Note: This story was written prior to SUNYAC and the NCAA’s decision to cancel all remaining sporting events.
The number of athletes left competing for the Oswego State men’s and women’s indoor track and field team is down to two. Seniors Sarah Yensan and Catarina Burke will be going to the 2020 NCAA Div. III Women’s Indoor Track and Field National Championships.
Yensan will compete in the long jump and Burke will compete in the high jump at the meet starting this Friday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Yensan enters the meet with the sixth-longest jump in the country for Div. III women long jumpers. A 5.80-meter jump at the Brockport Invite on Feb. 8 was her best jump of the season and current school record for long jump.
Burke enters the high jump event on Friday with the 16th-best mark in all of Div. III for women. Her mark of 1.68 meters was set at the St. Lawrence Open on Feb. 21. She looks to best that mark to have a chance against some of the best high jumpers at the Div. III level in North Carolina.
The rest of the men’s and women’s track and field seasons ended this past weekend with the NCAA Atlantic Regional hosted by Nazareth College on March 6 and 7. Student-athletes who competed in the regional meet, outside of Yensan and Burke, included Shaniece Gregory, Kevin Mitchell and Kyle Sorbello. Out of those five Laker athletes, three were able to earn top-10 finishes in their respective events. Yensan won the long jump event with a leap of 5.63 meters. Burke grabbed a top-10 spot in the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters. Mitchell, a sprinter, was able to grab a top-10 spot in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.90 seconds.
Those athletes were part of a small sized group of individuals for the Lakers who stood out from the rest of the team this season. The tough part for the Lakers was the rest of the team not being able to get enough points to finish higher in certain meets during the heart of indoor track and field season. This was exemplified by the seventh-place finish of the women’s team and eight-place finish of the men’s team at the SUNYAC Championships Feb. 28 and 29 at The College at Brockport.
Head coach Jacob Smith, who is in his first season coaching the track and field team at Oswego State, felt there was more to be accomplished this season for the Lakers.
“I consider myself a really competitive person,” Smith said. “So from a team perspective I was completely unsatisfied with how the season ended at the SUNYAC Championships. I understand that things are not going to change overnight and that it will take time to build a successful culture and recruit people who want to do what is required in order to compete at the same level as the people I mentioned who stood out.”
Smith, who is also the cross-country coach at Oswego State, has the background in coaching running to suggest that the recruiting and performance of Oswego State runners will get better, especially distance. Smith believes in a training method which features both running and using the weight room to improve throughout the season.
“It was a combination of strength training in the weight room, building fitness, speed, and endurance with interval workouts on the track,” Smith said. “As well as technique work, getting out of the blocks and starting for the sprinters. All while executing the optimal movements in the various jumping and throwing events.”
The track and field season will continue on the outside circuit for Oswego State starting March 28 at the Blue and Silver Invite in Newport News, Virginia. It is the first of several events that will lead to the SUNYAC Championships on May 1 and 2 at SUNY Oneonta.
The Lakers will look to finish higher in the outdoor season than they did in the indoor season. The team saw improvement and have a coaching staff invested in building a successful program. They want to win and they want to win as soon as possible. Currently the team has a big amount of contribution from a small group of individuals, all pushing the program forward with their example.
