Track & Field: Quest to repeat indoor sweep begins Saturday

Last year the men’s and women’s track teams achieved the height of conference domination, winning every single Ivy League championship title from cross country to outdoor track. The 2010-11 squad was arguably one of the best groups of track and field athletes that Princeton has ever produced. Nevertheless, this year’s pack of runners, throwers and jumpers is striving to be even better. Though the women missed a win at the Heptagonal Championships in cross country, coming into the indoor season the men are still in the hunt for a second straight triple crown.

“One of the things that was neat last year was that we had a strong group in all event areas,” assistant men’s coach Steve Dolan said. “This year we have similar potential, in terms that we have someone in every event who should do quite well. It will be fun to put everything together as a whole team.”

Keying off of the men’s success at Heps this fall in cross country, the sprinters and fielders have been working hard since September in order to uphold their side of the program during the winter campaign.

“All fall we have been working out, doing sprints and plyometrics, just trying to build a big foundation for a long season,” senior co-captain and pole-vaulter David Slovenski said. “Our goal is definitely to win the triple crown, and cross country came through on their part of that. I think we’ve got the talent to do it; as always it’s going to take continuing our high level of training and not getting injured.”

In order to beat traditionally tough opponents like Cornell, the Tigers know that by the time indoor Heps come they have to be on their game. Already, however, preseason workouts bode well for races to come.

“This is the hardest that we’ve ever worked,” senior sprinter Austin Hollimon said. “[Sophomore sprinter] Tom Hopkins and [junior middle distance runner] Russell Dinkins are stronger than they’ve been in a long time. They’ve both already set records in practice in terms of conditioning.”

Still, as the indoor season progresses, both teams will need to find a way to fill in the gaps last year’s graduating class of seniors left behind. Hollimon, a multiple-time Ivy League champion, will also be missing from the men’s roster as he takes the winter and spring to train for the 2012 Olympic trials in the 400m hurdles with his old high school coach back in Atlanta, Ga. Among others, the women lost All-Americans Ashley Higginson and Sarah Cummings, as well as 2010 indoor Heps weight throw champion Thanithia Billings.

“The Class of 2011 was a tough group to replace. We graduated quite a few good kids,” women’s head coach Peter Farrell said. “It was tough to watch them walk out the door.”

Though the entire team is already looking ahead towards the Ivy League championship in February and working on filling in the holes, the distance runners are still not on the same page as the rest of the team.

“They’re going in two different directions,” Farrell said. “It’s strange, but it’s the nature of the beast. The cross country kids are on break and just starting their training, but the sprinters, throwers and jumpers are already having a meet before the holiday to find out where they are.”

Indeed, while most of the team is going to begin some rust-busting this weekend in Jadwin Gymnasium at the New Year’s Invitational, the real focus for the distance runners, and really the whole team, is not until several more weeks into the season.

“The month of December we’re building back up from a hard cross country season, and then there are exams in January when we get back,” Dolan said. “But once we get into the middle part of February, guys start to get into good shape.”

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In February, the Tigers will compete in several high-quality competitions such as the Penn State Sykes-Sabock Cup and the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet, with the men also participating at the Washington Husky Invitational.

Yet with few extremely important team races, the relatively relaxed indoor season also allows for personal goal-chasing. In particular, last year’s winter saw several Tigers attempt to crack the revered four-minute mile barrier. With several runners hovering above the mark this year as well, the mile pursuit looks to be one of the possible highlights of the indoor season.

“It’s going to be really exciting because on our team right now we have four guys with the potential to break four,” senior Joe Stilin said. “If they don’t break four this season, they’ll be pretty much disappointed given what’s going on right now.”

With a 1500m personal record of 3 minutes, 44.69 seconds, Stilin figures to be in that fast group. More impressive than any one individual, however, is the fact that there is an entire pack of guys straining to achieve the same thing.

“It’s a big season goal,“ Stilin said. “With four guys right there, it’s really cool that we have this opportunity to train and do speed workouts together.”

As always, while the Tigers are excited about getting back on the track, the team’s objective is also to make sure to get through the season injury-free and ready for the following outdoor season.

“Winter training is all about getting as many people as healthy as possible with all the cold and hard surfaces,” Stilin said. “To be honest, the way that Coach Dolan trains us, our team’s focus is really on building strength in indoors and getting ready to race well outdoors.”

Nonetheless, personal barriers, training philosophies and dangerous weather aside, both track teams are in it to win, and certainly when the big meets come in February, the Tigers will compete.

“Whether you’re LSU, Texas A&M, Oregon or Princeton, the focus team-wise is always on the league championship,” Farrell said. “For us, it’s Heps. We have a conference championship, and we want to win it.”