Despite the chilly temperature, Charger men’s track put on a strong showing at their first outdoor home meet of the season. In just its third meet of the outdoor season, the team tied Michigan Tech for points and saw improvements across the board.
“I thought we competed really well,” Towne said. “The weather was not ideal. The high was 33 or 34 and it certainly felt a lot colder than that. I thought we did a really good job.”
Towne and the rest of the coaching staff have been focusing on getting their athletes to compete well.
“It was really encouraging,” Towne said. “This is something we’ve been pressing for a couple weeks and I thought they did a really good job. We made sure to let them know in the team meetings that we’re really happy and that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
Freshman Adam Wade reiterated Towne’s words.
“Our coaches talked about how they were happy with how everyone competed and that everyone did a good job giving full effort,” Wade said.
Individual athletes chalked up solid performances in many events.
“We had a lot of really good things,” Towne said. “It wasn’t necessarily in terms of performances but more from a standpoint that it was the best we could possibly do in that weather.”
Sophomore Ian Brown won the 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.43 seconds.
“It went pretty well,” Brown said. “It was really gross weather, but it’s actually my best race so far of the year. It comes down to proper warm-up in that kind of weather. Another thing is just understanding that everyone is in the same weather, so no matter what you take advantage of it. You just have to be extra competitive because a lot of other people can be whiny about it. You just kind of have to get over it.”
Wade also ran well taking 2nd place in the meters.
“It wasn’t a very big meet, Wade said. “We just focused on competing and having a good attitude towards running. In that aspect, I did well in all my races. I didn’t have great times, but I did what our coach wanted us to do.”
The team looks forward to better weather this coming Friday as they travel for the Ball State Invitational.
