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BY JAYMES FAIRFAX-COLUMBO and NIYIKA CORBETT

In print | March 20, 2008

Putting the cold Pennsylvania weather behind them, the men’s and women’s outdoor track-and-field teams spent their spring break in Florida, the Sunshine State, soaking up some rays and tossing down a couple of intense games of beach volleyball.

When asked about the logic behind a spring break trip, Coach Pete Carroll said, “It’s definitely a combination of training, education and team bonding. Spring break is kind of a barometer coming out of indoors. We have to have a meet, it’s got to be warm and it needs to fit our budget.”

Ironically, the inclement weather at the meet did not reflect the venue’s southern location. In fact, conditions in Tallahassee were quite similar to conditions in Philadelphia.

According to Carroll, “The meet was very cold, very uncharacteristic of Florida. We were about eight hours behind a tornado so the weather patterns changed. It was forty degrees with twenty mile-per-hour winds. Our performances were reflective of the conditions, but the efforts were the same. We were looking for hard efforts.”

The beginning of break was business as usual for the Garnet as they competed at the FAMU Relays, hosted March 7-8 by Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. The early season meet served as a rust-buster, allowing athletes to get used to the feel of racing on a full-sized, 400 meter outdoor track.

The meet opened up on Friday with the 5000 meter run. Nyika Corbett ‘10 and Bess Ritter ’09 each had strong performances, finishing third and fourth respectively against Division I competition. Jonathan Shoop ’08 represented the men’s side in the 5k, surviving the less than ideal conditions to finish his first outdoor race of the season.

Saturday started nice and early, with Lauren Deluca ‘10 racing the 800 meters, followed on the men’s side by the sophomore duo of Andrew VanBuren and Jonnie Tompkins. Next up was the women’s 4×800 meters squad, consisting of Faith Pampel ‘09, Rebecca Woo ’11, Caitlin Russell ’11 and Melina Healey ’08. The quartet came together for a solid third place finish. The men’s sprint medley relay also had a good showing, with VanBuren, Dan Hodson ’09, Seth Green ’10 and Chris Mayer-Bacon ’11 racing to a fourth place finish.

Mayer-Bacon and Hodson also competed individually, running the 400 hurdles and 1500 meters respectively. For Mayer-Bacon it was a liberating experience of sorts — he was a solid prep 400 hurdler, an event not contested on the 200 meter indoor track. Hodson also turned in a solid performance, posting a respectable finish in the 1500 despite being a distance specialist.

The Garnet was also well represented in the field events. Heather Hightower ’09 and Neel Prakash ’09 proved to be the workhorses of the day, making their discus throw debut as well as competing in the shot put. Nathalie De Gaiffier ’10 also turned in a strong performance, making her outdoor debut in the long jump.

In addition to the student-athletes, throws Coach Tom Reynolds also competed, dominating the discus throw and winning by an incredible four feet. He also had a strong showing in the shot put, placing fourth.

But, as the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Swat track a dull team.” The squad found plenty of time for fun, with team activities ranging from surfing to beach volleyball and the viewing of a rocket launch. As Healey described, “We had great team bonding. We played a lot of intimate games. It got pretty competitive; I went surfing and kicked Dan [Hodson]’s butt, but I got my butt kicked in beach volleyball.”

Perhaps the reason for Healey’s aching posterior were the combined efforts of Shoop and Coach Reynolds. As Shoop explained, “I think I missed my athletic calling. Instead of running I should have been a beach volleyball player alongside Coach Tom.” Van Buren also praised Coach Reynold’s volleyball skills, as well as his impressive physique, as he said, “Tom has one hot body. I’m a lucky man to have seen it in action during beach volleyball.” Russell echoed the spirit of beach volleyball competition among the team, as she stated, “Our beach volleyball game showed that our team is multitalented. We don’t just run fast; we can pound it in the sand, too.”

What were the trip’s highlights? According to Coach Carroll, the trip had two. The first was a new team record by Seth Green ’10 of being lost for three hours and twelve minutes on trails while listening to an iPod. Life lesson here: do not listen to an iPod while running. Green also kept the team entertained, as he extended his streak of bad luck to exploding Gatorade.

The second highlight was when the team attended the Endeavor shuttle launch. Not only did the launch serve as a metaphor for the team launch into the outdoor season, but it was also a great team bonding experience. As Carroll explained, “It was kind of exciting because it was really anticipatory. It didn’t last very long - just twenty-three seconds - but a lot of it was getting up in the middle of the night and getting to the causeway. It was a type of harmonic convergence, a type of Americana. It lifted off and everyone was clapping and cheering — it was patriotic yet humanistic, an international endeavor with Japan and some other countries.”

The Garnet also provided a highlight for the workers at the hotel. As Coach Noon described, “The guys had a pushup competition at the track meet and it carried over into the hotel lobby for Jonnie [Jonathan Tompkins ’10] — it was the highlight of the trip for the concierge.”

Connor Darby ‘09 provided an in-depth closing analysis of the trip, stating, "So … to sum up spring break, it’s best to refer to a team favorite — an inspirational movie called “So Fine.” The heart and will power of Amy the Gorilla in her quest to save mankind against tigers with lasers is a testament to the work ethic of our team and what we want to accomplish not only as runners, but also throughout our lives."

But not all members of the track teams competed in Florida, and some expressed considerable regret at their absence from the events. Caitlin Mullarkey ’09 spent spring break abroad and missed her team for the duration. “I just sat crying in a dorm room in Ireland, pining for the track team — for nine days,” she said.

The men’s and women’s teams will next be in action on Saturday, March 29th, when their first meet in PA kicks of at 10:00 a.m. at Widener University’s Danny Curran Invitational.

Disclosure Note: Nyika Corbett is a member of the women’s track team, but she only reported on the men’s team for this article. Also, Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo is a member of the men’s track team, but he only reported on the women’s team. In addition, Seth Green is a contributor to The Phoenix, but had no role in the production of this article.

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