March 24, 2011
PHILADELPHIA, PA – It’s been three weeks since the indoor track season concluded for La Salle at the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Boston. However, head coach Charles Torpey and his team have been hard at work preparing for the spring season which will get underway this weekend with a pair of meets here in Philadelphia and also on the west coast at Stanford.
“There is an emotional swing down between winter and spring even though you are still training,” said Torpey. “It’s not like a lacrosse or baseball where everyone is on the same page with the same schedule. We send different people to different events depending on their skill level and what’s best for the team. It is a completely different mentality. ”
The Stanford Invitational, an annual spring meet that features some of the top distance runners in the nation and has always been well attended by the Explorers, will highlight the weekend.
“Every time we’ve sent people there they’ve performed exceptionally well,” Torpey added. “The races are set up well and its nice weather which is definitely one of the main reasons that some of the top distance runners in the country always attend.”
On the men’s side, Dave Hausherr and Nick Crits will be competing in the 5k and 10k races at the Stanford meet.
The women’s side is a bit more jumbled with five runners making the trip. Megan Lutz will be the only runner competing in the 10k event and Samantha Gallgher the lone 3k Stepple Chase competitor. Caitlin Storbeck, Stephanie Bearish and Meghan McGlinchey will all be competing in the 5k race.
“I’m pretty excited to go out to Stanford, it’s going to be my first outdoor race for La Salle and hopefully I can set a personal record,” said McGlinchey. “He [Coach Torpey] doesn’t take that many people out there so I’m excited he picked me. It’s definitely a good chance to run fast.”
In addition to Stanford, the remainder of the track team will stay in the Philadelphia area and participate in the Big Five Invitational held at Franklin Field on the campus of UPenn.
“Most of our kids are in tune with what we have to do, they know what they are doing when they get out here and they train hard,” said Torpey. “Our best kids are physically gifted but they are also mentally tough.”
The spring season will feature approximately 10 regular season meets highlighted by the Penn Relays at the end of April. The postseason will begin with the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships, held May 7-8 at the University of Charlotte.
The following week will be the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Championships held in Princeton and then two weeks later the NCAA Regionals will take place in Bloomington, Indiana.
“I’d like to do well A-10 wise as a team,” Torpey said. “I think our men could do pretty well. We are really strong from the 800 up. It’s different then indoors because there is no 1000, 500 and no distance medley which are three events that are a plus for us. Sometimes we have empty events and it hurts us.”
