QUINTIN JAMES
Special to the Leader
If there was ever a time for the athletes of the men’s and women’s indoor track team to give it their all, it was last Saturday at The Polar Bear Last Chance — their last chance to qualify for NCAA championships.
Senior Laura Morrison, senior Colin Mulcahy and sophomore Julia Schreier spoke about how the Polar Bear Last Chance went and how many people qualified for nationals this weekend.
Among the participants from Fredonia, Morrison, a mid-distance runner, talked about how she prepared for the meet and how hard she worked to make it into nationals.
“There’s a lot of things I try to do a couple days before a meet, especially very important ones. I try to stay relaxed and mentally prepare for my race,” said Morrison. “I try to picture different scenarios that might happen during the race to prepare myself as much as possible. I also do a shakeout run and some quick speed drills depending on what event I am running that weekend.”
She went on to say that being confident and positive are the keys to being focused on the day of the meet. She ran the 400-meter — which was a training race for the 800-meter — which she will run next weekend at nationals.
Morrison also was also extremely excited to watch Brittany Feldman, a sophomore sprinter, run the 400-meter and run a qualifying time to get her into nationals. It has been a goal of Feldman’s that she has been working on for a long time, and Morrison said it was so rewarding watching her qualify.
Mulcahy, a mid-distance runner, also ran this weekend at the event. He spoke about his work routine for the week and what he likes to do before meets.
“I have a similar routine every week. Mondays and Wednesdays are workout days, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are easy days where we work on our legs and sprints,” said Mulcahy.
His strategy going into the meet was to pace himself until the final lap — where he likes to use his speed to gain ground on the leader. This strategy is less tiring and he doesn’t burn out at the end of races.
“You have to listen to your body. I like to work out and train hard so I have a better understanding of my body and my limit.”
Mulcahy also said that everything is mental with him. He tries to stay confident during warmups and once the race starts, he’s all business.
Schreier, a pole vaulter, has a different routine for training.
“The key for me is staying confident and not getting down on myself,” said Schreier.
Things for her didn’t go as planned this weekend, but she stayed positive and supported her teammates throughout the meet.
“I didn’t end up getting into nationals, and I was disappointed with that. Things felt off during warm ups, and my confidence wasn’t where it needed to be to succeed.”
She went on to say that pole vaulters are like family and were a huge help not only at the Last Chance, but all season.
The Polar Bear Last Chance meet was a good end to the track regular season as many Fredonia track athletes qualified for nationals. The next step is now focusing on nationals and training hard enough so they can go for gold.