Ben Morrow
Staff writer
With the 2012 track and field season gearing up for Murray State, second-year Head Coach Jenny Severns is eager for her team to compete.
“We are a much better team this year,” Severns said via email. “I think we are an even better outdoor team than we are an indoor team. We definitely plan on beating some teams that we haven’t beaten in a while.”
Severns said an abundance of underclassmen leaves the field open for many different athletes to contribute this year.
“Everyone looks really good right now. Our team is so young, and I think there are a lot of people you could hear about,” she said. “We are trying to build a complete team and I think everyone has the potential to do big things. We are focusing on the little things – not just doing everything right at practice but also doing the little things right outside of practice.”
The Racers completed their second meet of the season on Jan. 13 and 14 with a total of 15 top-10 finishes at the SIU Open in Carbondale, Ill. Junior Alexis Love shined with a first-place run in the 200 and a second-place run in the 60.
The SIU Open followed a month away from competition after the Saluki Fast Start in December, also in Carbondale, where Love set a Racer record for the 60 with a time of 7.57.
The performances earned Love the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Week for the season. Severns said track fans can expect even more good things from Love this season.
“Alexis is very talented,” Severns said. “We had some good weather leading up to the December meet so the team was able to get in some good workouts outdoors that really helps. I believe Alexis is capable of a lot this season.”
The coach said the combination of a young team and a fresh crop of new recruits signals good things for the future.
“I am so excited about where our team is heading,” Severns said. “The next few years are going to be big from Murray State Track and Field. “We also understand that there is an adjustment period for freshmen. For some it may be a month and for others it may be a year. We are just asking everyone to do the best they possibly can every day. If that happens we will be fine.”
Severns said the team is blessed with good leadership this year.
“Amber Mills is a born leader; she is really good at making sure they support each other and other teams on campus,” she said. “She plans community service projects and really keeps the team balanced. Kayla Crusham and Alexis Love are also leaders on the team. They both lead by example. Amber and Kayla are seniors and they want to win badly. They really do a good job at expressing how important doing everything right is and how important it is to give everything at meets.”
Severns said students and fans can keep up with the Racers’ success via Twitter.
“We don’t race at home a lot, but we have a Twitter account and I try to tweet from all of our meets (@MurrayStateXCTF) so people can follow us,” she said. “We are also trying to host one outdoor meet this season on April 6.”
The season continues for the Racers Saturday and Sunday at the Illini Classic in Champaign, Ill.
Contact Morrow.