THE TRACK TEAM will begin it’s spring season this weekend. The s quad will split up between the Missouri Relays in Columbia, Mo., and the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto, Calif. Photo: Sarah Andrews
Running, jumping and hurdling their way out of the winter season, the Drake track and field team is ready to start the spring season and feel the heat of the sun on the big blue track.
Surprising Missouri Valley Conference competition in the indoor season, the Bulldogs look to have a strong outdoor showing. Head Coach Natasha Brown is excited about the upcoming outdoor season and the exuberance that her team shows.
“We are a fairly young team, but with a lot of potential for success in the Missouri Valley and NCAA (meets),” Brown said.
Helping ease the transition from fluorescent light to sunlight, Brown scheduled a trip to the Dr. Pepper Invitational in Waco, Texas, during the spring break week. While the rest of the Drake community was either lounging at home watching March Madness or soaking up some rays in Florida, the track team was preparing in the Texas heat.
“We went down to Texas to get away from the snow and actually start training in the warmth, but on Saturday the meet got canceled on account of the snow rolling in from the west,” said Brown.
The lack of actual times and competition in Waco also leaves a sort of gray area for Drake coaches.
“We weren’t really able to gauge how our team matches up individually, just a rough outline,” Brown said.
Weather permitting, the team will have to find out its true potential this weekend as they split up and head to both the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. and the Missouri Relays in Columbia, Mo.
“It will be nice to get out and start getting in the zone for the rest of the season,” said sophomore distance runner Derek Campbell. “It will be a lot nicer than having four walls around you at all times.”
Many of the athletes have been looking forward to this weekend to test out their prospects. Although the team was set to participate in the Missouri Relays last year, the event was rained out. It is a new experience for the young team.
“Jeff Grassmeyer, Nicole Braunsdorf, Josh Bangert, Jon DeGrave, Ari Curtis and a few others (will go) to the Stanford meet to test their luck against other top Division I athletes,” Brown said.
She likes how the team is looking at this point in time but only down the line will the team see the benefits of the Waco trip. Gearing up for the Drake Relays and constantly improving for the NCAA championships is the biggest goal for the team as they get off to the running start of the spring track season.
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