Sports

GVL / Andrew Mills
Danielle Fonseca, left, and Amber Triner run in the women's 60M hurdles during this year's Laker Early Bird meet.

Young Lakers hurdle toward nationals

By Aaron Brandt GVL Staff Writer
2/3/2010

This season is part of a youth movement for the Grand Valley State University indoor track team's hurdlers. GVSU consists of mostly freshmen and sophomores in the event with the exception of a few standout upperclassmen.

"We are extremely young and the team is like sponges, soaking it all up," said GVSU hurdles coach Ray Williams. "It's going to be a year of frustration because these are all-state (athletes) and now they have to compete like it's the state meet every weekend. I really look for the upperclassmen to assist in terms of showing our young ones how to do it right."

For the women's team those leaders include seniors Kirsten Nozime, Danielle Fonseca, Stephanie McCarthy and Candice Wheat. Their leadership, along with the rest of the team's depth, is enough to propel them over the top, Nozime said.

"Overall we have a lot of new people and a strong group of senior girls," she said. "We have pretty good depth in the hurdles, so that should be enough to get us an indoor National Championship."

Wheat, who has won the 60-meter hurdles each time she has competed this season, will play a large part in the team's success, Williams said.

"It's no secret Candice (Wheat) does it all," he said. "She's sick of getting second, and her objective is to win this year, and we have to do everything we can to make sure she is on the top."

The men's team is also mostly comprised of underclassmen, but senior Joey Latz, who Williams described as the team's leader, is impressed with the younger hurdlers' progression.

"We have some good freshmen coming in hungry and everybody has to start somewhere, but I feel like they are doing pretty well," he said. "It's a big transition because they have to manage their time between eating, getting proper rest, school and track."

On the track, the team goes through unique workouts that help build specific skills required by the hurdle races.

"Hurdlers are sprinters, so we spend a lot of time on speed work," Williams said. "Our favorite workout is 'rhythm nation,' where we bring the hurdles in real close and we run as fast as possible over the top, and that mimics the race. A faster and stronger hurdler will be able to negotiate those hurdles as coordination, balance and power come together."

With a combination of talent and training, the team looks to win the GLIAC, which features many of the top hurdlers in the nation. Last year, four of the top six finishers at nationals were from the GLIAC, but that does not faze Latz.

"We are at the point where we know what we need to do because we ran against some of the harder completion in the conference already and we know we can compete," he said. "We just have to continue to make good choices and trust that coach is going to get us to where we need to be, but it's our job to carry out what he tells us to do."

Williams said he would also like to see the team's early success carry over into nationals.

"The ultimate goal is to get as many people to the National Championship as possible," he said. "We are the best program in the country because we have both a track and field program. If you look at our group, we have great athletes across the board."

abrandt@lanthorn.com

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