Before I get to the good stuff, SJU Track and Field has an online store open until this Wednesday at 11:59pm. This is not a fundraiser for us, but we wanted to pass it along to all of you in case you’re running low. Several of the athletes are particularly jazzed about the last item.
Apparel Order: enter passcode: SJUTF21
https://impactgroup.us/bigteamstore/
I have put off writing an update due to the trying nature of indoor season, the uncertainty of outdoor, and in all honesty it’s been difficult to get everything done lately. I didn’t want to write a list of complaints when so many people are struggling.
Now that the indoor season has wrapped up and we are preparing for our first outdoor meet this weekend, I will provide a quick update and some things to look forward to during the outdoor season.
Despite the MIAC Indoor Championships being canceled, we still managed to put together some good performances. We had two vaulters over 15 feet and our group of weight throwers finished the season ranked third in the nation (the coaches’ association ranks the top-four athletes from each team per event). I’m not sure if you all saw the results or the livestream from our last meet, but Lloyd Young’s 14:49 indoor 5k was quite impressive.
We still have some uncertainty in the outdoor season as administrators are debating whether to follow the Minnesota Department of Health guidelines of two Covid tests per week and compete unmasked (worked great indoors) or the MIAC proposal of no covid tests and wear masks for competition. The uncertainty in policy has made it difficult to develop an outdoor meet schedule.
The outdoor schedule is still changing, but we have three home meets scheduled so far:
Saturday, March 27th
Friday, April 2nd
Saturday, April 17th
I’m not sure what events I’m most excited to see outdoors: the return of the decathletes, the hammer throwers, the 400 hurdles, or Tim’s group of sophomore runners in any event. We have something fun to watch in every event and it should be an exciting outdoor season.
Keep an eye on gojohnnies.com for updates on our spectator policy. I would love to see you at our home meets.