On Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1, the Rowan women’s track and field team participated in the Danny Curran Invitational. There was no team scoring at the event, however, Head Coach Derick “Ringo” Adamson’s squad put forth an impressive performance.
One runner who contributed a standout performance was freshman Mia Vaughn. Vaughn hit her personal record (PR) in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 20:21.65.
“I was so ecstatic when I finished and saw the clock,” Vaughn said. “It was just a really good feeling to PR, because I train so hard and put so much effort in every day.”
Although Vaughn is ecstatic for the spring season, the transition from cross country to indoor track and field, and now to the outdoor season, has been tough.
“For cross country, it’s higher mileage and more work on trails,” Vaughn said. “It is a lot harder to mentally transition. Especially from indoor to outdoor, because indoor you are running on a 200-meter track, while in outdoor you run on a 400-meter track.”
Vaughn was not the only one who recorded a PR over the weekend, as Olivia Shafer, Anna Sasse, Grace Vit, Brooke Driver, Paris Moore and Nicole Bertollo all produced personal bests as well.
Coach Ringo is very excited about the momentum this will give the team as they get deeper into the season.
“They are looking down the road at this point,” Ringo said. “If we can improve this much right now, then think about how much we can improve down the road. They have clearly bought in on my training methods. The other important thing is the weather is getting nicer; that will only help them going forward.”
Despite the great performance, Ringo is trying to keep his team calm and realistic. They have their one and only home meet, the Oscar Moore Invitational, coming up this Saturday, April 8.
“I am trying to keep the tempo down with them,” Ringo said. “They are so hype because their friends and family are gonna be here watching and cheering them on. I keep telling them that we have to approach this as if it were an away meet. I know they are going to catch fire out here on Saturday, but it is all about keeping things calm until then. Do not want them to get burnt out.”
As a whole, the team views the meet on Saturday as an opportunity to make a statement.
“I think it’s very important to perform well at our home meet,” Vaughn said. “I think it is time to show what our team can do, and it would be cool to that at our home track.”
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