A couple of meets, a new school record, and a first in my coaching career. So far, it is a good start to the season.
Thank you to everyone who attended the alumni meet in January. I was impressed with the turnout as 30 alumni competed and many more were in the stands. The alumni held their own and came away with event wins in the weight throw (Gavin Rupp, 2022) and the triple jump (Collin Trout, 2020). Both have some Covid eligibility remaining so we may need to find them a uniform.
Since the meet, we have finished some upgrades of the indoor facility. The giant video board is up and running, the school record boards are installed, and we just added additional record boards with the top-twenty all-time lists for each indoor and outdoor event. They all look great, except that one of the school's records already needs updating.
For the last two years, Kevin Arthur (SR, Champlin Park) has been chasing former teammate Ryan Miller’s (2022) school record of 6.90 seconds in the 60 meter dash. Over the last two seasons, Kevin has run eight races with times between 6.91-6.94; including having run 6.91 seconds twice!
Last weekend at the University of Minnesota, Kevin ran a smooth 6.93 in the prelims and had the third fastest qualifying time behind two Gophers. A strong start in the finals and great competition helped Kevin run a new school record of 6.79. He ran a smart race by staying relaxed and focused on his race. It was a big improvement that Kevin earned with meticulous dedication to training and making smart decisions outside of practice. One of the first guys to congratulate him after the race was Ryan Miller who came down to support the team. After that, Kevin celebrated by jumping into my arms! That was a first for me and I was not prepared for it. Hugs, the rare high five, or the even rarer “Pretty Good!” have been the norm. Regardless, it was a pretty great moment to share.
Check out the video below.
Notes for this week: we have another home meet on Saturday at 11:00am. Come check out the record boards and all-time lists. Find your name before it disappears! We will have some good races this weekend. Most of the distance guys will battle in the 1,000 meters to get qualifying times for the conference meet. We have put together three 4x200m relay teams to do the same.
I look forward to seeing some of you this weekend.
Jeremy
SJU 60 school record: Kevin Arthur: 6.79