Captains' Corner
5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 3, 2012
Captains' Corner is a weekly update from a captain or leader of one of the RedHawks' 19 teams that will run every other Thursday throughout the academic year. Today's update is from women's track & field's Rachael Clay, a senior from Rossford, Ohio, who prepped at Rossford High School and is majoring in exercise science with a minor in coaching.
This is always an exciting time for our team as the spring semester ends this week and we enter our championship season next week. There is so much to look back on from this year and more importantly, to look forward to. We began this fall enduring two more coaching changes and Coach Etelman (sprints, hurdles and jumps) and Coach Wannemacher (throws) joined our team, testing our resiliency to change once more. Training hard all fall put us in the best condition we have ever been in preparation for the indoor season.
After breaking four school records and improving personal bests each week during the indoor season, a solid finish at the MAC Indoor Championships brought excitement to the girls as we moved into the outdoor season. Despite some setbacks in terms of injuries and questionable weather, we have had a great outdoor season so far and I am thrilled with the way the season has progressed.
We have had the chance to compete at home three times this spring, winning the Miami Invitational (April 6-7) and finishing second behind Cincinnati at the All-Ohio Championships April 20-21). Some highlights of the 2012 outdoor season include our 4x4 relay team of Leah Coleman, Charlotte Myers, Diona Graves, and I, finishing the All-Ohio meet by breaking the school record by nearly two seconds! Alex Roberts has broken her own school record in the shot put and Kelley Miller has done the same to her own 1500 record and has been named MAC Track Athlete of the Week after her performances.
With most of the outdoor season under our belts, I know we are prepared for the MAC Outdoor Championships next week. The freshmen are now experienced competitors and the upperclassmen feel the desired outcome is within reach and in our hands more than ever before. As a graduating senior, I cannot even begin to explain how much this team means to me and how excited I am as we enter this part of the season. I am so lucky to get to compete with such a great group of girls every week. With a limited amount of opportunities remaining to compete, watching my teammates make progress every week and being right there with them has been just the motivation I need as I finish my career as a Miami RedHawk.
Love and Honor,
Rachael Clay
Players Mentioned
