FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
June 05, 2011 05:45 PM | General
Track and field is a lot like other NCAA sports - there are many different formulas for success.
In basketball, teams can develop a roster full of four-year players that rely on great chemistry such as Butler, or it can have a bunch of one-and-done superstars like Kentucky and still be extremely successful.
In football, there are spread teams, pro-style teams, option teams, passing teams, running teams and defensive-oriented teams all winning at high levels.
Well, the same goes for track and field. At this week’s NCAA finals in Des Moines, Iowa, there will be some teams there with rosters made up predominantly of sprinters, some with mostly distance runners, and still others with most of their athletes competing in the field events.
Beth Sullivan, who coordinates Penn State’s men’s and women’s program and has developed more than 100 All-American athletes during her coaching career at Stanford and Penn State, says economics plays a big role in how programs choose to build their rosters.
“We’re limited on scholarships and when you add in the sport of cross country, indoor and outdoor track, you have three different seasons and three different demands of seasons that are run very differently,” she explained. “Cross country is its own gig with a different type of athlete, but then when you add indoor and outdoor track, there are different ways to qualify for the national championships in those sports."
She continued.
“There are different events being run, indoors you have the DMR (distance medley relay), outdoor you have the 4x100 – there are different emphasis and when you take 18 scholarships and you spread them around that far it’s difficult to have all things firing at all times,” she said. “There is a lot of decision making within a program of what to emphasize and how to emphasize it and how to get the most from it.”
At WVU, veteran coach Sean Cleary has earned a national reputation for developing outstanding distance runners so that is an area he obviously concentrates on. Cleary also gets outstanding help from the rest of his coaching staff in their areas of expertise – Jenn Davis in distance and mid-distance events, Shelly Gallimore in the jumps, former head coach Marty Pushkin in the hurdles and sprints, Matt Conly in the throws and Mike Tornifolio in the pole vault.
But with any program, in any sport, its identity is going to be determined by the expertise of its head coach. And that’s why West Virginia has a reputation for developing outstanding distance runners, going all the way back to the 1960s when Carl Hatfield was running for Stan Romanoski.
A program can be extremely successful in track and field with just a handful of really good athletes competing in similar events. Greg Metcalf, who won an NCAA cross country title at Washington in 2008, explains.
“To be a perennial top 10 team on the track you have to have superstars – three or four great kids that can go to the national championships and score points for you,” he said. “The formula, whether it’s distance runners, sprinters or throwers, it doesn’t really matter. Sean has had a couple of good multi-event girls and a good hurdler, but for the most part he’s doing it with distance girls. His goal is to be a top 10 program indoors, outdoors and in the fall.”
Pushkin had that with the men’s program in the early 1980s. Then some of the really good kids in the program either cycled out or left early, and those who came in after them either didn’t pan out or got injured. Unfortunately, that happens.
“At one time I had it going really well but then I wasn’t lucky enough to get two or three the next year that were as good,” Pushkin recalled. “It put us behind for a few years, but eventually we got it back. You’ve got to keep it going all of the time. If you rest on your laurels you’ve had it.”
Some of the old-school coaches such as Pushkin will argue that college track teams today are too specialized for their liking. The days of having an all-around roster with sprinters, hurdlers, throwers and distance runners are over, and that’s why most of the races today are showcases for athletes instead of scoring events with winners and losers.
The general sports fan may not understand track times, but Sullivan says those who follow the sport understand the direction it has taken and those who don’t follow track and field too closely will once again become interested when the Olympics take place next year.
“We are a sport where we get a lot of attention during an Olympic year, and I think people can relate to the end result: how fast did you run the mile? How fast did you run the 100? How far did you throw the shot put?” she said. “I think people get lost in the shuffle with indoor and outdoor being different, and you have to do a good job of producing results and focusing on the results of things.”
In the end, consistency is the true measure of success – in any sport.
“It’s about consistency over time and continuing to add the right kids to your program,” Metcalf noted. “We all make mistakes, and I will take a chance on a kid from time to time, but it’s about adding the right person that fits your coaching style; that fits your program and wants to be at your school.
“Sean is going to get that kid that wants to be at West Virginia and at the end of the day when you get five or six of them, well guess what, then you can be pretty good.”
