Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
ShareThisHeading into the spring season, Coach Bob Hepler works to prepare the University track and field team for contest in the program’s fourth year in NCAA competition.
Ross Renfroe, (from left) Derek Blain, and Coach Ben Donnan practice for the upcoming season on Feb. 10. The Patriot track and field team begins competition on Feb. 17 at the East Texas Time Trials, an event co-hosted by the University and Lon Morris Ross Renfroe, (from left) Derek Blain, and Coach Ben Donnan practice for the upcoming season on Feb. 10. The Patriot track and field team begins competition on Feb. 17 at the East Texas Time Trials, an event co-hosted by the University and Lon Morris College.
The team began NCAA competition in 2008 and faced challenges, Hepler said.
“I was anticipating that we would basically just have a distance team, from all the cross-country runners we had,” he said. “Then all these sprinters, and runners and throwers started showing up, and now we have a full team.”
Hepler also stressed the importance in the beginning of having a distance team that trains year-round, with cross-country in the fall and track and field in the spring.
“(Other) schools, they all had track and field teams, so they had their distance runners competing year-round, training year-round, and we weren’t,” he said.
The team, which started with a small budget that remains modest, placed second in the American Southwest Conference last year, Hepler said.
At the end of the first day of the conference meet, McMurry University, who eventually placed first, was trailing the Patriots.
Hepler said the University’s track and field team improves each year.
“On the men’s side, we’ve sent people to nationals already. Each year gets a little better,” he said. “Last year the women have made a big jump up, so we’re anxious to see them (in competition).”
Hepler said the goal for the women’s team is to place in the top three in conference and to get some people competing on a regional level.
“On the men’s side, it’s still a long shot, but they really want to compete with McMurry at conference,” he said. “We’d also like to get multiple people to nationals.”
Hepler said he believes the team has anywhere from four to eight members that have a legitimate shot at NCAA nationals.
Ross Renfroe, graduate clinical psychology major, is one of the team’s hopefuls who wishes to compete in nationals.
“It’s the only thing I have left on my resume that I’d like to accomplish,” Renfroe said.
Renfroe holds the school records in both the 1500 and 5000-meter races.
“(I look forward to) competition, being at the meets and just the spirit of track and field,” he said. “I’m just excited to get the competitions going.”
Taylin Echols, senior kinesiology major, also said her goal is to provide points for the track and field team, competing in the javelin throw and shot-put toss.
Echols said her goals also include breaking her personal records and earn first in conference for the javelin throw.
Echols said the atmosphere of the track meets and the camaraderie with teammates is what she is looking forward to the most.
The Patriot track and field team begins the season at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at Grace Community School for the East Texas Time Trials in Tyler, an event co-hosted by the University and Lon Morris College.
The Texas A&M University-Commerce Invitational will follow on Feb. 25 in Commerce, Texas.
Echols believes the team is prepared for the first of many competitions to come this year.
“We’re pretty ready. We’ve been working very hard,” she said. “We are really stepping it up this year and we’ll have a chance to go pretty far.”
