New track, same Dick Young

by Kevin Byrne

The cream of the Midwest gathers on a new running surface at Grinnell’s annual invitational tournament

“The Dick usually brings in good competition,” a member of Grinnell’s track team explained.

The ‘Dick’ this runner was speaking of is the 12th Dick Young Track Classic, which takes place tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. at the Les Duke Track Complex. The Pioneers are looking for some fast times, and they will probably get them. Not only has April been a month of fast times for the Grinnell track teams, but the men and women will run on a brand new track surface for the second week in a row.

The first run on an unspoiled surface came last week, when the Pioneers visited Cornell College for Cornell’s first home meet in 30 years. Their new track helped lead to some fast times for the visiting Pioneers, including a first and second place finish in the men’s 1500 by Justin Riley ‘06 and Mitch Herz ‘05 at 4:06.3 and 4:09.61, respectively. Omondi Kasidhi ‘05, Adam Beals ‘06 and Pete Cueno ’06 finished 7-8-9 in the same race. Stephanie Meleady ‘03 took second in the women’s 1500 in a season-best time of 4:57.90. The fast times are likely to keep coming for the Pioneers in their only home meet of the year.

“We’re always excited to host a meet at home,” said women’s coach Evelyn Freeman. “The athletes don’t have to travel and they have the campus support.”

Many of the athletes feel the same way and are looking forward to having the Grinnell faithful in attendance.

“We love running at home because it’s great to have our friends come out and cheer,” said Meleady.

Grinnell will be host to 15 to 20 schools from four states in one of the biggest Division III track meets in the Midwest. Fully equipped with a brand new track complex, including a new synthetic surface, top-of-the-line hurdles, pits, standards, a computerized timing system, and a new throwing cage for the discus and hammer, the Pioneers look to improve on last week’s successful trip.

“We expect this to be a breakout meet for many of our runners,” Patrick Knoedler ’03 said, “and hope it will set the tone for how the rest of the season will go.”

Some runners that have certainly set the tone for their season include Riley, Kasidhi, Mary Parsons ‘05, and Kate Morcom ‘05, who have all performed extremely well in their 10k event. Men’s coach Will Freeman is particularly excited about this event, which will be the first of the meet.

“Should be a fast one,” said Freeman. “Grinnell will be loading this event with Justin Riley, who will be trying to qualify for the NCAA’s, Omondi Kasidhi, and Mary Parsons.”

Many more of Grinnell’s track and field athletes are looking to post good marks on Saturday, including Renae Youngs ‘05 in the discus, and Herz in the steeplechase. But for all the athletes, the prospect of some of the region’s best competition is making them raise their own standards.

“The Dick Young always has some awesome competition that pushes our runners to the edge,” Knoedler remarked.