Tracksters looks to run to titles

Lamar's track team expects to be competitive in the 2012 season with their eyes firmly fixed on a Southland Conference title.

 

"Our goals and expectations are that we will be better," Trey Clark, head coach, said. "We have three coaches now for the first time. We are transitioning our program so that we have better coverage in terms of events."

 

Jake Cohen was added to the staff to help with the jumpers, Clark said, adding that the biggest difference this year is that they have more athletes in the jump events. 

 

"We now have long jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumpers and pole vaulters," he said. "We still have our kids that are on the track and we still have our distance runners that were successful in the cross-country season."

 

The team has access to conditioning equipment that was not available in the past.

 

"They opened  the weight room last year to us around November," Clark said. "We get the chance to see some weight gains that we didn't see in the past."

 

The track team is in the early stages of the spring season and is currently competing at indoor meets. The indoor Southland Conference Championships are set for Feb. 24 and 25, with a chance to advance to nationals. The outdoor season begins March 10.

 

Clark said Lamar doesn't have the facilities to host its own meets, so all track events will be on the road.

 

"We have to go to Birmingham, Ala., Iowa State in Ames, Iowa and Norman, Okla., for the SLC conference indoor championship," Clark said, adding that he feels his team is a better indoor team than outdoor.

 

"In outdoor, we will go to McNeese, we will go to Houston to run at Rice, we will go to Austin for the Texas Relays, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana — we will send some of our athletes to California to run at Mount Zack and we will go Sam Houston for the conference championship," he said. 

 

Clark said that the SLC is one of the toughest leagues in the nation in track and field.

 

"Southland was ranked eighth last year in track and field out of 32 conferences," he said. "This is a very competitive conference."

 

The track team is hoping to break into the SLC's top three, which is a key component to winning the conference championship, Clark said.

 

"We have to have some things go right for us, but we feel like we're on the verge of breaking into that top-tier group," he said.  "It will take everything going right for us to win a championship this year — we can't leave any points on the track."

 

The team started the season in Houston, Jan. 13. 

 

"We had some quality performances in our opening weekend," Clark said. "We had just as many qualifiers for the indoor championship as we did for the entire season last year. So it is obvious that there is numerical evidence that suggest that we're already better than last year."

 

Clark said that track is a sport about momentum and that on any given day it can turn for you or against, but said his team is beginning to believe in themselves. 

 

"I want them to stay focused and aggressive and not to get too high-headed," Clark said. "I want them to just continue to work when times are good and when times are bad.

 

"I tell my team that we are capable of winning championships — we are going to win a championship. The question is not if, but when."

 

The team has already had several competitors who have qualified for the SLC indoor championships. 

 

"We have kids that are determined to be successful and want to bring home championships," Clark said. "We won a championship in the fall in cross-country, and I always tell my team that one is not enough."

 

The next meet is scheduled for Feb. 9, as the team travels to Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Classic.