The track and field team will open its outdoor season this weekend in Fort Worth at the TCU Invitational.
It’s been a month since the indoor season ended, and the Wildcats have been on preparing for a rigorous outdoor season consisting of nine meets.
Distance runner Ryan Cleary feels confident in the improvements the team has made based off of the previous season.
“I think everyone is ready to start the outdoor season with a strong showing against some Big XII schools and show them that we’re ready to compete,” said Cleary, freshman from Prosper. “I think we’re going to have high finishes in a lot of events.”
The freshman excelled this season and was the second finisher for the Wildcats in the first four meets.
The season will open with tough competition for the ‘Cats. ACU will face several Div. I competitors, such as Baylor, TCU and Kansas State, at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex.
While most the team will compete in Fort Worth, pole vaulters and redshirts will get the chance to compete in an additional meet at McMurry University. This local meet gives newcomers a chance to perform at the collegiate level and the vaulters an opportunity to practice and improve before their next meet.
Kenzie Walker, sophomore pole vaulter from Abilene, is excited to get a start on the outdoor season.
“With the experience I gain, I always try to learn and take something away from each season,” Walker said. “The energy that the Lord gives me is what is going to make the biggest difference in the 2015 outdoor season.”
This indoor season, Walker claimed a fifth-place ranking in the ACU record books for Wildcat history with a height of 3.85 meters.
In previous years, the team has improved its times, heights and successes with the return of the season.
Walker improved her record of 3.72 meters to 3.85 and plans to continue striving for higher numbers.
“My goals are set pretty high to jump over 13 feet this next season,” she said. “I want to depend on God this season and beyond my track abilities.”
Both meets – the TCU Invitational and the McMurry University War Hawk Classic – will begin Friday with an all-day competition.
