Race
is on: LBSU host biggest track event in
school's history
Track
and Field: About 1,000 of the nation and
world's best track and field athletes will
compete at the Springco/Long Beach Invitational
Saturday at the Jack Rose Track.
By
Karl Peterson
On-line Forty-Niner
About
1,000 of the world's fastest runners, highest
jumpers and longest throwers will descend
upon the Jack Rose Track in the biggest
Track and Field event that Long Beach State
has ever hosted.
Joining
the 49er student athletes Saturday starting
at 9 a.m. will be some of the finest track
and field programs in the country and even
some athletes from national teams. Arizona,
Arizona State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan
State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Southern Methodist,
Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin,
Wyoming, UNLV and UCLA and athletes from
the national teams of Canada, Great Britain
and Mexico.
LBSU
track and field head coach Andy Sythe said
that many of the world's top athletes will
be competing this weekend and many of the
schools ranked in the top 25 will be at
the event. Southern Methodist has been a
top-10 school over the last few years and
the UCLA women finished in the top five
during the indoor season earlier this year.
One
of the world class athletes is the 49ers'
own junior John Temidara who recently qualified
for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento
from July 9-18 in the high jump. With good
jumps in the trials, Temidara could go to
Athens for this summer's Olympics.
Most
of the schools will not be sending all of
their athletes. Track and field is one of
the few team sports where the importance
of the individual sometimes outweighs the
goals of the team, and this event should
be proof.
"Each
athlete has different needs according to
what he or she needs to work on," Sythe
said. "A 400 runner may run the 200
[Saturday] because they are working on a
certain aspect of their race.
It's
just a weekend to work on things, there
won't be any emphasis on the team outcome
but to go after the competition in the individual
events."
Competing
in different events than usual allows the
athletes to hone certain aspects of their
performance to be at peak physical condition
for the conference and NCAA competitions
at the end of the outdoor season.
"I'm
just looking for our athletes to make progress
towards their season goals, to run fast,
jump high or throw far," Sythe said.
Because
of the rigorous schedule the 49ers have
endured over the past few weeks, Sythe said
he does not expect to see the best performances
of the year this weekend.
"This
is a time for us to recoup and work on one
event," Sythe said. "We might
be a little tired, we've been travelling
since the first weekend of March, we've
had a lot of long road trips and when you
run a lot of races the body does not have
enough time to recover."
Sythe
said that LBSU has a good program and that
the athletes he coaches will hold their
own against some of the best in the world.
With
so many athletes at the track, some of the
events will be crowded. About 50 people
will compete in the 400-meter race. Consequently
some of the heats of the 400 will not have
the fastest runners. The first heat of the
event will have the athletes who have the
top qualifying marks coming into the event,
meaning the fastest runners and for the
field events the best performers will be
in the final heat of the event. The field
athletes are in the final heat because it
is important for those athletes to stay
warm for the finals if they qualify.
Sythe
especially wanted to remind all the LBSU
students to come out to the track this weekend
because admission is free.
"We're
excited to have the opportunity to host
all of these schools and we expect great
weather and even better competition,"
Sythe said.
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