Wake Forest Athletics
Showing Maturity Beyond Her Years
3/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
March 22, 2002
By Sam Walker
Carol Merritt carries herself like a champion, and she has the championships to qualify that kind of swagger. Coach Annie Bennett of Wake Forest felt that when she first met Merritt on a recruiting trip, and she is seeing more and more evidence of that championship mentality with each day of practice and each meet. The maturity Bennett is seeing, and fact that Merritt is only a sophomore, hints there might be even more for this sprinter.
Merritt exhibits a maturity that is usually found in upper classmen. It's something she thinks has always been within herself, and it is something that has been nurtured as well. Merritt feels settled at Wake Forest, and that stability has allowed her to grow.
It was through a friend of a friend of a friend that Merritt found the university where she was comfortable both academically an athletically. Growing up in Garner, Merritt distinguished herself as a four-time all-state selection. She won the 2000 NCHSAA 300m indoor title, the 1999 NCHSAA 400m outdoor title and was a four-time all-conference selection. The two-time conference MVP and four-time team MVP broke Garner High school records in 400m, 200m, 100m, triple jump and 4x100m Relay. She is also a three-time Junior Olympian. But when it came to move on to the next level, Merritt was indecisive. At one point, East Carolina looked like the next stop. That's when Hal Stewart, Garner High School's former athletic director and head football coach, stepped in and made a phone call.
"It's really ironic because our football coach and AD at Garner is good friends with Dave Odom," Merritt said. "He happened to call Dave Odom one day when I was sitting in his office. I told him I really wanted to go Division I and (N.C.) State and (North) Carolina were a little too close to home. School-wise, I didn't know where. He said let me give somebody a call, and Annie said before she could even get in the door 'good.' Odom came up to her and said 'I've got a girl for you, and I think she's pretty fast.' She called later that day and got some information. If I recall correctly by the end of the week she came to see me at school."
"I had a connection with at her high school and when I met her we connected," Bennett said. "She wanted the academics plus running. She wanted somebody who would help her do both, so we felt Wake Forest was the place for her."
That chain of events prompted a recruiting trip to Winston-Salem, and after a visit, Merritt was sold on both Bennett's track and field program and Wake Forest University. " She's really business and what she can do she does," Merritt said of Bennett. "She doesn't bring anybody into the program she doesn't think can handle it work-load wise or physically. That was really impressive to me because most people just try to sell the school. The campus was beautiful, and I was really used to a close, compact setting for school, and I love to learn. So I knew Wake Forest was for me when I heard the largest class had like 30 people and that wasn't a major class. That in itself sold me."
Since arriving at Wake Forest Merritt has gone right to work. As a freshman she finished fourth in the 200m at the 2001 ACC Indoor Championships and sixth in the 400m. She ran the second leg of the Distance Medley Relay team that finished 4th at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., with a school record-breaking time of 11:13.69, earning All-American honors.
"Her freshman year she finished sixth in the 400 meter and fourth in the 200 meter, and we were pleased with that," Bennett said. "But she was also one of the legs on our distance medley relay team that placed fourth at indoor nationals, so she was named an All-American for that. In that race she made a critical handoff. Teams want to be on the inside, so there's a lot going on. It is kind of like a linebacker going up the field on those handoffs. But Carol handled it very maturely and actually injured her ankle on that handoff."
This year, Merritt has grown even more under the guidance of Tom Fish, a sprinters coach who is in his first year at Wake Forest. Fish was a two-time All-American in the 200-meter dash while at Nebraska, and came to Wake Forest from Wichita State where he served as assistant sprint coach.
"When he first came in I can honestly say we clicked right off the bat," Merritt said. "He's really funny, makes workouts fun, and is a character and keeps me smiling. If I'm having a bad day, he'll tell a joke. I think what makes us click is that you have expectations for yourself, and his expectations exceed mine. That's really cool with me because in high school I had a summer coach like that. He would always have expectations for me. That's how Fish and I are. If I'm not feeling well or ask if we can alter a workout, he listens to me. That's really good when you can have that kind of relationship with your coach."
Under Fish, Merritt claimed the 2002 ACC championship in the indoor 400m with a school record-breaking time of 54.82. She was the runner-up in the 200m at the 2002 ACC Indoor Championships, and earned All-ACC honors. She finished fourth in 200m at 2002 USA Indoor Championships and ran a provisional qualifying and school record-breaking time of 23.78 in the preliminaries. Merritt also won the indoor 400m at the 2002 Penn State Open. She had a quite an indoor season. Known as more of a 400-meter sprinter, Merritt has had much success in the 200-meter dash. In fact, she qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 200, which topped off about a three-week span that began at the ACC Indoor Championships. She trimmed three-tenths of a second off her best time in what Bennett called a last chance race at Virginia Tech.
"It was a surprise because it happened so late," Merritt said. "I knew I had the ability to do it, but it was a matter of pushing forward and praying on it. I won the ACC and I told my dad I wanted to run 23 (in the 200) and 54 (in the 400) before I leave indoor. He was like. 'if you want it, claim it and do it.' The ACCs was an exciting time for me because it was at (North) Carolina and my whole family was there, and I went 54 and I was like 'wow.' Then in the 200, I ran 24.28, but because of the type of track (flat) it was more like a 24.08,which meant that 23 wasn't out of reach at all. At the time it seemed like my 400 was so much stronger, but the 200 came out of the air kind of like a toss-up. Dropping three-tenths in a race is really a big drop. To drop that much within a week really was a blessing."
"This fall she has trained diligently," Bennett said. "She's a hard worker and has good focus. So going into conference we knew she'd score in both events (200 and 400). At the ACC indoors, she really carried herself like a champion. Then she ran a fabulous 200 and qualified for the USA Indoor Nationals, which is a meet for professionals, and you're running against the best in the country. The first time it wasn't a surprise that she ran that well, but at Virginia Tech it was a surprise at how much faster she ran. At the USA Indoor Nationals, we tried to coach her to just keep her blinders on and run because that can be intimidating, running against 28 year-olds and a bronze medallist."
Merritt ran in the preliminary round but failed to qualify for the finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships. But that showing just fueled Merritt's desire to get better. Perhaps Merritt carries herself like a champion because she has found her niche at Wake Forest. She does give much time and attention to running, but it's not the only focus in her life. She also sings and serves on the executive board of Wake Forest's Gospel Choir. She is also one of about one dozen students who have started a peer mediation group where students can come and talk about problems and get support. Bennett says she just really appears to be enjoying her college experience at Wake Forest.
The end of the indoor season marks the beginning of the outdoor track season. Merritt is keeping it simple. Her sprinter's mentality is to simply run faster, and with the momentum she is carrying into the outdoor schedule, the sophomore may break more records and return to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. She certainly believes she can.
"A tremendous amount of confidence has been added," Merritt said. "I've always been a competitor, but when you get on that line it's just me and my lane. There are other people sure, but as far the race, it's me. This season I've really become strong with that."
