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By: Collin Frazier
frazierc@findlay.edu
@Collin_53
Oiler Track looking to pick up where they left off
With the weather starting to warm-up, more teams are making their way outside for the spring sports season. For some teams, like the Findlay Track teams, a portion of their season has already concluded, with the indoor portion of their season accumulating in a Men’s G-MAC championship.
“It’s a great feeling to win another G-MAC Championship for our men’s team. We were able to win our first year in the G-MAC in 2018 but have finished second to Tiffin the last two years,” said Assistant Coach Jared Krout said via email. “We’ve been working hard to close that gap so it was great to see our men compete well and finally get it done. They’ve worked very hard and I know it means a lot to them to win a conference title.”
While it is great to celebrate such an accomplishment, what is more important is to hold on to the momentum from winning the G-MAC and harness it into a successful outdoor season.
“It’s important for us to continue to build off the momentum that was created with the indoor season,” Krout explained. “We have a couple weeks until outdoor season starts so it’s always good to get a little break from competition and hit the reset button so to speak when it comes to our training and mental preparation. We add some new events for the outdoor season so that adds to the excitement for many of the athletes as well.”
The men’s team was not the only group of people to hold up a trophy, as Martin Estey (Triple Jump), Xavier Marable (400m Dash), Morgan England (Pole Vault), and Brooke Mangas (High Jump) earned All-American Honors at the NCAA DII Indoor Track National Championship last weekend. Krout is expecting each honoree to carry their success in the outdoor season.
“I fully anticipate them to carry that success over to the outdoor season,” Krout commented. “Many of them will get some recovery time before they start their training for outdoor so it’s typical for them to start competing later and reach a higher level later in the season as well. Qualifying for the indoor national meet is always a good stepping stone for outdoor season though because it gives them an opportunity to build off their success or motivation if the indoor meet didn’t go as planned.”
Although many track teams will be present during meets this season, which can raise concern for COVID-19, Krout says not much will change for keeping Oilers safe. In fact, he says the outdoor season is much safer.
“We’ve just completed our indoor season and everyone has grown accustomed to the procedures and protocols that were put in place then,” said Krout. “We’ve been doing weekly testing for a portion of our team as well as daily health checks before practice. Outdoor is actually much less challenging for us than indoor because it allows much more flexibility to social distance because of the larger venues. It will really just be a continuation of what we’ve already been doing the last few months during indoor season.”
“[We are] very excited!” Krout proclaimed. “About 75-80% of our team has never competed outdoors in college due to last season getting cancelled. We had a handful of seniors return for another opportunity to compete outdoors so it’s exciting to have them back in uniform as well.”
The Oilers begin their outdoor season April 10 against Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne.
Featured photo: Xavier Marable (left) and Martin Etsey (right). Credit: University of Findlay Athletics.
