A new season is coming around the corner, or better yet it
is here depending on where you attend school. We completed what was an exciting
Cross-Country season and revving up to what should be an exciting Indoor and
Outdoor Track season. There are quite a few new faces and a lot of old faces in
few faces. This can be said for athletes as well as coaches. Before we do a preview,
it would be best if we updated you on a few of the major changes happening in
the collegiate track and field world.
FLO goes to TEXAS.
Former Stanford and Kentucky head coach Edrick Floreal was
perhaps the biggest signing since Pat Henry left LSU for Texas A&M. Since
Beverly Kearney stepped down from her very successful tenure at the University
of Texas the Longhorns have struggled to maintain consistency within their
coaching staffs and on the track. Mario Santenga stepped down early in the
season and assistant head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey took the reigns as
temporary head coach. Bailey’s tenure at Texas was pretty good with several big
recruits and keeping the tradition of great Texas 400 runners and 4x400 relays.
She also took Texas hurdling to a new level regularly having one of the deepest
cores of hurdlers in the country.
However, the Athletic Department at Texas was used to a
track team that was dominating the Big 12 and regularly competing for a
national title. It was they are accustomed to in all sports and under Bev Kearney
it was something they regularly achieved. As of late Texas has not been as
national dominant as they would like, meanwhile rival Texas A&M is
regularly competing for national titles. The hiring of Eldrick Floreal away
from Kentucky was a huge boost. Floreal has had top tier hurdlers on every
stop, and has done a great job of developing jumpers as well. He also brings
with him a stellar sprint and distance coaching staff that have the tools to
build a national power. With a strong incoming class that he did not even
recruit expect for Texas to improve in several key areas.
JOANNA HAYES leaves USC
Joanna Hayes is UCLA alumni and one of their many Olympic
Champions. She took over the role as USC hurdles coach under head coach Caryl
Gilbert. She has elevated the program to a new level not only with recruiting
but development of their hurdlers. She made the shocking announcement a few
weeks ago that she was leaving USC to coach Sydney McLaughlin full time. She
will still serve as a Volunteer Coach but focus on developing professional
athletes. Skyler Willis was hired to be the new assistant coach.
There may not be a major change, but things will certainly
be different. Hayes had one of the most dominant cores of hurdlers that
included talented true freshman Chanel Brissett. Brissett went on to win the
Pac-12 100-meter hurdle title as a freshman and will return this season as one
of the top hurdlers in the NCAA. All that star talent for USC returns and it
may be possible for the USC Trojans to get up to three All-Americans in one
event.
SYD GOES PRO
It should not come as a shock to anyone that Sydney
McLaughlin has turned pro. This talented young lady was an Olympian in the 400-meter
hurdles while in high school. She clocked a new NCAA record in the event with a
time of 52.75. McLaughlin was the top-rated competitor in the event and will be
force to be reckoned with this summer at the World Championships.
BIG TIME TRANSFERS
There was more than just a flurry of coaches changing
schools there were several noticeable athletes that made the change as well.
Michael Timpson Jr left the University of Florida to finish
his final season at Florida State under his youth coach Ricky Argo. This is not
a totally surprising move with Argo’s history of developing 100-meter sprinters
Timpson may have felt that he was not being utilized to his full potential at
Florida. The only shock is transferring from one rival to the other.
Arkansas saw three of star athletes leave, Obi Igbokwe to
Houston, Carlton Orange to Texas A&M and Harrison Schrage to UCLA. Igbokwe
has been a key part of the Arkansas sprint core and his absence will most
certainly be felt in the 4x400 relay. Orange is a 1:46 800-meter runner and
will be a threat to win the conference title, Schrage can jump pass 25 feet and
is a potential All-American candidate. These three loses will certainly be felt
by Arkansas, but the Razorbacks do have depth and quality recruiting. It
remains to be seen if they can duplicate the success of those athletes.
TJ Brock left USC for TCU. This was a bit of a surprise,
Brock had a pretty solid relationship with the coaching staff at USC and
outside of injuries plaguing the early part of his career he seemed to be on
the right path. A change in scenery to and change in coaching may help him
ultimately meet his goals. Brock will likely be training with Nike star
sprinter Ronnie Baker. He adds solid depth to an already impressive group of
sprinters and will be immediately expected to compete for the Big 12 title in
the short sprints.
Lauren Rain Williams was initially a USC commit but was
released and allowed to sign with Oregon. After strong freshman campaign that
saw her win the silver medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships the
sophomore is ready to return to the top. The move to USC will hopefully help
her do that.
*Oregon experienced their own mass exodus similar to that of
Arkansas except perhaps even bigger. Star distance coaches Andy and Maurica
Powell left the University of Oregon and accepting leading positions at the
University of Washington. The spent a little over a decade at the University of
Oregon developing them into a distance superpower again expect for those same
results to follow them at Washington. Several distance stars have left Oregon
to help ease the process, on the men’s side Washington native Tanner Anderson
and Mick Stanovsek on the women’s side Lilli Burdon, Judy Pendergast and Katie
Rainsberger. These are all quality athletes who will make an impact for
Washington quickly.
There are a host of other quality transfers that we will
likely explore later this season. Just keep your eyes open for the latest post.
Our next post will be about the fantastic freshman that will be competing this
upcoming season. Indoor is finally here, enjoy!
