Every season, a coach is presented with the challenge of finding different ways to motivate his team, but at the same time must be certain that the team will respond to the challenge.
Going into the Mt. San Antonio College meet today in Walnut, Calif., UA track and field head coach Fred Harvey challenged both his men’s and women’s teams to qualify the most number of athletes during the NCAA West regionals on May 29.
The challenge, he hopes, will properly motivate the squads.
“”I think it’s a healthy challenge to get as many people excited about getting qualifying marks for the regional championships,”” Harvey said. “”Having a combined program with men and women, it made sense for me to get them excited about qualifying and competing with one another.””
The men currently have a 17-15 advantage over the women in the number of regional qualifications.
“”I have a lot confidence in my ladies,”” said UA high jumper Liz Patterson despite the men’s lead. “”We still have more people that are going to qualify before regionals, so we’re not worried.””
While the men currently lead, they have chosen to keep quiet about it and let their performance speak for them.
In the last few weeks, both teams have made progress toward getting more regional qualifications. In the last home meet of the season, the Jim Click Shootout, both men and women combined for 12 regional qualifications. Last week in the Sun Angel Classic they combined for 14 regional qualifications.
Following the Cactus Classic, head coach Harvey said he was aware that there are individuals who are probably not going to qualify this year because they simply aren’t experienced enough. At this point, with a little over a month to go until the NCAA West Regional Championships, the goal is to get as many athletes to qualify as possible.
“”It hasn’t been a big deal, but if the women start talking, then we’ll start talking about it. Other than that, we’re quiet about it,”” said sprinter Kyle Alston, who has met the qualifying time for the 200-meter and is looking to improve upon that mark in today’s meet.
