March 28, 2005 - Kile Krol
The outdoor season is finally upon us. I am from an area (Illinois) where we do not have a serious nor long indoor track season, which made indoors a struggle for me. The season seemed to drag on forever. However, some good things came out of the indoor season.
Many people performed very well at UAA's in New York at the Armory. It was pretty awesome to get the chance to run at such a historical place. The brightest spot of the indoor season was from our women's DMR team, making it to nationals and just missing All-America honors.
The outdoor season was kicked off with the Emory Invitational here at our own track. The Emory Invite happened to fall the first weekend after our spring break making things a little interesting for some of us competitors. Coming back from Cancun, Bahamas, or any other such place really took the legs out of some of our teammates.
However, it was refreshing to finally start running outside, and even nicer to have a meet at our own track. It was the first time I personally have gotten to participate in the Emory Invite because of the construction on the WoodPEC last year.
The team has really been getting closer compared to the beginning of this year. With the bulk of our seniors and point scorers graduating last year, the team was kind of left in disarray. Senior captains Blake Staub, Andrew Seidenberg, and Andrew (Podge) Podgurski have really made an effort to bring the team closer together.
There seems to always be a gap between the distance runners and sprinters in most teams and there was with ours at first. Now we warm up together and have gotten a chance to know everyone. It is nice to have support from your entire team instead of just one-third of your team.
This is one reason why I personally love track so much. In cross country there is a team bond that is created because you go through the same experiences and have the exact same goals and run the same race. In track there are so many different types of people it is amazing. It brings a lot of people together that normally would never want anything to do with each other.
I generally do not like big strong guys that think they are tough, but Stan and Drew are two of my favorite people on the team, and they are big, strong throwers. When Stan speaks to me in Russian, I can not stop laughing.
I would probably keep my distance from Brian Platt if I did not run with him and get the chance to know him, but it turns out he is a cool sprinter. A lot of times people surprise you and Emory track allows you to be surprised with some of the great people you meet.
What is interesting about this outdoor season is that we only have four meets until the conference meet in St. Louis, and one is already down. There are six weeks left in school.
Needless to say there is little time or room for error if we want to reach any of our goals. UAA's and nationals are the two biggest meets for Emory track, and the goal is to perform our best at UAA's and qualify many people for nationals. Time is ticking for us.
April 11, 2005 - John Wofford
It is hard to believe that my career as an Emory track and field athlete is about to come to an end. We only have two more weekends until our conference championship meet on the 23rd and 24th of April. For some of us, we will not have another chance to compete before then.
Last weekend our team went to two different meets. Basically, the runners went to the Duke Invitational in Durham, NC, while the throwers and jumpers went to the Oglethorpe Invitational in Atlanta. Because I am a pole vaulter, I did not have to travel far.
I woke up early Saturday morning and was initially greeted with few clouds on what promised to be a sunny day. However, by the time the pole vault event started, the clouds had rolled in and a steady breeze was blowing right down the runway in my face.
Because the pole vault started a bit late, all the other events had finished by the time we pole vaulters were competing. So all the other Emory athletes lined the runway and cheered loudly as we vaulted.
It is in such times that I am reminded how supportive we are of our teammates. Instead of complaining about wanting to go home, everyone rallied together in a display of team unity even as other teams were hightailing it home. The result was a 1-2-3 finish for Emory pole vaulters.
The Oglethorpe meet was a particularly small meet with mostly local teams, and the competition was not impressive. However, many of our athletes performed well. Also, the few runners who did not make the Duke squad really proved their hard work and dedication.
On the other hand, the runners who went to Duke saw incredible competition and a huge meet. Andrew Seidenberg placed sixth in the Division III section of the 100-meter dash. Rob Leventhal also placed very high in the DIII section getting second in the 800-meter run.
These next two weeks we will see our workouts getting shorter and easier as we cut back in preparation for UAA's. We are dedicated to improving our indoor finish substantially and proving what we all know: that Emory Track and Field is the best team around.
Some of us, especially our relay teams, will go to Clemson, S.C., this week for one last meet. However, most of us will take the weekend off to rest our legs.
We will be going to St. Louis the weekend after to compete at Washington University. This will be the first time in four years that we will have a meet in St. Louis, and I am looking forward to it.
I am looking forward to it not because I am particularly fond of the city. I have never been there, so I just don't know if I'll like it or not. I am looking forward to going to Wash U for one very special purpose. I want to beat them on their home track. They have become our biggest rivals and winning in St. Louis would be an awesome way to end my track career.
The work has been put in. We've worked since September to develop ourselves into track and field machines. Now all that's left to do is work on minor technique issues and rest up. Because come April 23rd, we're going to take off out of the chute and blow away everyone.
April 18, 2005 - Evan Goldberg
Last week was the one of the most important weeks of the track season. For some, running well at the Clemson Classic was imperative to earn a spot on the conference team. For others, it was the last week of hard work before tapering for the UAA championship coming up this weekend in St. Louis.
Most importantly we realized as a team how much we have improved since the indoor season. Our finish at indoor UAAs was not pleasing for us, but with our hard work and improvement we have a good opportunity to do much better in St. Louis.
There were some great efforts last weekend and throughout the regular season that foreshadow a strong finish for our squad. Saturday, Rob Leventhal ran a personal best 1:52.71 in the 800m run which places him among the top Division III runners in the country. Andrew Seidenberg and Blake Staub have continued to lead the UAA in the 100m dash and 200m dash. There are many other strong performers who are among the best in the UAA that will help our team finish well this weekend.
We have a lot of young athletes who will be competing at UAAs for the first time. Some of them, due to their efforts, will be very competitive this weekend. For others, it is more of a learning experience. The exposure will ensure a strong future for our program.
This week will be filled with confidence-building workouts, tapering, and a continued full effort from our team. For some this will be the culmination of the season and of their careers. For others, this meet will help them move on to the next step and qualify for the NCAA championship. Everyone has been working all season for this and with our efforts last week and throughout the season, success this weekend is almost guaranteed.
It's sad that this will the last week I get to spend with the seniors and I know that many of them are dreading leaving the team behind. Throughout the week there will be goodbyes and good lucks that I wish would not have to be said.
The end of the season is almost here for most. It will be difficult not being with my friends and teammates for a long period of time, especially because there are some who are graduating and moving on whom I may never spend time with again.