On Your Mark…

NSU women’s track team breaking records; 5 at weekend’s event

By KEYON K. JEFF

Records are meant to be broken. That’s how the old sports cliché goes.

But under the guidance of third-year coach Scott Williamson, Nicholls State’s women’s track and field records are falling faster than the value of a dollar.

Twenty-three school marks have been smashed during his tenure, 17 this season alone, including five at last weekend’s Florida State Relays.

Williamson, who leads the track and field and cross-country teams, and second-year assistant coach Craig Binkley have recruited an abundance of depth and talent never before seen racing the Colonels colors.

“Before, we had some girls who were good, but not really college-level athletes,” said Williamson. “This group is so much stronger, and they’re getting better as a team with every meet we participate.”

How fast are the ladies tearing up the record books? Twice this year a school best was set only to see teammates clock a better time later in that event.

In February, the indoor 60-meter hurdles record was broken three times in a week.

So how does a team with no home track and that has to share practice time with E.D. White and Thibodaux high schools do this?

Williamson has assembled a motley crew of local talent, Texas speedsters, junior college transfers and Kenyan distance runners to reshape the squad.

“When recruiting an athlete, I’m looking at their natural running motion,” he said. “I rather have someone who’s naturally fast. I can fix their technique later.”

He also prefers runners with taller body frames, even if that is a disadvantage during the early indoor track season. The 200-meter track with tight curves can sometimes force taller runners out of their lanes.

“Everybody hates running indoor because the track is so small,” said senior Dominique Harris, who runs hurdles and a long jumper.

This year the New Orleans native set NSU’s 60-meter indoor hurdles (9.26), 100-meter outdoor hurdles (14.68), long jump (17 feet, 9 inches) and pentathlon (3,112 points) records.

“I don’t find any difference in my performance,” said senior sprinter Leshea Jenkins, of the indoor/outdoor comparison.

The Miami native, who transferred from Cowley Community College (Kansas) after her sophomore year, is part of the record setting 4×400-meter relay team. On Saturday, she, along with senior La-Nation McCray, sophomore Sabrina Henkes (who set a new 400-meter hurdles record at the relays), and red-shirt freshman Ashley Carpenter knocked four seconds off the previous outdoor mark with a time of 3:53:52.

Carpenter was also part of two other barrier-breaking relays over the weekend. On Friday, she, McCray, and freshmen Tiffany Nall and Alycia Johnson set a 4×200-meter best at 1:41:17. On Saturday, the combo ran the 4×100 in 47:57.

Carpenter, originally from Fort Worth, came to Nicholls after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the University of New Orleans’ track and field teams. She holds the indoor 200-meter record (25:83) and credits Williamson’s regimen for her quick success.

“I’ve gotten stronger since I’ve been here,” she said. “I get out the block faster and maintain my speed throughout races much better.”

Field athletes are having just as much fun topping NSU lists.

Sophomore Chelsea Dockery, from Florence, Texas, possesses the indoor (5 feet, 6 inches) and outdoor (5 feet, 7 inches) high jump marks and runs relays.

“On my approach, I’m jumping with more force, which helps push my hips over the bar,” said Dockery.

Junior javelin thrower Leslie Bourgeois set the record as a freshman with a throw of 161 feet, five inches. Last year, the Raceland native, who has been redshirted this season, became the first individual at Nicholls to win a Southland Conference Championship. She also qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional for the second straight year and received Nicholls’ Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

While Williamson trains sprinters and field athletes, coach Binkley works with distance runners. As a former all-region cross country, middle and long distance runner, Binkley knows what to evaluate for.

“I look at someone who doesn’t have a lot of extra movement in their upper body,” he said. “Also someone who kept improving throughout high school or college.”

Freshman Imma Kosgei transferred from Lubbock Christian University (Texas) at midyear. Already the Eldoret, Kenya native has taken the 1500 meter mark last month with a time of 4:43:05. As she acclimates herself to a new coach, she knows his method works.

“The training is quite different,” she said. “I guess it’s just more efficient.”

When Nicholls State hired Williamson in 2005, he was, at 25, the youngest head coach of a university’s entire track program. However, he brought valuable experience as a collegiate runner.

He was a four-time NCAA Division I Championships and two-time USA Track and Field Championships qualifier. Before coming to NSU, he coached sprints and hurdles for three years at Emporia State University in Kansas.

Even at a ripe 29, he still does not have the look or voice of a taskmaster. But he runs his practices with the discipline and precision of a Bobby Knight.

Besides the usual stretching and drills, Williamson executes a training regimen, which requires specific repetitions, distances, pace, short water breaks and shorter rest periods.

For the cardio-challenged, watching the continuous burst-rest-burst regimen may be exhausting. Now imagine how they feel.

Their heart nearly pounding out their chest. Hands clasped behind the head trying to get oxygen into their fire pit lungs. Lactic acid is burning the muscles so bad, not even the stiff breeze blowing off Bayou Lafourche can cool them down.

“The whole training of sprinters and distance runners is about what an athlete’s body can handle,” he explains. “It’s actually very scientific. When I’m training my athletes, I’m trying to push their limits but I don’t want to overdo them. I want to leave more gas in the tank for the next day.”

Between practice and meets, the team is on the track everyday except Sunday. Add in the Tuesday through Thursday 6:15 a.m. weightlifting sessions and one can see why records are being laid to waste.

“If you want to get better, you have to endure the parts you hate the most, ” said Harris. “Some people ask ‘How do you run?’ But you just have to do it to appreciate it.”

“Being on a track team is hard, but we are dedicated athletes,” Dockery said.

The ladies are back on the track Saturday at the Mississippi College Twilight in Clinton.

Fair warning for those who plan to attend: Don’t blink or you will miss the show.

Chelsea Dockery, Leshea Jenkins, and Ashley Carpenter prepare for the first sprints of practice. * Photo by KEYON JEFF