2008 Woodie Awards
Indoor track opens season with strong outing at Bucknell
By Matt Matusek
Rocket Staff Writer
Issue date: 12/9/05 Section: Sports
The Slippery Rock University track and field team showed it will be a force to be reckoned with this year with a solid showing at the Bucknell Bison Opener last Saturday.
Juniors Preston Gibbs and Andi Rose each took first place along with sophomore Joe Labarbera in the event.
Gibbs earned a blue ribbon in the men's triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, 10 inches. Labarbera tied for first in the men's pole vault with a vault of 15-3 and Rose took the crown in the 60-meter hurdles event with a time of 8.87 seconds.
"I think we did a great job for the opening event," Rock coach John Papa said. "Of course the three first-place finishes are something to be proud of, and there were many others who represented us well."
The women's pole vault team was especially brilliant. Freshman Jennifer Hansen finished second with a vault of 11- 3 ¾. Sophomore Abby McKissick tied for third place with a vault of 10-10 and junior Katie Jones placed fifth at 10-4.
"The opening event is something like a pre-season game really. But our success is a good indicator for what the rest of the indoor season will be like," Papa said. "Indoor track is significant but what our team really focuses on is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Championships in May."
Although only three players recorded first-place in the opening meet, 15 others placed within the top eight.
"Obviously everybody needs to do whatever they need to do to get significantly better between the first meet and the PSACs in May," Papa said.
SRU track will now have off until after holiday break ends. In the meantime, Papa said it's up to the athletes to maintain their focus and drive.
"This sport is very self-motivational for everyone involved. The players just gotta get it done over the break, we have to go through this every year," Papa said.
In the nearly two months in between meets, the players are put on a winter-workout schedule relating to the events of each player.
"Basically what we want them to do is focus a lot on their general fitness throughout the holidays, so they don't come back worse than where they were before the break," Papa said. "Not everyone has access to the facilities that we need to do certain workouts, so we just try to implement simple weight training."
The next meet will be the Slippery Rock Invitational on Jan. 21. It will be the first of four scheduled meets.
Juniors Preston Gibbs and Andi Rose each took first place along with sophomore Joe Labarbera in the event.
Gibbs earned a blue ribbon in the men's triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, 10 inches. Labarbera tied for first in the men's pole vault with a vault of 15-3 and Rose took the crown in the 60-meter hurdles event with a time of 8.87 seconds.
"I think we did a great job for the opening event," Rock coach John Papa said. "Of course the three first-place finishes are something to be proud of, and there were many others who represented us well."
The women's pole vault team was especially brilliant. Freshman Jennifer Hansen finished second with a vault of 11- 3 ¾. Sophomore Abby McKissick tied for third place with a vault of 10-10 and junior Katie Jones placed fifth at 10-4.
"The opening event is something like a pre-season game really. But our success is a good indicator for what the rest of the indoor season will be like," Papa said. "Indoor track is significant but what our team really focuses on is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Championships in May."
Although only three players recorded first-place in the opening meet, 15 others placed within the top eight.
"Obviously everybody needs to do whatever they need to do to get significantly better between the first meet and the PSACs in May," Papa said.
SRU track will now have off until after holiday break ends. In the meantime, Papa said it's up to the athletes to maintain their focus and drive.
"This sport is very self-motivational for everyone involved. The players just gotta get it done over the break, we have to go through this every year," Papa said.
In the nearly two months in between meets, the players are put on a winter-workout schedule relating to the events of each player.
"Basically what we want them to do is focus a lot on their general fitness throughout the holidays, so they don't come back worse than where they were before the break," Papa said. "Not everyone has access to the facilities that we need to do certain workouts, so we just try to implement simple weight training."
The next meet will be the Slippery Rock Invitational on Jan. 21. It will be the first of four scheduled meets.
