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Athlete Profile: Mary Strand

Courtesy of athletics.houghton.edu
Courtesy of athletics.houghton.edu

Mary Strand was recently honored with the title of NCCAA Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week. Each week the NCCAA decides on one student athlete from a number of recognized schools to represent the accomplishments within that particular sport.  The recipient of the title exemplifies quality performances as well as Christian ideals.  

Strand set the new school record for the 200 meters, 4×200 meter relay, and qualified for NCCAA Nationals in the 400 meter during a competition at Brockport State Invitational.  At Nationals, held at Indiana Wesleyan University, Strand helped the relay team beat the school record again and placed individually with her best time of the season.   

Strand, a sophomore, has been participating in track and field since seventh grade.  Although she is mostly a sprinter, she has also trained in other areas and was even part of last year’s JV soccer team.  

While Strand is appreciative of this award, she said she will continue to stay focused.  Strand said that  while running, “you push yourself as far as you can go and then you push yourself further.”
Strand attributes her success to the support of her coach and team.  Her captain, Sarah Munkittrick, said there is a lot to learn from Strand, describing her as a hard worker and a perfectionist who still remains humble.  Munkittrick also said that Strand “not only pushes the team to work harder but also brings them together.”

Track and field coach, Matthew Dougherty, said those honored with the title of Athlete of the Week are great performers, tremendous athletes and talented individuals, with Mary Strand possessing all of these qualities.  Dougherty defined Strand as someone who has strong motivation paired with a ferocity most would not expect, allowing her to achieve anything she sets her mind to.  

Strand plans on practicing just as hard in order to continually get better and achieve more later on in meets both as an individual and as a team.  Dougherty said that Strand’s position on the team is “integral in terms of chemistry,” helping to inspire others through her talent and fun attitude.  

Strand is excited to begin the outdoor track and field season, having used these recent experiences as a preparation phase.  She expects to practice and compete with the same determination, progressively challenging herself.  Dougherty said that Strand’s disposition is one of a “driven and focused individual who is strong spiritually, academically, and athletically.”  

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Indoor Track NCCAA National Championship

Fourteen of Houghton’s indoor track athletes made it to the the 2013 NCCAA National Championships, and will be competing at Indiana Wesleyan University in men’s and women’s indoor track today and tomorrow, February 15-16.

Courtesy of http://www.campbellsvilletigers.com/
Courtesy of http://www.campbellsvilletigers.com/

Those competing include Andrew McGinnis, Jordan Cady, Josiah Evans, Tim McGowan, Alyssa Figueroa, Mary Strand, Sarah Munkittrick, Tatum Mcleod, Savannah Doviak, Cara Davenport, Leah Williams, Andrea Melhorn, and Emilie Edwards. Senior Annelise Hein qualified but is unable to attend the meet.

There will be a number of well-ranked schools at the upcoming meet. Senior Captain Andrew McGinnis said he is “pumped to see the intensity of the competition.”   

Going into this meet, Smalley said the primary objective is to be “consistently successful in getting better.”  A realistic goal would include two All-American Athletes, a National Champion, and more personal bests.  

The track teams will have the opportunity to compete in the National Championship meet for the second time in recent years. This meet will conclude the indoor track season that started this past November.

Smalley said that during training an emphasis is put on “learning to compete, to relax, but still be strong and powerful.” Planning around academic schedules and the limited space in the gym made preparing for this meet difficult, Smalley commented.

With about a month before the outdoor season begins, the teams will be fully prepared for the transition. Robert Smalley, assistant coach to the track teams, said, “this is due to the developmental training that has happened up to this point.”

Weekly devotionals help bring the individual athletes together as a team. Both the men and women plan activities to bond. Junior captain Sarah Munkittrick said, “It’s easy to become self-focused. You have to remember you are not just an individual, but a team.”

Athletes must “drive themselves to be better – they don’t have teammates to pick up the slack,” said Smalley. Track is “difficult because you can’t hide in a team,” and Smalley said he hopes that in general the athletes will have learned to compete as individuals who encourage the team.  

The team is unique in that “there is no stereotype,” Munkittrick said.  All the athletes share a mental toughness that pushes them in essentially competing against themselves.  

Junior Alyssa Figueroa agreed that the sport “relies heavily on individual performance, and you must therefore set progressive goals.”

Figueroa recently beat the school record for the triple jump and is the defending National Champion for the 60m dash.  As a dual athlete who is also playing soccer, she said that she can see the differences competing in track has made in her running.  

Smalley said that “having dual athletes on the team really brings different body types and skills” that are beneficial. “Being a student athlete is difficult, but in the end builds good character.”

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Personal Records in Indoor Track

Though the rest of the campus may be, the track and field team is undeterred by the cold temperatures and the snow, training hard for their indoor season. With three meets already completed, the men and women will continue to compete until their season ends in May.

Coming off of Christmas break, the Highlanders had one practice before competing in their second meet. Many of the athletes set personal records and qualified for National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Nationals at the RIT Invitational on January 12. The women’s 4×200 placed second, running the event in 1:55.07.

Indoor track race at RIT Invitational
Indoor track race at RIT Invitational

Junior Alyssa Figueroa qualified for NCCAA Nationals and broke two school records, running 60 meters in 8.08 seconds and jumping 11.35 meters in the triple jump.

Head track and field coach Matthew Dougherty said, “With Alyssa Figueroa, Sarah Munkittrick, Savannah Doviak, and Mary Strand as sprinters, Leah Williams and Annelise Hein running long distance, and Andrea Melhorn adding good depth on the field, we have a good group of returners this year.”

While all events in track and field are performed individually, aside from relays, the team still plays a significant role. The teammates encourage one another at practices and competitions to persevere through mental and physical exhaustion.

“The track team is really unique in a way that as a whole team we only practice together once a week, during meets is when we get to spend time together,” junior captain Sarah Munkittrick said. “We all want everyone to do their best.”

The team competed again this past weekend at the SPIRE North Coast Indoor Track and Field Open hosted in Columbus, Ohio. More personal records were broken as the athletes had a week more of training.

Sophomores Andrea Melhorn and Mary Strand both qualified for Nationals. Melhorn qualified for the hammer throw with a mark of 11.99 meters. Strand ran 200 meters in 27.06 seconds. The Highlanders ran the women’s 4×400 meter relay in 4:15.28, Strand anchoring with a split of 59 seconds. Dougherty also highlighted senior captain Andrew McGinnis’ time of 24.35 seconds in the 200 meter race.

“I think [the season] is going well. We have a bunch of new guys and girls coming in,” sophomore captain Austin Groff said. “We had about 48% personal records broken for girls in the last meet and a high percentage for the guys as well.”

The team will participate in the Empire 8 Championships this Saturday, January 26. The indoor season will end in March, and then the outdoor track and field events will begin.

The main difference when the team transitions to outdoor events is that the races are longer distances, losing the shorter sprints. In addition, some other throwing field events are added, such as javelin and discus.

The indoor facilities built with the Kerr-Pegula donation will result in more efficient ways to train for events such as the triple jump and pole vaulting. As of now, there are no pits to jump in and the vaulters do not actually vault until the meets, although they train in other ways.

“It is hard for a coach to have goals, but the team came in second last year and I think they want to replicate that this year,” said Dougherty. “Basically the team is as strong as any other and we just want to finish in the top half.”

Munkittrick said, “Personally, I want the womens 4x200m relay to become All-American at the NCCAA indoor nationals and to break the school record again!”