Yeotrackers plan ahead

After building up their confidence with a strong showing at last week's Greater Cleveland College meet, the Yeorunners are changing their strategy. Instead of trying to run faster, they'll just be thinking about it.

Wanting to have all their runners in top form by the championships next Friday, the team is on "taper time," that is, having lighter workouts so their bodies are rested, while still trying to improve their mental focus. Head coach Tom Mulligan explained, "at this point, you're not going to get much better in the physical sense, your mental approach to practice and competition is where it's at."

Mulligan seemed quite confident about the team's improvements in physical prowess, based on the results from the meet last Friday. The Yeorunners competed against some formidable opponents, with the men earning third place out of five teams and the women ending up tied for fourth out of five teams.

Remarking that the only team in its conference that Oberlin competed against was Case Western Reserve University, Mulligan said, "it's nice to compete against other [competitive] teams because it brings out the best in you." Plenty of evidence from last Friday proves that Mulligan's statement is not merely easy-talking coaching jargon.

For example, senior Ted Lytle broke Oberlin's record time for the 500m by two seconds, winning the event in 1.06.56. "That's a significant anount of time," Mulligan pointed out enthusiastically, "He's a very determined athlete."

The runners seeing the most success right now are those who have the best practice habits. First-year Jason Cunningham came in fifth at the shot put, breaking 40 feet for the first time. "Breaking 40 is a major milestone in shot put," said Mulligan, "Jason's worked really hard to get that."

Among those on the women's team, first-year Sarah Allen has been having a successful season. Describing her as a "real workhorse" because of the number of events she may be running come championship time, Mulligan said, "She's very aggressive. In every event she runs, she's in a position to win."

Other runners have been making steady improvements. Sophomore Katherine Roberts and senior Valerie Simon, perhaps better known for their jaunts on the lacrosse field, have been valuable additions to this year's team. In addition, first-year Cindy Lai, senior Tiffany Allison and sophomore Karin Kettenring all had personal bests in the 800m last week.

With just a week left until the championships, the Yeorunners will focus on their mental discipline while allowing their bodies time to rest and heal. Senior Jamie Ingpen explained, "A lot of us, especially those who have been running since January are pretty banged up." She added that "it's pretty amazing how much faster you can run if you take a week or two off to let your legs rest."

For that reason, a lot of the middle distance and longer distance runners will not be competing in their events at today's home meet. Though having fewer Yeorunners competing decreases the team's scoring capabilities, Ingpen seemed unconcerned. "How much we score tomorrow is really unimportant."

Mulligan agreed. "We want to get people out to compete, but we're not going to wear people out. We want to come out of the meet healthy and with an eye towards the championships," he said.