Dillon Hogan/Winonan
With the indoor portion of the running season wrapping up in Birmingham, Alabama on March 9, the Winona State University track and field team had only a few weeks before the outdoor section of the season began, which means very little to no time to regroup and even less time for the runners to relax.
The Warriors last ran as a team at their conference meet in Mankato, Minn. on Feb. 22 and 23. For the select few who were able to qualify for the national meet down in Birmingham Alabama, they have not run in a competitive meet since March 9.
With over a month off from competition for most of the team and just under a month for the seven qualifiers, the Warriors will need to work hard to start off strong.
The Warriors will be looking to continue on the great amount of success they have been having this season. Two members of the team, Alissa Rausch and Megan Elliott, received All-American statuses for the indoor portion of the season.
The rest of the participants at the National meet, including the 4×400 meter relay team, consist of Brittney Rynda, Catherine Whitcomb, Kelsey Bethke, and Katie Bagley. Also looking to carry on the recent trend of success is Shanai Guider who also made the trip to Alabama.
The team took the week of spring break off from practicing and came back from break ready to go in less-than-ideal conditions. With snow still on the ground, the track and field team was forced to soldier through any ill conditions and tough it out to begin practicing whether it was on their own or during actual practice.
Not only was snow a problem prohibiting the runners from practicing outside, the temperature has rarely hit above 40 degrees, making any day where there was no snow a very tough day to run outside.
Following the break, the Warriors only had two weeks of practice to prepare for their first meet of the outdoor season.
“There are only a handful of weeks until we get to our conference meet which is at the very end of our season so we don’t have a lot of time to rest,” said head coach Mason Rebarchek. “We have to retool ourselves and get right back into midseason form. The weather is obviously not ideal when you look outside and there is still snow and it may snow on any day. Without any practices over spring break there is no time to waste we need to start strong and fast.”
The Warriors look to begin their outdoor season on April 6 in Oshkosh, Wis. for the UW-Oshkosh meet.
Contact Dillon at [email protected]