In basketball, teams can develop a roster full of four-year players that rely on great chemistry such as Butler, or it can have a bunch of one-and-done superstars like Kentucky and still be extremely successful.
In football, there are spread teams, pro-style teams, option teams, passing teams, running teams and defensive-oriented teams all winning at high levels.
Well, the same goes for track and field. At this week’s NCAA finals in Des Moines, Iowa, there will be some teams there with rosters made up predominantly of sprinters, some with mostly distance runners, and still others with most of their athletes competing in the field events.
Beth Sullivan, who coordinates Penn State’s men’s and women’s program and has developed more than 100 All-American athletes during her coaching career at Stanford and Penn State, says economics plays a big role in how programs choose to build their rosters.
“We’re limited on scholarships and when you add in the sport of cross country, indoor and outdoor track, you have three different seasons and three different demands of seasons that are run very differently,” she explained. “Cross country is its own gig with a different type of athlete, but then when you add indoor and outdoor track, there are different ways to qualify for the national championships in those sports."
She continued.
“There are different events being run, indoors you have the DMR (distance medley relay), outdoor you have the 4x100 – there are different emphasis and when you take 18 scholarships and you spread them around that far it’s difficult to have all things firing at all times,” she said. “There is a lot of decision making within a program of what to emphasize and how to emphasize it and how to get the most from it.”
At WVU, veteran coach Sean Cleary has earned a national reputation for developing outstanding distance runners so that is an area he obviously concentrates on. Cleary also gets outstanding help from the rest of his coaching staff in their areas of expertise – Jenn Davis in distance and mid-distance events, Shelly Gallimore in the jumps, former head coach Marty Pushkin in the hurdles and sprints, Matt Conly in the throws and Mike Tornifolio in the pole vault.
But with any program, in any sport, its identity is going to be determined by the expertise of its head coach. And that’s why West Virginia has a reputation for developing outstanding distance runners, going all the way back to the 1960s when Carl Hatfield was running for Stan Romanoski.
A program can be extremely successful in track and field with just a handful of really good athletes competing in similar events. Greg Metcalf, who won an NCAA cross country title at Washington in 2008, explains.
“To be a perennial top 10 team on the track you have to have superstars – three or four great kids that can go to the national championships and score points for you,” he said. “The formula, whether it’s distance runners, sprinters or throwers, it doesn’t really matter. Sean has had a couple of good multi-event girls and a good hurdler, but for the most part he’s doing it with distance girls. His goal is to be a top 10 program indoors, outdoors and in the fall.”
Pushkin had that with the men’s program in the early 1980s. Then some of the really good kids in the program either cycled out or left early, and those who came in after them either didn’t pan out or got injured. Unfortunately, that happens.
“At one time I had it going really well but then I wasn’t lucky enough to get two or three the next year that were as good,” Pushkin recalled. “It put us behind for a few years, but eventually we got it back. You’ve got to keep it going all of the time. If you rest on your laurels you’ve had it.”
Some of the old-school coaches such as Pushkin will argue that college track teams today are too specialized for their liking. The days of having an all-around roster with sprinters, hurdlers, throwers and distance runners are over, and that’s why most of the races today are showcases for athletes instead of scoring events with winners and losers.
The general sports fan may not understand track times, but Sullivan says those who follow the sport understand the direction it has taken and those who don’t follow track and field too closely will once again become interested when the Olympics take place next year.
“We are a sport where we get a lot of attention during an Olympic year, and I think people can relate to the end result: how fast did you run the mile? How fast did you run the 100? How far did you throw the shot put?” she said. “I think people get lost in the shuffle with indoor and outdoor being different, and you have to do a good job of producing results and focusing on the results of things.”
In the end, consistency is the true measure of success – in any sport.
“It’s about consistency over time and continuing to add the right kids to your program,” Metcalf noted. “We all make mistakes, and I will take a chance on a kid from time to time, but it’s about adding the right person that fits your coaching style; that fits your program and wants to be at your school.
“Sean is going to get that kid that wants to be at West Virginia and at the end of the day when you get five or six of them, well guess what, then you can be pretty good.”
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