Normally I don’t have much to report in the fall, but I am truly excited for this year. We have a great coaching staff, a strong group of returners, and a good freshmen class. When you add in the new NCAA rules allowing us to practice earlier in the year, there is a lot to be excited for this season.
As mentioned last week, we rounded out our coaching staff with the addition of Maxwell Kuzara as the new full-time distance coach. Brady Labine is sticking around after finally exhausting all of his eligibility to help coach the sprinters and hurdlers. Of course, we still have Joe Vardas and John Pollack as well. Coach Joe has been at SJU for 26 years and does an outstanding job coaching the hurdles, jumps, decathlon, and javelin. John is in his 9th year as our pole vault coach and has developed our vaulters into a dominant squad in the MIAC.
The new NCAA rules allow flexibility to spread our practice opportunities throughout the year. Therefore we have decided to begin practicing two days per week throughout September and had our first day on Monday. It’s a big team! We had 47 guys out on the track. That doesn’t include the distance runners and the multi-sport athletes. The team is a good mix of returners and new faces. The returners include two National Championships participants, three conference champions, and twenty-one MIAC conference scorers. The first-years include ten athletes who competed in their high school track and field state championships. Combined, they make for a gimongous* team and I can’t wait to see what they can accomplish this year.
A larger team size means we rely more on the generosity of alumni, family, and friends to ensure we can supply all members of the team with a great experience. Your donations this year will support the team on the quest for their third consecutive outdoor MIAC Championship. Thank you for the continued help and I look forward to seeing you at meets this year!
Jeremy
How to help:
Support the Cross Country/Track & Field Teams through a simple donation. Make sure to set Cross Country/Track & Field as the designation.
Become an advocate and encourage and promote the event on any social media outlets. We can use all the social media help we can get!
If so inclined, set up a matching gift that will encourage others to donate. Make sure to set Cross Country/Track & Field as the matching designation.
Enter dollar amount and decide if you will make the full gift regardless If the match is not complete met (check box)
Select “Other” and enter a dollar amount to give and check the “Per donor” box
Select the Match a designation box and select the designation you want to match
Fill out the rest of the form
*Gimongous: Giant and humongous combined, coined by one of the Kid KG’s and she thinks it’s hilarious to be mentioned in this post.