Despite cold weather, the Milligan College track team, coached by Chris Layne,is back at it again, training and preparing for the season.
The team's main goal is not only to win the races they enter but to have times that are fast enough to qualify for spots at nationals.
Milligan's only two women runners have already met this goal and qualified for
nationals. Megan Lease, a freshman from Camden, NC, and freshman newcomer Marta
Zimon from Poland both grasped a nationals berth in the meet at Appalachian State
University in Boone, North Carolina on January 17, 2003. Lease, with a time of 18:44 in
the 5000 meters and Zimon with 10:36 in the 3000 meters race will be attending
nationals, which will be held here in Johnson City at the indoor track on the campus of
East Tennessee State University.
Lease said, "I knew I could quality for nationals at the meet."
Lease said that she is also very happy that Zimon has come to Milligan because
now they are able to workout together, which makes the cold early morning workouts a little easier. And each one is helping to push and encourage the other.
The meet at Boone went well for the men's team also.
Senior Terence Gadsden, of Charleston, SC, had a season best in his run of the
400m, and former all-American Philip Rotich took first place in the 3000m with a time of
8:46.
Gadsden said that he was not too thrilled with the track at Appalachian State and
how it was designed. He thinks that he will reach a qualifying time at the upcoming meet
at ETSU. In a recent Milligan news release, Coach Layne said he is excited about his
local Science Hill graduate JaKeith Hairston, who won the State title in the long jump
and the triple jump. Even though Hairston is still in the middle of basketball season, he
plans to attend and compete in the coming competition at ETSU this weekend.
The rest of the team will try to qualify for nationals at the ETSU meet on Jan. 31st
and Feb. 1st.