In his 30th season as State’s track and field coach, coach Rollie Geiger has prepared both the men’s and women’s teams for a successful indoor track season as they head into the first meet of the season this weekend at Virginia Tech.
Geiger has high expectations for both teams this season. In his eyes, the men’s team may be one of the most balanced teams he has coached, while the women’s team is led by star athletes such as ACC Champion shot put thrower Lawanda Henry, who is only a sophomore.
“We should have one of our better track and field teams this year,” Geiger said. “We have a lot of balance, we have sprinters, we have throwers, jumpers and distance runners. The women don’t have quite the balance on the team as a whole that the men have, but we have some very good athletes.”
As a team, the women hope to compete for the ACC title as always, but it is not their only focus. The team hopes to not only perform well on the field but to also become closer as a group and become more like a family than just a team.
“As a team, I want us to compete in the ACC’s and I would love to finish on top,” Henry said. “But I want the whole team to do well. I just want everyone to have a good time and do the best they can. We are trying to be more like a family and encourage each other. We need to have everyone wanting to do their best for not only themselves but for the team.”
Henry anchors the strongest group for the women’s team: the throwers. Besides Henry, the group includes Jessica Sanders and Brittany McCain, who both expect to play important roles in either the shot put or weight throw.
“Lawanda Henry is not only a conference champ, but an NCAA athlete. She should be All-American this year,” Geiger said. “As a whole, we have outstanding throwers.”
With 19 freshmen on the men’s squad this year, the team will rely heavily on young inexperienced runners, jumpers and throwers to help the team compete for the ACC title. However, Geiger does not foresee a problem with the freshmen transitioning into ACC competition.
“I have very high expectations for the freshmen coming in. We have some younger guys, especially in the distance, but with the cross-country in the fall, they have gained some experience,” Geiger said. “And with this being their second semester in college, they have had time to get used to college life.”
Coming into the season, the men’s biggest strength is the overall depth as team, especially with the distance runners and its spiriting group, anchored by seniors A’Tolani Akinkuotu and Reggie Reese.
“We are very strong in the sprints this year; we have a lot of our main group coming back, so that is definitely one of our stronger areas,” Geiger said. “Also, with the strength of our cross country program, our middle and distance runners are very deep as well.”
With a deep pool of talent on display at the upcoming meet in Blacksburg, both teams hope to get a good look the level of competition this year. In addition, they will use the experience to find out where they need to be in order to compete for the ACC Championship title in February.
“There will be a lot of ACC schools there and it will be good for the team to see what the competition is going to be like early on,” Henry said.
