2008 Woodie Awards
First-year athletes adjust to different environment, new practice schedule
Alex Voigt
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Sports
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Whether it involves a change in class schedule, a change in jobs or a change in living situations, everyone has adjustments to make in getting used to the college life.
First-year student Jeremy Davis is one of many athletes making another adjustment: a change in which sport he practices in the fall. Normally a football player during the fall season in high school, Davis is instead spending his afternoons practicing with the track team as a hurdler.
The workouts are fairly basic in nature, focusing more on conditioning rather than technique during an event. However, Davis can't help but feel a little out of place practicing a sport in the fall that he'd grown used to doing in the spring.
"It's definitely a change; I'm still kind of in football-mode right now," Davis said. "It feels like we just got done with track, and here we are starting back up again."
The feeling is likewise for first-year sprinter and high jumper Christine Henke. Henke, who competed in cross country during the fall in high school, already sees a change in terms of how she schedules her days.
"It's different, because instead of working stuff around what you want to do, you're working stuff that you want to do around what you have to do," Henke said. "But I guess everybody deals with that when they go to college."
With practices starting Sept. 24, the first-year track athletes are certainly in for a longer season than what they're used to. Practices are light time-wise for the time being, with NCAA regulations only allowing athletes to practice for eight hours a week until the end of October. After that time, practice allowances go up to 20 hours a week.
Head Coach Seth Mischke said the early start of practices is done in part to accommodate a much longer track season. The indoor track season plays a much more prominent role in collegiate track, with indoor meets taking place as early as January and concluding in March.
"In high school track, you're lucky if you get one or two meets in during the indoor season. It's really more of a way to get ready for the outdoor season," Mischke said, "The indoor track season in college has up to seven or eight meets and can almost be as important as the outdoor season."
Mischke said another reason for the early start for practices is for coaches to get a better assessment of individual athletes than they would if the athletes were working out on their own.
"Most of our athletes were usually doing other things all year to get them by in high school, like working out for another sport or exercising on their own. That's all good, but it's just not as specific or structured as we can probably be." Mischke said. "Plus, it's good for the coaches because we can see where everybody's at and help people get to where they need to be."
Although practicing year-round has its obvious competitive upsides, it also presents its fair share of problems for athletes, mostly pertaining to the fatigue associated with practicing one sport constantly. The burnout effect drives athletes away from collegiate sports every year.
Mischke can't deny that it takes a certain level of mental toughness to get through the season that may not have been required in high school.
"There's going to be times when the work outs start to become unmotivating and monotonous just because of how long the season is," Mischke said. "We try our best to keep people motivated by trying different things and mixing it up once in awhile."
Mischke added that the sense of first-year athletes feeling overwhelmed by practices is alleviated by the NCAA-mandated shorter practice times in the first few weeks.
"It's good because it helps our athletes ease back into a routine of working out and it gives the younger athletes an early indication of what it's going to take."