With Big East championships looming, SU remains poised
For Katie Hursey, this weekend is one that has remained highlighted, circled and underlined on the calendar for a very long time.
With the anticipation piling up, Hursey can’t help but feel a few butterflies in her stomach. But in Hursey’s mind, that’s a good thing.
‘I’m usually pretty nervous right before the race,’ Hursey said. ‘But it works. Usually, when I’m not nervous is when I don’t do well. I think it’s just adrenaline. Once the gun goes off, I’m able to breathe.’
The Big East Outdoor Championships begin this Friday in Cincinnati. With the meet just a few days away and Syracuse looking to improve its ninth- (men) and 12th- (women) place finishes last season, runners have been looking forward to this weekend all season. And good health and calm nerves will be two things on the minds of the team before they begin the meet.
Hursey is coming off her best time of the season at the Penn Relays this past weekend in the 4×1500-meter relay event with a split of 4:26.9. Riding a bit of recent momentum, she is eyeing a top-three finish in the 5000-meter run this weekend.
And Hursey isn’t the only one coming into the meet prepared and confident, looking forward to the opportunities this weekend presents.
‘I try not to think much about anything unless it’s about the race,’ graduate sprinter Antoine Clark said. ‘I try to visualize my race and I try to visualize myself being aggressive. I try to visualize me winning the race. I wouldn’t say meditate, I would say focus.’
Clark, whose 10.84 and 22.06 marks in the 100- and 200-meter dash events this past weekend at the Cornell Big Red Invitational earned him qualifying trips to both the Big East championship and IC4A Outdoor Championships, understands the value of late-season preparation.
For Clark, the Cornell meet was the last confidence builder of the season. He knows he needs to hold himself to a higher standard to reach his full potential in the conference championships.
In regard to this weekend, Clark is focusing on being more aggressive at the start of the race to ensure stronger times and smoother finishes. That’s the primary focus as he attempts to help SU improve upon last season’s results.
‘I want to go there and do pretty well,’ Clark said. ‘I’m looking (to) set a standard for myself for everything after that meet. I’m going to have to be much more aggressive, whether I have faster people in my heats or not. It’s up to me. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how it will be.’
As a current sophomore making his second trip to the conference championships, hurdler Matthew Callanan feels much more confident getting ready for big events his second time around. He is able to center himself for longer, and staying cool before a race has come much more naturally.
‘During my warmups, I try to build up to the race and to a point where I’m mentally excited and ready to run,’ Callanan said. ‘Then right before, I take a minute to clear my mind and relax. There’s nothing more you can do, so just get ready to run fast.’
Since competing in more collegiate events, Callanan is getting better at channeling feelings of excitement before a race and being able to eliminate pressure to perform. This weekend, he is looking to match his 14.84 qualifying mark in the 110-meter hurdles in hopes of reaching the finals.
Whether you’re a sprinter, hurdler or long-distance runner, keeping control of your nerves is always the first order of business. Assistant coach Dave Hegland is a big advocate of maintaining a cool head.
‘There’s some technical things that just don’t happen when you’re tensed up,’ Hegland said. ‘One thing you don’t want to do is try and do something out of the ordinary. We want to go in there and represent Syracuse really well.’
