The UNC Asheville outdoor track season brings about many improvements, a foundation for years to come and some stellar performances from Junior Natalie Pearson.
"I'm very happy with how my season's gone so far," Pearson said. "I ran well indoor and outdoor, setting personal records and I even surprised myself with my 100-meter time. I am still competing up until the end of June so I'm hoping to keep moving in the right direction."
Pearson attributes much of her success to the strength and conditioning coach Brad Deweese.
"His training style and work ethic have really seemed to work for me as an athlete. He's always out there at the track guiding us, telling us what to do."
The Bulldogs made many improvements over their season, placing three times as many athletes in the finals as they did last year. Head coach Jesse Norman believes the program is headed in the right direction.
"We made progress, we had some people step up and do good things. It was definitely a big step forward this year."
The Bulldogs performed well at the Big South Conference meet, with five athletes scoring points for their squad. Improvement was the theme, with some surprises and a solid performance from Pearson. Finishing third in the 200 and fourth in the 100, Pearson earned 13 points for the women's team. Sophomore Simone Haake and freshman Emma Bussard picked up points for the men's and women's squads in the javelin-throw and 300-meter steeplechase, respectively.
Haake emphasized the importance of the conference meet.
"The conference meet is where all your work through the year comes together. You hope that you are as prepared as you can get, because most of the time everyone else is coming with their best marks and times, so you've got to do big things."
The Bulldogs began the outdoor season at the Coastal Carolina Invitational, where Pearson finished first in the 100 and 200-meter races. She finished with times of 12.08 and 25.03 respectively.
Pearson's ability to score points for the Bulldogs made it a top priority for Norman to keep her healthy in 2009.
"Keeping Natalie healthy this year was a huge thing, when she's healthy she scores a lot of points for us," Norman said. "That's a big thing that helped us out this year."
Freshman Emma Bussard came in third in the 3000 meters steeplechase race in Conway, SC with junior Rachel Ambrosia coming in sixth. Senior Adam Matthews finished seventh in the 3000 steeplechase while Maynard came in 13th in the 3000-meters. Scruggs finished 10th in the hammer throw while senior Daniel Corriher finished 17th. Junior Corrie Trotter finished 11th in the high jump, reaching 1.45 meters.
The Bulldogs continued their outdoor season in Charlotte at the 49er Classic. Matthews took ninth in the 3000 steeplechase, and freshman Sam Maynard came in 21st in the 800. For the women, Bussard finished third in the 3000 steeplechase, followed by junior Rachel Ambrosia in seventh.
At the Winthrop Asics Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. Pearson won the 200 and placed second in the 100. Junior Keith Scruggs threw the hammer for a distance of 48.37 meters, taking the record for the second best throw in school history. Freshman Emily Pineda finished seventh in the discus throw with a distance of 39.86 meters. Her sister, freshman Rebekah Pineda, placed 10th in the javelin throw.
Facing tough competition at the Duke Invitational, Pearson continued her consistent performance with a second and third place finish in the 100 and 200, respectively. Haake took eighth in the Javelin and senior Dane Corriher finished 14th in the 400-meters.
The end of one season brings hope for the next, and Norman says she's very excited about the years to come.
"I want us to be in the top half of the conference year in and year out. With the core that we have now, and the freshmen coming in next year, I think we are going to be able to reach our goal and sustain it over the next four or five years."
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