Head track and field director
Steve Rainbolt, senior
Austin Corley and redshirt sophomore
Paula Garcia, fielded questions Tuesday afternoon, on hosting the American Athletic Conference Championships May 10-12.
HEAD TRACK AND FIELD DIRECTOR STEVE RAINBOLT ON...
...92nd Kansas Relays:
"I thought we had a nice meet at the Kansas Relays, a lot of good things happened and I felt like our team took a step forward in our march towards the championship season. We're excited that we are hosting the American Athletic Conference Championships in May, to see our team have a great meet at the Kansas Relays was terrific for our program.
...Austin Corley:
"
Austin Corley is a guy who holds himself to a really high standard, I'll watch him run a race that I feel like is a good race and it'll be 51-something in the 400m hurdles and I know he's disappointed and I know he wants better. I was really pleased to see him charge hard at the end of the race and to see 50.90 pop up on the scoreboard, I was happy for him and confident that represents a nice step in the right direction."
...Paula Garcia:
"
Paula Garcia has had her share of ups and downs, especially early on when she first came to Wichita State when she went through some really rough times. I'm the kind of guy that thinks about those things when I'm watching her blast down the backstretch in a 200m race. I know her confidence is building and I can see it happening right before my eyes week by week."
...move from the Missouri Valley Conference to American Athletic Conference:
"I saw the Missouri Valley as a good conference, we had some terrific athletes in the MVC and that is a good track and field conference. The American Athletic Conference does operate at high level mainly because the men's sprints are so good, it sort of changes our approach. We are a team that builds on balance and depth, we are going to come to every event area with good entries in all the events."
...advantage of hosting the AAC Championships on May 10-12:
"There are some things you can do when traveling that help you maintain focus, you have control of your athletes, you got them on the bus, you get them back to the hotel and you know where they are. Here in Wichita, they are scattering to all their houses, apartments or dorms, it feels a bit out of control, but our athletes do love competing at Cessna. They are comfortable and familiar with the track at Cessna and I think in that regard it is a terrific advantage."
...Cessna Stadium upgrades:
"The stadium looks amazing right now, the department put in a new track surface for us this fall and now a beautiful video board. I really feel like these upgrades have elevated our facility to a different level of venue and it's really great."
...having to train athletes all season long:
"It's a real challenge and it is a long year that starts in the fall with general conditioning. We start getting specific with our training around late October and into Novemeber, followed by an indoor season that is basically a seven-week period from early January to the end of February. They then have a small break and then it's back again to increased intensity with lower volume all the way until the championship season. It is a tough process to build a training program that has them ready at just the right time, the distance runners, in particular, are trying to run really competitively at the end of the cross country season, competitively at the end of indoor season and really competitively again at the end of the outdoor season."
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SENIOR HURDLER AUSTIN CORLEY ON...
...difference between hosting and traveling for meets:
"There are always advantages and disadvantages when hosting a meet versus traveling, there is a lot of control over travel and there is not a lot of distractions. When you're at the hotel it is really easy to get into a race mindset, whereas when you're at home it's very easy to get distracted. I think it is a matter of reminding yourself to be focused and to maintain that focus."
...mindset for his senior season:
"I've had more of a mindset this year to train to peak later and that is the main goal is to get to the NCAA Championships and of course to win a conference title, I have to two titles now and I'm trying to get a third for my senior year. I've been focusing less on trying to break off a personal record and to just trust myself and my training that the time will come, I run right, train right and do everything right then everything is going to just click. It's paying off, I've been a lot more consistent this year running in the lower 51 seconds and I just ran 50.90.
...how he's progressed through his career:
"Every single year I've progressively gotten better and it's shown, that just has a lot to do with training. Track and field is a team sport, but it's also very individual so a lot of the time it is based off if you want to be good. You have to push yourself, you have to push your teammates or you have to have teammates to push you sometimes. If you're going to push yourself and you want to work hard and you want to win, you're going to do that and the stuff that it takes to get better. I pride myself on good work ethic and my 4x400m group is a lot of hard workers, if I'm having a bad day and they're not then they are going to push me."
REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE PAULA GARCIA ON...
...advantages between hosting and traveling for meets:
"I really look at what I eat, so I like that we are hosting this year because I don't have to be thinking about where I am going to eat. When traveling sometimes it is hard for me to decide what I am going to eat. People say that you sleep better in your own bed, instead of a hotel. I think we are going to have a lot of things on our side that we don't realize just because we are familiar with the facility, we've been practicing here the entire season and we've run around the track a thousand times so I think we are just going to perform more naturally."
...how she's progressed through her career:
"I've been battling injuries the past four or so years, when I first came here I had to redshirt and last year I was finally able to compete and practice. This past indoor season was not that great and my outdoor season has been going better, I feel like we are doing pretty good and we have found what works for me. This past week I ran a personal best and I was not expecting it at all, since the beginning of the outdoor season I was able to see that everything has been falling in place and the Kansas Relays was when everything came together."
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