By DAVE WHITLEY
They get knocked down. Now, it’s time to see if they can get up again — but it’ll have to be done against some of the best runners in the nation.
This weekend, the men’s track team will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Known for its powerful football teams, the University of Nebraska will again play host to one of the most competitive indoor track meets of the year. Athletes from more than 50 schools will compete in the meet.
This competition will prove to be a true test for the Cougars. They will be without their top sprinter, Kenneth Andam, who suffered a first-degree sprain of his left ankle at last weekend’s Mountain State Games in Pocatello, Idaho.
Andam, who had already won the 60-meter dash earlier in the day, injured himself about halfway through the finals of the 200-meter dash. He was leading the race at the time, but entered the turn too fast.
“If he had been a slower runner, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” said head coach Willard Hirschi. “It’s like being in a car wreck going 90 miles per hour compared to being in one at 40 miles per hour.”
Andam is expected to be ready in time for the Mountain West Conference Championships at the Air Force Academy in two weeks.
In his absence, “that means other people are going to have to step up,” said shot putter Jim Roberts.
Thobias Akwenye will have that job of “stepping up” for the Cougars. But do not underestimate his abilities.
Akwenye is the Cougars’ No. 2 sprinter in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes and plans to make his presence felt amid the Nebraska corn.
“Some of us have to step up and be competitive. I hope that I’m mentally ready to go,” Akwenye said.
How?
“We can’t control the environment. I just have to run my own race.”
The track in Lincoln is flat, not banked, and because of this, Akwenye does not plan to run the 200-meters.
“You just can’t run a good time [on a flat track] so there’s nothing to prove,” Akwenye said.
This meet will also be a chance to come back from injury.
Both of BYU’s premiere pole vaulters will compete again this weekend after being sidelined last week due to shin splints. Jeff Hansen and Alan Gulledge have provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with vaults of 17′ 9″. This mark is more than a foot better than the next closest competitor in the MWC.
One of the most anticipated match-ups of the meet is in the shot put. BYU’s Jim Roberts heaved for 64’10 1/2″ last weekend. This throw boosted him ahead of Cornhusker freshman Carl Myerscough for the national lead.
Now they will compete head to head, and Roberts believes he has a good chance to better the mark.
The competition will be tough and the adrenaline high, and the Cougars look to prove themselves against the rest of the nation.
“You’re looking at a lot of the best athletes in the nation at this meet,” Hirschi said.
