- June 5th, 2007, 10:45 pm
#88968
This was really 01's fight; but it will be nice to have a central place to post without having to dig through the "discount bin" to find threads among all of the general interest stuff.
That said, this thread will thrive even better if members of the current team would come on here and post workouts and about their road to a D1 scholarship (tricks and tips so to speak, how much they raced in high school, training, etc.) for high school runner lurkers who may happen to come across the thread (or there parents.)
I would say that McDougal, with the Liberty Flame Graphic emblazoned across his chest, has at least put the program name on the D1 radar of some potential recruits who may have been unaware of LU prior to his arrival. His performances hopefully will start to manifest themselves into attracting and landing high level and top notch recruits. They really have something potentially very special here these next couple of years to really build a solid foundation for an elite program if they can land some consistent top recruiting classes across the entire spectrum of events from Field Events and Sprints to Distance in addition to what they have currently in the stables (don't want to discount the talent already assembled.)
I think that his association with the program and the addition of a guy like Jimmerson to really shore up the distance coaching really signifies a commitment to rising to the top of Track & Field. You can see the evidence of the team "culture" shifting as Josh seems to really embrace the team success concept and with the huge drops in PR for the Jefferson chick (as far as distance)...it seems the mileage quotient and committment to training intensely has seeped into the psyche of the runners. A huge drop in time like she had really reveals the attention to training...
Now, not knowing Jimmerson or his coaching ability, from these results, one can reasonably assume that a portion of these successes most likely are attributed to the style and pedigree that Jimmerson brings to the program. It shows that the runners are trusting the coaching and buying into the what they are selling as far as training protocol goes. That's a thing that many aspiring collegiate runners want when going to college--that is they are hungry for direction and for someone with more experience than they to really help train them to reach beyond their potential.
If the coaches can show recruits that great to good runners are coming into the program performing with X times and are leaving the program by their Senior seasons with their personal bests lowered substantially and competing in the national meets, recruiting becomes significantly easier. Add the allure of competing on a potential NCAA qualifier and perhaps someday, if the stars align, a potential perennial player on the national scene, and perhaps LU will start nabbing some of the running talent that heads to the DII powers such as Abilene Christian and perhaps some more like Josh, elite faith-based athletes will choose LU.
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.--John Quincy Adams
We should have created this forum a long time ago!
- By Chippy