Deacon Sports Xtra: Momentum Heading into ACC Indoor Championships
2/17/2022 12:45:00 PM | Track and Field, Les Johns
“Once you get into February and the championships, that’s when it really gets exciting. Any time we have kids setting personal bests, breaking school records or hitting top-10 performances; all those things make it exciting.” - John Hayes
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest track and field has some momentum heading into a frenetic month of February that will culminate with the ACC Championships at Virginia Tech Feb. 24-26.
"Our throwers are doing well and we've had some good performances from female distance runners," said John Hayes, Wake Forest director of track & field and cross country. "Our women's multi-athletes are high level. All of those areas have started really well this indoor season, and we hope to continue to improve.
"We're going to open up some of our distance runners and we need our middle-distance runners achieving to the level they are capable of."
The Deacs had several personal bests and school records achieved at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson.
Mackenna Curtis-Collins hit a personal best which is good for third-place in Wake Forest program history in the women's 3000m, while four Demon Deacon men finished in succession in the 3000m as Aaron Las Herras, Thomas Vanoppen, Luke Tewalt, Joaquin Martinez and De Pinillos finished third-through-sixth. It was a personal-best for Las Herras and a school record. It was the personal best for all four runners.
Sophomore Luke Tewalt now holds the American U20 Record for the 3000m race, breaking a record set by Gerry Lindgren in 1965
Sophomore Thomas Kitchell had a personal best shot put of 18.49m that earned him third place, while Emma Söderström set the women's program record in the pentathlon high jump on the first day at 1.82m. Earlier in the meet, the men's distance medley relay took first place.
"We have to figure out what the goal is for each meet," Hayes said. "For some, it's a rust-buster and for others it's a step to fine tune. Distance runners can't jump at every opportunity to compete. You can't throw them out there too often. A lot of our field-event athletes and middle-distance runners, you can work them each week and see improvements during the course of the season."
"It's always important to get a few members qualified for the national meet. That's a big goal of ours. We really want to get the men and women scoring more points and moving up at the ACC level. We want to continue to claim school records. Our assistant coaches have done a great job of bringing the right kids in who compete at a higher level than what Wake Forest athletes have in the past."
The Deacs are in a window where there are typically multiple events for which to travel each weekend, as both the men's and women's team gears up for the conference championship late in the month.
"The next few weeks for distance runners are big," Hayes said. "We look to have some great opportunities. The ACC Championships are at Virginia Tech, so it's nice to not have that far to go.
"It doesn't stop or slow down. As soon as ACC Indoors is over, we're straight into nationals and then the outdoor season, the very next week."
This has been a historic 2021-22 season for Wake Forest Athletics with the Football Deacs tying a program record with 11 wins and the Basketball Deacons surging under second-year head coach Steve Forbes.
"Watching all the sports succeed, it helps the brand name of our program and helps the excitement," Hayes said. "Nobody wants to be the program that's not succeeding. I think that becomes an expectation. There's truly no reason why we shouldn't be successful, as we look at all the programs and see all the success. That motivates us and it takes away excuses. That's a good thing."
Hayes said it's important to keep focused all the way to June for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
"September is tough for me, because our guys aren't ready to race yet, and the same for January," he said. "Those are the two months where they aren't totally fit and ready to race yet. Once you get into February and the championships, that's when it really gets exciting. Any time we have kids setting personal bests, breaking school records or hitting top-10 performances; all those things make it exciting."
"Our throwers are doing well and we've had some good performances from female distance runners," said John Hayes, Wake Forest director of track & field and cross country. "Our women's multi-athletes are high level. All of those areas have started really well this indoor season, and we hope to continue to improve.
"We're going to open up some of our distance runners and we need our middle-distance runners achieving to the level they are capable of."
The Deacs had several personal bests and school records achieved at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson.
Mackenna Curtis-Collins hit a personal best which is good for third-place in Wake Forest program history in the women's 3000m, while four Demon Deacon men finished in succession in the 3000m as Aaron Las Herras, Thomas Vanoppen, Luke Tewalt, Joaquin Martinez and De Pinillos finished third-through-sixth. It was a personal-best for Las Herras and a school record. It was the personal best for all four runners.
Sophomore Luke Tewalt now holds the American U20 Record for the 3000m race, breaking a record set by Gerry Lindgren in 1965
Sophomore Thomas Kitchell had a personal best shot put of 18.49m that earned him third place, while Emma Söderström set the women's program record in the pentathlon high jump on the first day at 1.82m. Earlier in the meet, the men's distance medley relay took first place.
"We have to figure out what the goal is for each meet," Hayes said. "For some, it's a rust-buster and for others it's a step to fine tune. Distance runners can't jump at every opportunity to compete. You can't throw them out there too often. A lot of our field-event athletes and middle-distance runners, you can work them each week and see improvements during the course of the season."
"It's always important to get a few members qualified for the national meet. That's a big goal of ours. We really want to get the men and women scoring more points and moving up at the ACC level. We want to continue to claim school records. Our assistant coaches have done a great job of bringing the right kids in who compete at a higher level than what Wake Forest athletes have in the past."
The Deacs are in a window where there are typically multiple events for which to travel each weekend, as both the men's and women's team gears up for the conference championship late in the month.
"The next few weeks for distance runners are big," Hayes said. "We look to have some great opportunities. The ACC Championships are at Virginia Tech, so it's nice to not have that far to go.
"It doesn't stop or slow down. As soon as ACC Indoors is over, we're straight into nationals and then the outdoor season, the very next week."
This has been a historic 2021-22 season for Wake Forest Athletics with the Football Deacs tying a program record with 11 wins and the Basketball Deacons surging under second-year head coach Steve Forbes.
"Watching all the sports succeed, it helps the brand name of our program and helps the excitement," Hayes said. "Nobody wants to be the program that's not succeeding. I think that becomes an expectation. There's truly no reason why we shouldn't be successful, as we look at all the programs and see all the success. That motivates us and it takes away excuses. That's a good thing."
Hayes said it's important to keep focused all the way to June for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
"September is tough for me, because our guys aren't ready to race yet, and the same for January," he said. "Those are the two months where they aren't totally fit and ready to race yet. Once you get into February and the championships, that's when it really gets exciting. Any time we have kids setting personal bests, breaking school records or hitting top-10 performances; all those things make it exciting."
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