The end of the season is finally here, so I thought I’d do a mock meet based on everyone’s fastest times this season. The website http://www.tfrrs.org/ acts as a database that collects all results from NCAA track meets. The Capital Athletic Conference uses this website to enter out times every week which gives everyone in the conference a good resource to check out the competition for the meet. Below I’ve compiled every event and put green marks next to a UMW athlete (or relay) that is expected to score at the conference champtionship this weekend and a red mark next to everyone who is expected to miss the scoring positions (top 6). Obviously the rankings are not exact, and anything can happen on raceday, but I always find it fun to predict how we will do.

event – expected points – explanation
4×100 – 1 -The 4x100m relay team posted a best time of 44.21 at the Johns Hopkins meet on April 14th. The team did not get a chance to run the event often, so we’re hoping they can grab a few more points.

4×400 – 3 -The 4x400m relay team has had a bunch of different sprinters and middle distance runners on it throughout the season, and ran it’s best time of 3:32.53 on March 23rd. With individual 400 times showing that they can go faster, this is another event where we’re hoping to score some more points.

100 – 0 -The 100m dash hasn’t been the forte of the sprint team this Spring, with only two guys notching performances that make the top 20 list.

110H – 0 -Like the 100, not many members of the team have run the 110 hurdles this season. Only freshman Andrew Ma has a performance on the top 20 list, with a time of 18.12.

200 – 0 -This even we have a couple guys close to points, with Allan Meyer and Matt Bechtel, so it will be interesting to see if we can steal a couple here.

400 – 2 -Allan Meyer had a great race at Johns Hopkins Three weeks ago and currently sits in 5th on the rankings with a 50.97 for the 400m. He could also potentially join the exclusive group of only 2 UMW runners ever under the 50 second barrier in the event.

400 hurdles – 6 -This event could get us a good amount of points, with Dalton Echard seeded in 3rd place, with two runners less than a half second behind.

800 – 3 -The 800m is an event where literally anything could happen. Right now we’re only supposed to score 3 points, with a 5th and 6th place finish, but we have 4 guys in the top 8 and any of them could finish in the top 3. This event will definitely determine how we fair as a team, because we could score a lot of points and take a lot away from our closest competitors.

1500- 8 -Stephen Harrison is currently placed 3rd in the event and I’m ranked 5th, but due to my hamstring injury I’ll only be running the 5000. It’s very possible that one of our other guys moves up and scores points in this event though, so we should still score well here.

3000Steeple – 12 -Right now we’re seeded 2nd and 4th in this, and should get at least 12 points. Chris Marino is one of only two in the conference that have broken 10 minutes, with a time of 9:51 at the Commonwealth Duals 5 weeks back.

5000 – 10 -The 5k is always a tough event to predict, due to many of the runners having prior races. It’s hard to tell how everyone will race on fatigued legs, but I’m confident we’ll do well here.

10000 – 1 -Right now Quincy Schmidt is our only runner with a 10k seed, but we’re expecting to have some other runners in the scoring positions as well. (and yes some people actually race 25 laps…even I think it’s boring to watch for the first half, and I’m a distance runner)

Discus – 0 -We only have one thrower in the top 20, and aren’t expecting to score.

Hammer Throw – 0 -We have Matt Cronin ranked 9th in this, so it would be a really good bonus if he can sneak in to score.

High Jump – 6 -John Lilly has been a consistent jumper for us, and is seeded 3rd with a jump of 6’0.75″. Allan Meyer also started practicing jumping a few weeks ago, and could potentially score.

Javelin – 6 -Freshman Kyle Armstrong has picked up on this event nicely, and is currently ranked 3rd with a throw of 155’3″. Like all throws, nothing is given, but we need these points.

Long Jump – 0 -Indoor we had the long jump champion in Nathaniel Saint-Preux, but he’s been battling injuries all season long. It will be interesting to see if he can come back to defend his title.

Pole Vault – 0 -Our only vaulter is freshman Michael Lohr, who is only a few inches out of scoring points.

Shot Put – 0 -Matt Cronin is our only scoring hope here, about 15 inches out of scoring.

Triple Jump – 3 -We have the 5th and 6th ranked jumpers, but like the Long Jump we have the defending indoor champion who hasn’t jumped yet this season. Great potential for more points here.

Based off of this, we’re expected to score only 68 points (which much lower than our last year total of 130.33). Although that may look dismal, it’s largely due to the fact that the level of competition in the Capital Athletic Conference has risen GREATLY. In many events the winning times/distances from a few years ago wouldn’t even score points in this meet. It’s a bit demoralizing to finish lower than previous UMW teams, but at the same time exciting to be a part of the rise of the conference. Personally, I would be very happy if we could finish in the top 3, which we just missed out on indoor to Frostburg State (who will be hosting the Outdoor Championships).

As I noted above and in a previous post, I’ve been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury that doesn’t seem to completely go away. It’s not too bad right now, as I’m still able to run a bit, but not being able to be my best or train as hard as I can always gets me feeling a bit down. I came across this picture from Seinfeld and though it accurately portrayed my feeling of “worthlessness” haha-

Stay tuned for the post-meet wrap up.