This Week in Miami Track & Field
April 20, 2012
THIS WEEK IN MIAMI TRACK & FIELD
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEKEND’S HURRICANE ALUMNI INVITATIONAL
What did you take away from last week’s Alumni Invitational?
It was bittersweet honoring our seniors because on one hand, you’re glad to see them graduate and move on to an exciting part of their life, but on the other hand you’re sad to see everyone leaving. We had a really big senior class this year, but luckily we had a really nice-sized crowd this year and they were very supportive so I was excited we were able to have that kind of ceremony. We asked the athletes going in to try to set themselves up well and to build their confidence for the ACC Championships and I feel like we did that. I was very impressed with our throwers at this meet, they had a great weekend. I was also really happy that our men’s 4×100 continues to get better and better.
THE ACC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
What is your assessment of the season so far going into one of the biggest meets of the year, the ACC Championships?
I’m really excited not only with how we’ve competed, but with the overall work-ethic of the team. Both teams have been really sticking together as a group this season; these may one of the more close-knit groups I’ve ever had, so in that aspect I’m excited. I talked a lot indoor about how inexperienced we were, and I feel like we are really turning the corner outdoors, so I expect a lot of quality performances this weekend.
What are some things you want all your athletes to focus on while preparing and competing at this week’s ACC Championships?
Just take one race at a time. With Rachel [Dupree] in the heptathlon, it’s important that she focuses on one event at a time, and with Devon [Hill], Christian [Cook], and Tarika [Williams], they all have multiple races in a day so they really just have to take it one race at a time. Once each race is over, it’s in the books so you can’t look back on them and worry because you have another one coming up. You just have to build off of it and move on to the next race.
How do you feel about this year’s venue in Charlottesville, Virginia?
I haven’t been there before, but I do know that it is a brand-new facility, and that a lot of money and effort was put into it by the University of Virginia, so I’m sure they’re excited to showcase it. I’m excited to see it and I believe it will be a great place to host an ACC Championship.
LONDON 2012
You had another Olympic Hopeful achieve an Olympic Standard this past weekend in Dominique Darden, how are you feeling about her and the other post-collegians’ preparations for the Trials in June?
I’m really happy with where we are as a group. Dominique is going to run again this weekend at the Tom Jones meet, Lauryn [Williams] is going to run a 200 and a 4×100 at the Mt. SAC Relays, and Ti’erra [Brown] won’t run again until Guadeloupe in the first week of May. I feel like our progressions are going really well, we still have some room for improvement, but we are in a great place for it only being April.
