Track and Field Athletes Continue to Improve Their Times in 2023
May 5, 2023 - College Park, MD
The men's track and field team under Head Coach Mark Pryor continues to enjoy a successful season of improvement from week to week during the 2023 Outdoor season.
This week, that improvement came in the 1500m event at the Kehoe Twilight Meet hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park. It wasn't a big track meet but the performances on the track were a lot like the coaches were looking for at this point in the season. May is considered "Championship Time" since the majority of college teams are competing in their conference or region championships. Track and Field is no different and coaches are looking for peak performances from their athletes in time for the big meet aka National Championships.
The team did not travel to the Paul Kaiser Classic on April 29th at Shippensburg Univ. Ethan Bush was dealing with a slight hamstring injury with his teammate Keynaud Randolph unavailable due to family obligations. The weather all week had been unseasonably cold and the rain was heavy, but Coach Pryor utilized the pool very nicely to keep his student-athletes sharp and ready to race. Pryor credits Pool Coordinator Mary Hilton with being an "unsung hero" for his team's fitness level especially when the weather was frigid and cold.
The forecast for Friday, May 5th was a warm welcome for all the teams competing in College Park. 72 degrees and sunny is what this outdoor sport needs to produce good results. Coach Pryor with the advice of CCBC Trainer Abbie Miller was cautious with Ethan Bush and his hamstring issue. Bush warmed up and did several sprints but his day was over with the hamstring at about 80%.
Randolph warmed up and received his race instructions from Coach Pryor. The goal for the day was to run fast so Randolph's goal was to follow the fast pace and hold on at the end. The first 400m and 800m splits were run right on the marks Randolph needed to achieve the NJCAA Championship qualifying time. At 1200 meters, Randolph was :1 second off and needed a strong finish. Unfortunately, the finish was not as strong as desired. But Randolph was still rewarded with a :3 second improvement. That means that since last year's high school senior season, Keynaud has improved his mile time by 30 seconds from 5:08 to 4:38. Based on his training and the times he has achieved in practice; Coach Pryor is confident that his young freshman can run a lot faster but mentally Keynaud must be ready to push through the point in the race when his body feels pain. If an athlete is not mentally tough to push thru that pain, their success rate decreases. And that can be applied to all sports. Your body has a certain amount of pain it can endure but to get optimal performance, an athlete mentally has to push past that point.
Full results for the Kehoe Twilight Meet can be found here: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/79836
With one meet remaining in the season, Coach Pryor doesn't plan to deviate from his training schedule. The only aspect the team has minimized in the last few weeks has been the weight room. The CORE exercises continued but the athletes are only lifting weights in the upper body region.
The team will travel to Widener University in Chester PA on Monday, May 15th. The meet will begin at 1:00 pm. If they achieve the qualifying marks, the National Junior College Outdoor T&F Championships are scheduled for May 18-20th in Hobbs New Mexico at New Mexico Junior College.
GO CARDINALS!!! #JUCOPRODUCT