The Profs are back on top.
For the seventh straight year, Rowan’s men’s indoor track and field team was crowned champions of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).
Head Coach Dustin Dimit knew what they were going to Ocean Breeze for, and it wasn’t for fun.
“Everyone knew it was a business trip up there,” Coach Dimit said. “We want to have fun and things but we want to take care of business and they did that.”
Sophomore runners Jah’mere Beasley and Marquise Young had the same exact mindsets.
“Going into this meet was different,” Young said. “Usually on the bus we talk and laugh and enjoy the ride but this trip was more like a business trip.”
“We have been preaching it all week,” Beasley added. “Once we get to this part of the year is when we get real critical and everybody needs to be at practice because every meet we go to is a business trip. It’s all business from here on out.”
Young and Beasley also recognized the depth and reliability of this team and how much of an advantage it is to have that depth.
“It can be a relief sometimes,” Beasley said. “We also have a different mentality this year. Everybody has that dog mentality where we feel we need to go and step up and get this no matter what.”
“I love it,” Young added. “Coming from a community college and my high school, we had smaller teams… I like that we have a lot of guys that are more reliable and can get the job done. Puts less stress on everyone else.”
Coach Dimit put this win into perspective by sharing his thoughts on the program and its expectations.
“That’s the expectation in our program,” Coach Dimit said. “The expectation we set is that this is something we are going to do every year and I think that sometimes it gets taken for granted now with people who have never not won… just proud of those guys and that they buy in every year and continue doing that because that is what it takes.”
Young and Beasley shared what their experiences have been like running for a team that has captured seven straight titles.
“It’s stressful but actually really fun,” Beasley said. “Stressful because you don’t want to be on the team that loses the streak but at the same time it gives you that extra motivation to be like ‘okay I don’t wanna be on the team that loses the streak so I’m gonna go out here and perform even harder.’”
Young added that this is new to him.
“ I’ve never been a part of any team that won this much,” Young said. “I’m blessed to be a part of this program that constantly wins and has coaches that put us in the best position to win. It feels good to be a part of something this great. To be a part of history.”
This has been a special season, and it’s not over yet . They will send a few members of the team to Fasttrack Last Chance Meet, held at Ocean Breeze complex in Staten Island, NY, this Friday, Feb. 25.
After that they look forward to the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championships, held at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, on Friday March 4 and Saturday March 5.
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