By Jared Fields, Managing Editor
Depending on who you are on the ACU track and field team, this weekend will either bring rest or the Angelo State Relays.
“It comes at a good time for half of the team who didn’t compete at the Texas Relays,” said distance coach Derek Hood. “For us at a training standpoint, it comes at a good time in the season; it’s about halfway through the season.”
While some runners are taking time to rest, Hood is using the meet in San Angelo as part of the training for some of his runners.
Serge Gasore, usually a 5,000-kilometer and 10,000-kilometer runner, will run the 800- and 1,500-meters this weekend.
“We’re training him there,” Hood said. “It will be part of training to run a faster pace.”
Hood is using Julius Nyango the same way, running him in a longer event than he usually runs.
“We need to do the opposite with him,” Hood said. “Build up his endurance.”
To build his endurance, Nyango will run the 5k, a far stretch from the 800-meters and 1,500-meters he is accustomed to running.
Women middle distance runners, Denise Morgan, Mary Mwangi, Vanessa Whittle and Olha Kryv’yak, will have the weekend off to rest an d train.
“They’ve had about three weeks of competing so they need some time to train through,” Hood said.
Nicodemus Naimadu is taking the weekend off after winning the 10,000-kilometers at Stanford, then the steeplechase in Austin in consecutive weeks. The rest for Naimadu is a welcomed break after his two tough weekends.
In practice, Hood said Naimadu felt fine except for a few cramps, or “stitches,” in his side. His legs and back had been troubling him, but Hood said that is behind him now.
“Other than a few stitches in his side, he’s OK,” Hood said. “He’ll run the 5k at TCU.”
Some field event athletes are taking some time off as well, but the rest will compete in San Angelo.
Even some sprinters are taking time off to recuperate.
“I feel a lot better from indoors; I was out for most of indoors,” said sprinter Sasharine McLarty.
While McLarty does feels better, she said she’s not at 100 percent yet, but will help prepare her for the TCU meet.
