After a week off from the outdoor season for most of the Illinois State track and field teams, the Redbirds return to action this weekend, April 18-19, in Nashville, Tenn., at the Commodore Invite hosted by Vanderbilt University.
While Betsy McDonald competed last weekend on the track for ISU at the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville meet and a handful of throwers made their marks at the same event, head coach Elvis Forde is happy to get back into the competitive season for his whole squad and knows the last few weeks of training have been intense.
First of all, I just hope the weather is good, Forde said. We have had two good weeks of training and if it is any indication as to how well we will perform this weekend, then I am looking forward to the meet. I have seen such a big difference in the athletes since the weather has been nice. I havent had to yell or scream at them. I dont know if it is because of the sun or because they are finally buying into what my coaching staff and myself are trying to teach.
Forde has had luck with his athletes lately in terms of listening to his coaching styles and getting in hard workouts, and he is especially impressed with his female athletes who continue to train the hardest.
Alia Hoyle is running very well for us, Forde said. She has been putting in such a tremendous effort and I hope she can step it up as well as Cherise Devers, both sprinters. Latisha Johnson who is our key thrower, is having such a great year also. She just needs to maintain her confidence and control the fear factor. She expects to throw far every outing and when she doesnt she gets disappointed. We just want her to be consistent. We know she has ability but the question is, does she believe in it.
On the mens side, the middle distance runners of Miklos Konkoly, Bronco Meeks and Gabe Cruz seem to be pacing the Birds on the track, while Joe Drevlow is tossing the hammer to record-setting lengths and Gergely Bata is jumping good and high.
With a week off, we had a chance to work hard and the middle distance runners are starting to step it up, Forde said. The field events people are doing the same, but the problem area for us is we have no sprinters. That is killing us right now but we will just have to live with it for this year.
Since the sprints is an area we are lacking talent in, I expect the athletes from the rest of the areas, throws, jumps, distance, etc., to really step it up in training and meets, Forde said. If they can do that, we remain optimistic that the improvements will continue to the outdoor Valley Championships.
The Commodore Invitational starts at 6 p.m. on Friday with the long jump and shot put. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, the hammer throw starts with hurdles leading off the running events at noon. Awards are scheduled to be presented at 5:35 p.m.
Results will be available on the Vanderbilt website, www.vucommodores.com/track.
