ALBANY, N.Y. – A second small group of track & field athletes will make their outdoor season debuts this weekend when the University at Albany track & field program makes its first trip to the University of Central Florida since 2012 for the UCF Invitational.
Last week, the Great Danes opened the season with a small selection of competitors at the 14th Annual Spring Break Classic in Puerto Rico. UAlbany came away with five event victories, two meet records, one facility record, two school records, and nearly a dozen personal-bests.
“I think that so far our plan of finishing indoor early has paid dividends,” said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Roberto Vives. “In the first meet, I think 11 out of the 14 student-athletes had personal-bests, which is something you don't normally see. I think everybody had a great attitude at the meet. People went in with the mindset to compete, even though the beach was just 30 meters from the track. I was impressed with the level of maturity of the team, and they really wanted to do well and be prepared for meet day, and the results speak for themselves.”
Beyond the deluge of personal-bests the Great Danes mustered, Venique Harris set meet, facility, and school records in the women's discus, Tara Belinsky set an outdoor school record in the women's shot put, and Sidney Gibbons set a meet record in the men's 110m hurdles.
“You hope for those performances, but it is the first meet so you're not sure,” said Vives. “But when you look back at it, that's the best opener we've ever had. The student-athletes did exceed my expectations. They were ready to compete with the plan we put in place. They were anxious and excited to get out there. I thought it was a great start, and we're looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Harris' performance in particular highlighted the weekend. A junior and transfer from the University of the West Indies at Mona, Harris only was able to record one legal mark, in her first of four attempts, before the rain upended the event. But that one attempt was all she needed. Harris' disc landed 182-08.00 from the circle. She broke the meet record, previously 171-04.00 set in 2011 by Luz Montaño. She broke the facility record, previously 170-11.00 set in 2014 by Sandra Lemos. She broke the UAlbany program record, previously 159-09.00 set in 2009 by Ritshell Verdier. Further, Harris' mark satisfied the qualifying standards for both the NCAA East Preliminary Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games, the latter of which will take place in Lima, Peru starting on July 26.
At the time of Harris' big throw, she was the top-ranked woman in NCAA Division I, becoming the first woman in program history to hold a D-I top mark. She further becomes the third UAlbany athlete overall, after men's high jumpers Alex Bowen in 2013 and Matthew Campbell in 2018, to rank first in her event nationally. Her throw immediately ranked 24th worldwide as of Friday, and held up through the weekend, where she currently ranks second in D-I, third in all-college, and 27th worldwide.
“Venique is an unbelievable athlete,” said Vives. “She got her first throw in, and then it started to rain. But she had some warm-up throws that were way out there.”
The field events at the Spring Break Classic took on very much an early season format. Participants were given four attempts total, instead of three preliminary attempts to qualify for nine finals positions, where three additional attempts would be granted to the nine finalists.
“I think the early-season format with the field events, where each individual has four attempts instead of three attempts to earn three more attempts in finals, is good,” said Vives. “It's early and you don't want kids to compete so much. Six throws, especially if they're doing multiple events, is taxing. But with the fourth attempt, it adds a developmental benefit, instead of cutting off at three and being done.”
With such a significant presence on the roster of student-athletes who hail from the Caribbean region, Coach Vives thinks it's important to continue to have a presence in the area to stay visible. One way he does so is continuing to attend this meet at the start of each outdoor season.
“It's incredible to take part in this meet each year,” said Vives. “I hear people in the stands commenting on our team. I think it's good for recruiting to stay visible in the region, and it provides our student-athletes from the area a rare opportunity to compete in front of their family and friends. I think it's good exposure for our team to be there, and it keeps in potential recruits' minds that we are an option for them. And it's good for our kids to see a different level of competition.”
For certain athletes, the first outdoor meet is the first time all year that they will be able to compete in their primary events. Throwers like Harris, who specialize in the discus, may compete during the indoor season, but there is no analogue for the discus indoors. Others, like the hurdlers, extend beyond the 60m event, the only hurdle distance indoor offers, to the 100m or 110m high hurdles, or the 400m intermediates.
“The first meet is very important,” said Vives. “Especially our two throwers, Venique and Tara, they were ready to go so we didn't want to put it off another week. It made sense for them to compete early so they have a two-week build-up for the Florida Relays. Unfortunately, Walter Briggs false-started in the 400m hurdles, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise because he was able to run the 110m hurdles fresh and he ended up running a personal-best and a regional mark.”
A philosophy change within the coaching staff will see the athletes who competed in Puerto Rico sit out the trip to UCF this week in favor of a brand new group of Great Danes who will make their outdoor debut this weekend. Next week, the top performers across both meets will visit the University of Florida for the Pepsi Florida Relays, marking the “true” start to the outdoor season.
“For the student-athletes who competed in Puerto Rico, this week will be a week of work,” said Vives. “They'll lift three times, and do more volume workouts before next week when they'll get one or two quality workouts in before Florida Relays. I think we'll be in a better position than in the past in terms of getting some regional marks there this year.
“No one who went to Puerto Rico will compete at UCF this weekend,” Vives continued. Our field this weekend includes the multi eventers, the two women's high jumpers, the men's and women's throwers, and the short sprinters. Also, Matthew Campbell will make his debut this weekend, his first meet since his injury last year.”
The groups the coaches scheduled to compete each of these first two weekends were decided upon deliberately. Belinsky, for example, had not competed since the conclusion of the 2018 outdoor season having exhausted her indoor eligibility. The hurdlers needed an opportunity to shift gears from the 60m distance to 100m, 110m, or 400m. These individuals will have two weeks to train before heading to the Florida Relays. But those competing this week, the shorter sprinters for example, will have the bonus of keeping in rhythm with the shorter turnaround that should help benefit their performances the following week.
“Short sprinters and throwers will have an opportunity to keep their rhythm with just the one week ahead of Florida Relays,” said Vives. “For the longer sprinters and hurdlers to go back-to-back is a little tougher, for example.”
One final benefit of this early-season period is the time off from classes the student-athletes enjoy due to spring break. To that end, the coaching staff hopes the removal of that stress, if only temporarily, can serve to benefit getting off to a good start for the season.
“We don't have the stress of school this week so they're all a little more relaxed,” said Vives. “For those competing this week, we just want them to get off to a good start. We're only taking about 27 to Florida Relays, looking at the best from both groups, at Puerto Rico and UCF, so this week is kind of their audition for next week.”
The UCF Invitational begins Friday, March 22 at 11:00 a.m.
