By Abby Crowell, Contributor Writer
Spring Semester has arrived which means that outdoor track is quickly approaching. After talking to Coach Mecca, it is clear that Jasper fans have a lot to look forward to this season.
Manhattan College’s Track and Field team is currently in the middle of a successful indoor season, and the long awaited outdoor season will begin in March. According to the head coach of both the Men’s and Women’s track and field teams Dan Mecca, the season ahead appears to be very promising.
Coach Mecca expressed that there are some star players to pay close attention to during this season, such as Paige Chapman who participates in sprints, John Dove who is a distance runner, and Ellinor Persson who participates in jumps and sprints, and is also currently coming back from an injury.
Coach Mecca describes the team as a whole as, “A good, young group and a few seniors with plenty of obvious potential.”When asked what the goals for the team were, Mecca replied, “To win, and keep everybody healthy. We want to win first at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and reach new levels.”With the team’s passion and hard work, it appears that new levels will certainly be reached this year.
For track and field participants such as Anthony Yanni, the outdoor season cannot come fast enough. The team couldn’t be more excited after tedious months of pre-season and indoor competition. Yanni is a junior from Brooklyn, who is a prominent Javelin thrower during the outdoor season.
“Scoring a personal record of 55 Meters and finish within the top 6 is my goal for the season.” Yanni said. Yanni revealed that he has been involved in vigorous training since August.
The team will be training straight through until March, when the outdoor seasons finally starts. There are four track and field events for our Jaspers to thrive in this up and coming outdoor season, and they include the discus throw, javelin throw, hammer throw, and steeplechase races.
When asked about his excitement for the approaching outdoor season, Coach Mecca responded, “The outdoor events are the same events shown in the Olympics, which makes them very alluring..
Continuing with the trend of star players who thrive in the outdoor season, Lina Bengston is said to be an exceptional athlete who is more than ready for the upcoming outdoor season.
Bengston is originally from Sweden, and is currently a senior at Manhattan who demonstrates her immense talent during the discus throw.
When asked how training for indoor events differs from the outdoor events, Bengston replied, “It’s different if you participate in both seasons of track and field, because you are constantly competing with little breaks in between.”
Coach Mecca added, “We’re lucky in Draddy gym because we can practice the outdoor events indoors, such as javelin and discus.”
Although she participates in both seasons, Bengston prefers outdoor because it allows her to excel in the discus event much more than if she were competing indoor.
As for personal goals, Bengston was previously injured for two years, therefore, her personal goal is to successfully compete outdoors this season. With the dynamic training and workouts that the track and field athletes participate in, there is no doubt that they are ready to finish off the indoor season strong, as well as dominate the outdoor season that many athletes are currently preparing for.