Women’s track and field look to shake off rust, cold weather
Without having as much preparation as the women’s indoor track and field team would have liked, the team is gearing up for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Indoor Championships. Today, the women will head to Youngstown State University to participate in the anticipated event.
Even with the cancellation of a tune-up meet on Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia, head coach of the track program Jason Falvo possesses lofty goals for his team heading into the meet.
“Our general team goal is always to finish in the top three,” said Falvo. “Our main goal is to win the PAC title.”
This is the first year that the PAC recognized an indoor championship meet. Therefore, in years past, many team members simply used the indoor season as a preparation phase for the outdoor season. However, Falvo wants to see greater emphasis placed on the indoor season so that it becomes more important than a training phase.
“I really enjoy indoor,” said Falvo. “It is five out of the eight-month track season, so it’s where we get most of our work done. Western Pennsylvania weather does not allow for a long outdoor season. We need to be able to take advantage of this time and put more emphasis on the indoor season.”
A track team becomes successful because of depth at every position in all aspects of track and field meets. With that said, Waynesburg needs solid performances from its sprinters, distance runners, throwers and jumpers.
One sprinter to watch on the women’s side is freshman Marla Holland. Her last competition, as well as the entire team’s, came back on Feb. 7 at the Jim Wuske Invitational hosted by the University of Mount Union. Holland placed in the top half of the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.51 seconds, which was good enough for 19th place.
On the distance side of things, there are two big names for the Waynesburg women.
Freshman standout Julie Gerber is an obvious choice, considering her success on the cross-country course and early indoor track season. Fellow cross-country teammate and distance runner senior Annette Aho also showed great promise in her last cross-country season.
Junior Rose Huwe enters the PAC championship as the top thrower for the women’s program. Huwe placed 31st in both the shot put and weight throw at Mount Union, with throws of 8.32 and 9.2 meters, respectively.
Senior captain Amanda Hobe, who placed a solid 10th in the triple jump at Mount Union, anchors the jumpers.
Although Falvo wants more emphasis placed on the indoor season, he noted the indoor championship meet as yet another stepping stone for the outdoor season.
“This is another evaluation step for us,” said Falvo. “We are excited to have a chance to win a championship. For me personally, I want to see our athletes compete.”
If all of the standouts on the team perform to the best of their abilities, and the depth members of the team chip in solid performances, Falvo’s goals for the team may be attainable.
“Our expectations for our team, individually, is to run our season or personal best on the biggest stage,” said Falvo. “I fully expect we will do that.”
The PAC Indoor Championships’ begin this afternoon. Start time is at 3 p.m. for the track events and 4 p.m. for field events, with all results contributing toward the 2014-15 PAC All-Sports Trophy.