The women of the track team’s Distance Medley Relay are running faster than any DMR team in the history of the school. Currently they are ranked sixth in the nation and on March 9 they will compete in the NCAA DII Championships in Mankato, Minn.
But its not just hundreds of workouts and thousands of miles that are fueling the women’s success this season. The three seniors on the team are engaged.
“That’s why we’re so fast,” senior Chelsea Wackernagel said. “We have guys to run for!”
“I doubt other teams are stacked with brides,” senior Amanda Putt said.
The team consists of freshman Amy Kerst on the 1,200 leg and Wackernagel, senior Jen Shaffer, and Putt in the 400, 800, and 1,600 legs, respectively.
The DMR team broke Hillsdale College’s 2005 school record by 16 seconds. The four women ran a time of 11:43 at Grand Valley State University’s Tune Up Meet on Feb. 17.
“They are all hardworking. They are all confident,” women’s head coach Andrew Towne said. “A lot of times that equals success.”
Putt, Shaffer, and Wackernagel were part of the DMR last year, and almost broke Hillsdale’s record.
“We were so close last year. We finally came together,” Wackernagel said. “We are all healthy and running well.”
Putt, who was forced to red-shirt her sophomore year because of an injury, agreed with Wackernagel.
“We’ve caught glimpses of it, but now it’s finally coming together,” she said. “In a relay, it doesn’t work unless every one of us is on her A-game.”
Putt currently holds six school records — if you count the DMR, she said — including the 800-, 1500-, mile, 3000-, and 5000-meter run. She will be competing individually in the mile and 800 at nationals.
Just behind Putt in the 800 is Shaffer who provisionally qualified for nationals in the event. Wackernagel doubles as a 400-runner and pole vaulter. She will be competing individually at nationals in the latter.
Last year, the 1200 leg opened up, and Kerst was recruited to run in the relay, Towne said.
“One thing about our team is that we have a lot of studs and not a lot depth,” Towne said. “The people we have to pick from are good.”
Kerst, the only freshman on the team, is from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In her senior year, Kerst was the individual champion in the U.P. Finals, the Upper Peninsula’s high school state meet, in both in the 1,600- and 800-meter run.
“She has a lot of natural ability,” Towne said. “She is seeing how much ability she has.”
Though Kerst excels in the 800 and the 1,600, she was needed in the 1,200 leg. She is trying to learn the event, Towne said.
The women train 46 weeks out of the year. A consistent training schedule allows the women to maintain endurance during the event, Towne said.
In addition to running, Shaffer said she has chosen to take a heavy course load. She has class and homework from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. She then has practice starting at 3:15 p.m., which can go anywhere from two to four hours.
On March 3, the women’s team placed second at GLIACs, but did not improve on their time. On Mar. 9 and 10 the team will attend the NCAA Division II Championships in Mankato, Minn, where Towne said the may be able to break the record again.
They will train as they have been but will decrease their mileage and increase the intensity of their workouts, Towne said.
Towne said he believes that the girls can break the record again at the national championships, even though Putt will not be running with them in order to focus on her individual events. Kerst will take her place in the 1,600 leg and freshman Shena Albaugh will run the 1,200.
“Experience helps. All these girls have been down this road before,” he said. “They understand what makes you work best. Between experience and good training, you have success.”
Next year, the DMR will have three empty slots. Towne said that recruiting has been and will be heavily emphasized in the next few years.
Putt, Wackernagel, and Shaffer said that they hope the track program will continue to gain national prominence even after they have graduated.
“You can’t coach what you don’t have, and upperclassmen are hard to replace,” Towne said. “But we could be at this level at a continual and consistent basis. Maybe we don’t break records, but we could be in the mix.”
