You can’t stop a bullet after it has been fired from a gun and the same goes for the NCC women’s track and field team. With red-hot momentum that has been carrying them throughout the entire season so far, there is no second-guessing continuing success.
Three weekends ago, the Cardinals opened up their outdoor season at the Augustana Viking Olympics where head women’s track and field coach Kari Kluckhohn saw a number of great things happen.
“We had a great opener. We came off of indoor real well. People came back (from Spring Break) prepared and that was a great sign for the start of the outdoor season,” Kluckhohn said. The team came in fifth out of 11.
Another factor that can be attributed to the team’s success last week is the weather. It was as if the weather has been preordered for the track meets specifically. Last year, the first few meets ended up being cancelled due to inclement weather.
“Last year we started off the season with challenging weather and cancelled meets. We are already ahead this season due to great competition and weather which helps us produce great outcomes,” said Kluckhohn. The weather for the Wheaton College Invitational on April 8 was even better than the week before.
With a great opener and perfect weather blessing the team in the first few outdoor meets of the season, the team’s focus continues to look forward to championship season and the consistency of getting better. Small improvements in form, handoffs, blocks, throws, pole vault and jumps can bring the season that much closer to being conference champions.
Coach Sade Grant, who competed just this past indoor season, just recently shifted her role on the team from an athlete to a coach.
“I see us improving from indoor. We are carrying off from doing great in indoor. We had a lot of good things happen (at Augustana) that will help us see what we need to improve on moving forward,” Grant said about the outdoor season.
As the team knows, moving forward helps to stay consistent and consistency is key in track and field. With the team and coaches feeling good about outdoor season, continued success only comes with the performances. The team will move forward to their fourth outdoor meet of the season this weekend at the Wheaton College Don Church Twilight Meet which starts at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
