Briar Cliff Track and Field Looks Back On Indoor Season

Briar Cliff’s track and field team looks to the upcoming outdoor season after a successful indoor season. The Chargers ended their season at the GPAC Conference meet with four All-Conference athletes.

With such a young team this year, it has been a huge learning experience for the first time freshman track athletes according to Assistant Coach Chandler Cork.

“I think the season has been good indoors. Not the outcomes we have wanted to see sometimes but the marks being made have shown us something. Very excited for outdoors said,” Cork.

After facing some adversity during indoor season, the track and field team looks to come out strong to finish their season.

“College track is a lot harder than high school track. The competition is much more intense, and so is the training,” said Maria Russell, a freshman distance runner.

Adapting from highschool to college can be one of the biggest challenges athletes have to overcome.

“It's one of the hardest changes to be made. You have much more freedom to do what you want,” said Cork. “We’ve experienced some good and some bad which will always happen but the bad ones will weed themselves out.”

As the Chargers look to continue their season, the team’s chemistry will help lead them to a great outdoor season.

“Our team is very close,” said Russell. “We all care a lot about one another, and we cheer each other on. We push each other to get better.”

With the outdoor season breaking open in the next few days, the team looks towards new goals.

“Create more of a culture for the athletes to buy into more. I definitely see a couple All-Americans coming out of this outdoor season. Gotta stay healthy and continue to work hard,” said Cork.

The Chargers have their eyes set on the prize and look to move forward for the outdoor season. Personal records along with some national qualifiers have the team stepping in the right direction to meet their goals.

“I want to run below 17 minutes in the 5k, under 4:40 in the 1500m, and possibly under 35 minutes in the 10k,” said Kenny Nolan, a junior distance runner. “I also just wanna have the most consistent training I’ve had yet and set myself up for a really good year next year,” said Nolan.

This looks like the time they will click it together this upcoming season and Kenny Nolan’s point of view says it all , You can see it will only get better and better for the chargers. As for newcomers that weren’t impressed by their times, They look to make many improvements this spring.

Having a long winter and spring season can come with some downfalls. With having a very young team, they look to encourage and push to be better for the outdoor season.

“For any newcomers that might be disappointed in their indoor season, it’s important to remember that progress is gradual and patience is the key to success in this sport,” said Nolan. “Just let the strength accumulate over time and sharpen yourself each opportunity you get said.”

The Chargers competed at the Wayne State Invite this past Saturday and will compete Easter weekend at the USD Early Bird Invite.

Freshman Maria Russell running at an indoor track meet.