make it seem like it wasn't for everyone, he made throwing a shot or hammer something that every school across Division I that has track, and various other schools across the NCAA and NAIA, affordable. Plus, he makes his implements custom made to the individual thrower, whereas Gill and the other names in weight throwing just make a general ball that can be used by so many different types of thrower, but doesn't balance the weight of the thrower as effectively as the ball that Steve makes. He also makes apparel that is very well made to fit the individual, not just a 'one size fits all' that some of the other companies use. He would love to get involved with high schools, but so many of the high school coaches just go with the company they've been going with for years because they aren't as focused on the best equipment available to their throwers.

historyman · December 10, 2014, 11:24:26 AM

Quote from: valporun on December 10, 2014, 12:57:12 AMbut so many of the high school coaches just go with the company they've been going with for years because they aren't as focused on the best equipment available to their throwers.

Spread the word to the high school track coaches! It's cheaper and it's custom made! If the word gets out you don't know how far Steve's vision could go.

valporun · December 10, 2014, 03:52:46 PM

That's something I'm looking to do, although I think the other factor with high school teams, what happens when a shot is ordered for a thrower, and then that thrower quits? Commitment levels aren't as high in high school as they are in college. I'm guessing Steve has considered this as well. With high schools having so many kids come and go as the season goes on, it becomes costly for them to have a collection of custom made shots that go unused.

valpotx · December 10, 2014, 10:47:19 PM

Wow, I never realized how much that stuff costs! If his products are cheap, I can only imagine what his competitor's equipment costs!

bbtds · December 10, 2014, 10:54:23 PM

Quote from: valporun on December 10, 2014, 03:52:46 PM
That's something I'm looking to do, although I think the other factor with high school teams, what happens when a shot is ordered for a thrower, and then that thrower quits? Commitment levels aren't as high in high school as they are in college. I'm guessing Steve has considered this as well. With high schools having so many kids come and go as the season goes on, it becomes costly for them to have a collection of custom made shots that go unused.

Couldn't Steve still make a basic ball that is not custom made that is cheaper than his competition, due to the cheaper materials, for high schools? Or is that against Steve's principals of manufacturing throwing weights?

valporun · December 11, 2014, 05:11:14 PM

He could make a basic ball, but I didn't get the feeling that he just wanted to make shots for the sake of making them. He wanted to make a shot for a thrower that wants to throw The Best ball available.

VULB#62 · December 12, 2014, 03:02:08 PM

From the Torch:

http://www.valpotorch.com/sports/article_9c7a6b7e-822d-11e4-b264-8784eae63622.html

When it was announced that one of the most decorated American javelin throwers of the last 20 years was joining the Valparaiso University track and field coaching staff, it likely came as a surprise to many, including those within the program.
Predictably, no one with the school is complaining about the good-fortune hire.
For much of the 1990s, Tom Pukstys was at the top of his field in this country. A six-time U.S. champion, Pukstys was the No. 1 ranked American javelin thrower seven times and twice competed at the Olympics, placing 10th at the 1992 Barcelona games and 8th at the 1996 games in Atlanta.

This should help Jeremy Getz out of his slump and get him into the 230' zone. Should also help the other throwers.

valpotx · December 13, 2014, 04:17:07 AM

That is really cool, and I hope that our T&F team takes advantage of his knowledge over the next year.

valporun · January 24, 2015, 12:37:30 PM

Rather than start a new topic, I'll put it here...although Butler didn't field their top athlettes in any events last night, the Valparaiso Men's and Women's track and field programs BOTH DEFEATED Butler at the IPFW Duals. I never competed in a meet like this one while at Valpo, so I have no idea what the focus was, but from looking at the results, points were acquired based on finishes per event, so events were scored as if we were competing against Butler alone, instead of just taking the total points overall. It looks like we did well, but we're definitely a young team that just gets runners from wherever. I'd love for Valpo track to finally be able to provide some real scholarships for multiple members of the programs, but until I can make millions as a CEO somewhere, I'll justt have to be happy with what Coach Moore and Coach Straubel can recruit to a very "non-scholarship" program. (I put non-scholarship in quotes because each program has one scholarship per program to give out, so most of the team just walks in to practice in September, and is on the team regardless of how talented they are.)

momofalex · January 25, 2015, 07:25:49 AM

I can speak to the age of the team a bit - my son is a freshman pole vaulter, and he said that when they had their first team meeting in the fall about half of the room was freshmen. I'm not sure if that speaks to a growing team, or that many athletes drop off of the team somewhere between their freshman and senior years.

Valpo89 · January 25, 2015, 07:25:27 PM

My son was one of the top cc and track runners in NWI this past school year (13-14), and didn't even get a letter from anyone on either coaching staff.
He was first-team all-area in cross country, first-team all-area in the 3,200 after finishing 13th at state in a time that was the fifth best all-time at VHS.
His GPA was over 4 and he did fairly well on the ACT and SAT, results that were sent to VU. Still, nothing from either coaching staff - not that he would have gone to VU anyway because he wanted to get out of town. Still, would have been nice to get at least some interest.

vu72 · January 25, 2015, 08:19:53 PM

Quote from: Valpo89 on January 25, 2015, 07:25:27 PM
My son was one of the top cc and track runners in NWI this past school year (13-14), and didn't even get a letter from anyone on either coaching staff.
He was first-team all-area in cross country, first-team all-area in the 3,200 after finishing 13th at state in a time that was the fifth best all-time at VHS.
His GPA was over 4 and he did fairly well on the ACT and SAT, results that were sent to VU. Still, nothing from either coaching staff - not that he would have gone to VU anyway because he wanted to get out of town. Still, would have been nice to get at least some interest.

That's very disappointing. You wonder why the coaching staff doesn't start recruiting with the local product rather then hoping someone with talent walks through the door. Looking at the roster, we do have kids from places like Florida, Texas, Virginia and Minneosta, but the vast majority of track and field athletes are from Indiana and Illinois.