April 6, 2015
Brandon Applehans
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The end of the indoor season for the men didn’t go according to plan.
After an 11th place finish in the distance medley relay at nationals to end the indoor season, head coach Mark Misch wants to move past injuries that forced his hand and continue to transition to the outdoor season.
“The end of our indoor season was kind of rough,” he said. “We’re redshirting a lot of our outdoor guys right now trying to get healthy, get better and get stronger.”
The distance medley relay team qualified for nationals, but an injured David Kimaiyo forced the use of an alternate and the reordering of the lineup.
“It wasn’t something you want to have to do,” he added. “When you’re competing at a national level, everyone is so good that you can’t hide a drop-off.”
The focus quickly shifted toward the outdoor season, which began on March 21 at the Jerry Quiller Classic in Boulder. Senior Matt Winfrey finished 13th overall in the 800-meter run, good for fifth in the RMAC on the opening weekend.
Three meets later, the men took to the track in Golden, where senior Ryan Buchanan finished third in the 400-meter hurdles. Buchanan thought his first outdoor race of the season went according to plan.
“The race was more about getting the cobwebs off,” he said.
Buchanan finished with a time of 57.29.
As the team enters the second half of the season, goals are tailored toward the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.
Buchanan realizes the ups-and-downs of the track and field season.
“We train in blocks,” he said. “We always call it a double-peak. We train real hard in indoor [season], for me I just came out of a slump, and now we are starting to hit it hard again.”
“Now the meets are longer and we’re running more events than usual to build up that strength and endurance,” he added. “When we go to California [April 17 and 18], I will begin to run faster races.”
The RMAC championships are May 1-3 and nationals are at the end of May, but the team will next be in action at the Colorado Invitational in Boulder on April 11.