Four years ago the track and field program was in a rough situation. They had 11 freshmen, a new head coach in Lou Snelling and not many
expectations.
Despite the situation the program was in, it was a perfect fit for Snelling he said.
“I like building, for whatever reason it is exciting to me,” he added. “I like to be able to demonstrate we are here now, we were here then and this is our progress. [The situation] didn’t put me off at all.”
In three years, things have drastically changed within the program since. The program will honor the four seniors who have been a part of the programs turnaround at Friday’s Tom Wright Open.
“These seniors have been there from the beginning, especially the three of the four,” Snelling said. “I think it’s been nice for them to have a lot of ownership in where we are at now, versus, where we
were then.”
The four seniors, Krystin Reiser, Brooke Pleger, Natalie Sommerville and Brittany Sinclair will be honored sometime during the meet Friday. This is a weird situation for those four, because they still have the rest of their indoor and outdoor seasons to go, but because they do not have another home meet they moved Senior Day up.
“It still hasn’t hit me because it’s still January, so I think once outdoor season hits that is when it’s going to hit me that I’m almost done,” Reiser said. “Right now I’m still hopeful for the meets that are coming up and what I can do this season.”
This group of women have done more than just turn a program around they have turned around a culture and brought positivity.
“My freshman year they were trying to build up, but it was tough with the new coaches and all of the newness from everybody. Nobody knew what to expect,” Reiser said. “As the years went on the team chemistry and environment is a lot more positive. We are really a family and have really grown together in this building.”
While they all may have not made outstanding achievements, they have been part of a quick turnaround. Three meets into the indoor season the Falcons have had 25 performances listed in the top 20 and have hit four automarks. Last year at this point in time they had 16 performances in the top 20 and two automarks.
“We gradually have been getting better and better each year,” Snelling said. “We are at the point now where we are feeling better about things, but we aren’t quite there yet. It is kind of that in between time, but we feel like the bigger things are just on the horizon.”
What’s next on the immediate horizon for the Falcons is to honor the seniors that have been around throughout the rebuilding process. Although they may not be around when the team is at the top of the Mid-American Conference, they take pride in what they have done.
“I feel pride knowing that I was a part of getting to where we are,” Reiser said. “Even though I’m not going to be here when we are top of the MAC, just knowing I was a part of that and to leave it behind is really cool.”
