55 weeks.

That is how long it has been since the Men’s Track & Field team has competed in an outdoor track meet. This meet has been a long time coming, and the preparation done by the coaching staff and the athletes themselves has been admirable.

Throwing Coach Liz Madden explained how she has been preparing the team for their events during this time.

“We were very fortunate to be able to practice throughout the fall and continue into the spring,” Madden said. “Even though we weren’t competing this gave the guys a great chance to get their conditioning back, especially since some of them didn’t have access to a gym or an area to practice due to COVID shutdowns, and have an opportunity to make the necessary throws and continue to get better.”

Coach Madden also added that she has been focusing a lot on the conditioning aspect for her throwers.

“I want them to be able to make those throws towards the end of a meet when they are tired and have them muster up the energy they need to have some great throws and good results,” Madden said.

Madden said that the team has been very disciplined at practice with their workouts, COVID protocols, warmups, etc. and said that they luckily haven’t faced any injuries to keep guys out.

“They are very sound with their technique which helps a lot and they also are very committed to their warmups and exercises after the warmup,” Madden said. “Both the warmup and the exercises help them incorporate more muscle fibers to make injury a little less likely.”

Madden says that she and the team are very excited to get out there and show what they can do.

“I’m very excited,” Madden said. “Competitiveness within the team itself has helped them get better, and I am excited to see their hard work pay off and turn into great throws.”

Head Coach Dustin Dimit also talked about how the team has been preparing for this meet.

“Everything has been going really well,” Dimit said. “Thankfully we have had some good weather lately which has helped us get some good workouts in and really prepare for this week and the weeks to come.”

Dimit also said that about two-thirds of the team will be traveling to Stockton this weekend, and the rest of the guys will begin to fill in as the season progresses. When asked if there were any injuries, Dimit said that there is nothing big to worry about.

“No, nothing significant; just minor things that we want to be careful with so that we can reach our end goal in May,” Dimit said.

He also said that the team is focused on the main goal and just getting them all to 100% is important right now, especially after a 55-week break.

“Usually we have some races under our belt from indoor season, but we have done some strength and conditioning training that hopefully helps us in the long run,” Dimit said.

Dimit also shared his feelings on finally competing again and if there are any nerves.

“I’m holding my breath until we are at Stockton doing it, but it feels great,” Dimit said. “No nerves, this first meet is just enjoy yourselves, shake the rust off and then we’ll build from this.”

For the first time in 55 weeks, the team will compete in the Stockton Invitational on Friday, March 26.

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