Full racing schedule tires track

In an effort to produce a physically dominating team, the men's track coaches have yet to taper the squad's weekly workouts. As a result, the men's track members must battle fatigue and soreness in addition to their highly talented opponents at meets each weekend.

Yet the Bulldogs have performed surprisingly well in their early season meets, overcoming exhaustion to remain competitive with their better-rested foes. The Elis finished sixth out of 14 teams last weekend at the Colonial Relays at William and Mary, a meet that draws a deep and talented field every year.

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH Men's track looks to streak to victory at the Heps.

Although they finished in the middle of the pack, the Bulldogs lost only to scholarship teams. Competing and succeeding against quality competition should generate confidence in the Bulldogs as they prepare for competition.

"We've been training through the races, and I thought the team did exceptionally well considering they're competing while still sore from workouts," Assistant Coach David Shoehalter said."Right now we're at or slightly ahead of where we should be, and as we back off on the training over the next three or four weeks, the results should reflect a better-rested and more physically prepared team."

Yale relied on several strong individuals and superb middle distance relay teams for its success at the Colonials. Ryan Barrows, MC '01, finished third in the 800-meter on Fri., Apr. 6 and then returned on Sat., Apr. 7 to anchor the second-place 4x800-meter relay team. With his outstanding closing leg, Barrows led the relay team to the sixth-fastest time in the nation this season; more importantly, he displayed incredible fitness and resiliency by maintaining his form over a two-day period. Captain Jason Rife, SM '01, an eight-time All-Ivy performer, took third place in the 400-meter and seventh in the 200-meter before anchoring the second-place 4x400-meter relay team.

Thomas Hocker, PC '02, riding the coattails of an improbable victory in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the Adidas Raleigh Relays, ran his best race of the season at the Colonials, but only finished second. His time of 51.55 seconds not only was the second fastest in the Ivy League this season, but also left him only 0.3 seconds short of an NCAA qualifying time, a goal that seems feasible considering his steady weekly improvement. "I wish I had won again this week, but I am still proud of my performance," Hocker said. "I need 51.2 seconds to qualify, but my goal is to run in less than 50.5 by the end of the season."

Though JC Reindl, BK '03, garnered second place in the 10,000-meter, Yale's distance running unit clearly suffered from the absence of star Robert Doyle, DC '01. Doyle, who won both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races at last year's Heptagonal Championships, has been nursing an injury since February. Though he plans to resume racing within two weeks, getting back into competition shape in such a short period of time will be difficult. Nevertheless, Doyle remains confident, and his teammates look forward to his return—if not for his help on the scoreboard then for a boost to team morale. "I know it's going to be tough to get back into racing shape so quickly, but I should be ready to do some things by the NCAAs," Doyle said. "I won't run if I don't feel I'm going to benefit the team."

Having succeeded against solid competition, the track team enters the "rivalry portion" of its schedule. In this weekend's unusual yet tradition-laden format, Yale combines forces with archrival Harvard in an international battle against Oxford and Cambridge. As Yale can use only 15 athletes in the meet, the squad will split, and the rest of the team will travel to Columbia for an invitational meet.

"This is kind of an off weekend. The scoring system used in the Harvard/Yale-Oxford/Cambridge meet is not what we are used to, and with the team split, it will be difficult to conclude anything from our performance in either meet," Rife explained. "We're just looking to maintain the success we've had over the last several meets."

In the next few weeks, the Bulldogs should become well acquainted with Ivy League competition, as the team battles Harvard on Sat., Apr. 21 and travels to the Penn Relays on Sat., Apr. 28. This exposure to Ivy teams, along with the competitive meets of the last two weekends, should prepare the team for the all-important Heptagonal Championships on Sat., May 5.

Although Penn and Princeton have dominated the Heptagonals in recent years, the Bulldogs feel that their team, returning most of its key players from last season's fourth-place squad, can challenge for the title. The coaches have focused their attention almost exclusively on the Heptagonals, and as the workouts slowly taper, the team should peak physically as the crucial moment of competition with Navy and its Ivy foes approaches.

"The Heps is the big meet that everyone—the athletes, the coaches, the administrators—cares about," Hocker reiterated, "This year, I feel confident that we can beat Princeton and Penn."

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