CLAIRE COX, assistant sports editor

The Wildcats Track and Field team has opened up the outdoor season fairly strong in the past three competitions.

Junior Becki Duhamel continues to perform well, placing fourth and seventh in the women’s discus and hammer throwrespectively at the Oregon Preview. Senior Jamie Larsen placed first in the women’s pole vault with 3.40 meters. Sprinter and long-jumper Bryan Mack placed fourth in the men’s long jump with 6.65 meters at the Oregon Preview and first with a final of 6.65 meters at the PLU Invitational.

“It’s tiring doing multiple events, so I think the relay is going to be the only event I run and I am really looking forward to doing that again,” Mack said. Make said he wants to run the best anchor leg he can and looks to finish strong.

“I’ll do what I can to motivate the other three sprinters to do their best in their leg as well so we can get a personal record in that event,” Mack said.

Outdoor practices now are more focused on getting speed and endurance up. For the sprinters, practices consist of getting faster and getting in better shape. Jumpers are working on the more technical things and perfecting the small stuff, such as hitting their provisional marks.

“Now that we are back from spring break, we are getting into the real meat of our season,” head coach Kevin Adkisson said.

Along with switching from the indoor to the outdoor season, there are several more events added to the competitions. These events include the steeplechase, discus throw, javelin, hammer throw and a few others. During the indoor season, several athletes cannot compete because they specialize in these events. Now that the outdoor season is in full swing, the Wildcats are competing with their full team.

“That’s always fun to really get the full group going, and now that we are heading outdoors, there’s a wider range of events,” Adkisson said.

Track and field practices have been going on since winter quarter, but with the full squad and nicer weather, things are starting to change up a bit. The team is competing almost every weekend now and is ready to go out and show what they have.

“This is a pretty big transition time, so during the winter we are doing a lot of work that is more strength-oriented and as we come into outdoor season, things start to be more speed-oriented,” Adkisson said.

All athletes should be competing in the respective events and have a good chance to place high going into the Shotwell Invitational. Some of the athletes to watch include Jamie Larsen in the pole vault, Kelsey Kreft in distance running, Becki Duhamel in the throws, Dani Eggleston in distance running, Bryan Mack in the 4×1, and Braden Keller.

“Everyone should be really focused again and right back on top of everything and ready for some good marks,” Adkisson said.

The Central track and field team on April 6, will travel to the University of Puget Sound to compete in the Shotwell Invitational. Mack will only compete in one event next weekend, which will be the 4×1 relay.