Track team splits squad at two events
Ben Yarnell
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Sports
With MIAA conference championships on the immediate horizon, the Bulldogs were looking for one final tune-up. Instead, they got two.
Last weekend, the Truman men's and women's track teams pulled a split shift, competing at the Kip Janvrin Simpson College Open in Pella, Iowa, and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
Head coach John Cochrane said the purpose of splitting up the teams was to allow some athletes in different events to see a different level of competition.
"We thought that by taking them there, we would be able to prepare them a little better for later things," Cochrane said.
Among the teams that competed at Drake were the men's 4x100 relay team, and the women's 4x100 team and 4x200 team. Senior Sean Bergstedt also competed in the 400-meter hurdles. Bergstedt and the 4x200 team were the only Bulldogs to place in Des Moines with the relay team taking home third, and Bergstedt fifth. He was the highest-placing Div. II athlete in the event.
But Bergstedt said he was hoping for more, having previously finished third and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at Drake. He said he saw competing against higher-caliber runners as a chance to tune up for the NCAA Div. II national meet at the end of the month but that the race did not go as he and Cochrane had planned.
"I was supposed to hurdle 13-steps through five hurdles, and I only 13-stepped through three," Bergstedt said. "And then, there was this big gust of wind in the middle of the race that kind of just knocked me off my feet. I wasn't expecting it."
The majority of members of both teams were focused on Pella and Simpson College. While there, the men claimed top-10 spots in eight events. Leading the pack of 'Dogs was junior Tad Dallas, who took second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:10.41.
Other top finishers for the men included the Ackermann brothers, seniors Joe and Jake, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 110-meter hurdles.
Last weekend, the Truman men's and women's track teams pulled a split shift, competing at the Kip Janvrin Simpson College Open in Pella, Iowa, and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
Head coach John Cochrane said the purpose of splitting up the teams was to allow some athletes in different events to see a different level of competition.
"We thought that by taking them there, we would be able to prepare them a little better for later things," Cochrane said.
Among the teams that competed at Drake were the men's 4x100 relay team, and the women's 4x100 team and 4x200 team. Senior Sean Bergstedt also competed in the 400-meter hurdles. Bergstedt and the 4x200 team were the only Bulldogs to place in Des Moines with the relay team taking home third, and Bergstedt fifth. He was the highest-placing Div. II athlete in the event.
But Bergstedt said he was hoping for more, having previously finished third and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at Drake. He said he saw competing against higher-caliber runners as a chance to tune up for the NCAA Div. II national meet at the end of the month but that the race did not go as he and Cochrane had planned.
"I was supposed to hurdle 13-steps through five hurdles, and I only 13-stepped through three," Bergstedt said. "And then, there was this big gust of wind in the middle of the race that kind of just knocked me off my feet. I wasn't expecting it."
The majority of members of both teams were focused on Pella and Simpson College. While there, the men claimed top-10 spots in eight events. Leading the pack of 'Dogs was junior Tad Dallas, who took second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:10.41.
Other top finishers for the men included the Ackermann brothers, seniors Joe and Jake, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 110-meter hurdles.
Be the first to comment on this story