The men’s and women’s track and field teams will be traveling to Chapel Hill for the ACC indoor track championships, which start today. With the onslaught of flu season, however, there could be some unexpected problems awaiting the already-depleted roster of both N.C. State teams.
“[The flu] has affected about 70 percent of the team,” coach Rollie Geiger said. “As a result, we aren’t able to practice and run as a team.”
To complicate matters, sophomore distance runner Bona Jones is injured with a stress fracture, while junior Brittany Tinsley is running with the flu.
“Ideally, we just want to finish,” senior Angelina Blackmon said. “With the flu and injuries running rampant through our team, we don’t have that many athletes right now. This has been a really difficult end of the year.”
In addition, the women’s team is redshirting its two best throwers to maintain their eligibility for future years. By redshirting, these freshmen can gain experience, which can in turn help the team down the road.
“This is another reason why our depth isn’t nearly as large as it needs to be,” Geiger said. “We have DeMiracle Washington, Kayla Lawson and many other great athletes that should do fairly well, but we just don’t have the kind of balance we need in the women’s program.”
One team, however, does. Florida State, the back-to-back NCAA champions in men’s outdoor track, he said, should make a strong showing at the ACC Championships.
“They are going to be a big challenge for us,” Geiger said. “They seem to have too many athletes in too many different events.”
Because of the breadth and depth of Florida State for the men’s team, coupled with the illnesses and injuries of the women’s team, many of the track and field athletes will be striving for individual championships rather than team titles.
“I definitely want to win the shot put title,” sophomore thrower Jason Jones said. “Going in, I’m ranked first, so it’d be a big letdown not to win. As a team, John Martinez, Chris Kollar, Dexter Adams, DeMiracle Washington and some of the other big performers should all have great meets.”
The men’s team will be aiming for similar results to last year’s meet, at which it finished in third place behind Florida State and Clemson. It was the team’s best finish since 2004. Coincidentally, that year the men also finished third, again behind the Seminoles and the Tigers.
“Anything less than third would be a disappointment,” Jones said. “We don’t want to take a step back.”
Beating the consistent powerhouses of Clemson and Florida State may be a tall order, but team members said that is what they’ve been working toward all year. For the athletes, this is the meet to come out and work the hardest.
“We’ve been preparing for the ACC Championships since the first day of practice,” Geiger said. “This meet is the focus of the season.”
Men’s track & field ACC Indoor finishes2003 fifth2004 third2005 eighth2006 seventh2007 third
Women’s track & field ACC Indoor finishes2003 fifth2004 fourth2005 eighth2006 sixth2007 11thSource: N.C. State Athletics
