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Show Page S4 Tuesday, October 12, 1982 ' : t ''Air's It 4 : ' Hi I $ S i i If lvlt Running is a way of life for Lady runners receive equal rights under Blaisdell's training program by Ron Davis Who says that there are no equal rights for women? If you were to talk to the lady runners at Weber State you might find it to be a different story. Under coach Jim Blaisdell, the ladies are trained in the same way he trained the men's team at the College of Southern Idaho when he was coach there. r When it comes to training, Blaisdell's girls run close to 8-10 miles a day. The the women's race is 5000 meters and he centers the workout to be one-and-a-half to two times that. The women's track program has only been around five years at WSC. It takes a lot to get a healthy program going and according to Blaisdell the program here is on its was to that healthy status. One of the problems that he is finding out with women runners is that most of them are still learning what it takes to be a distance runner. "Crosscountry for women is relatively new and the women are just beginning to realize that they can in reality 'run', "said Blaisdell. Now don't be mislead, there is always an exception to the rule. In fact, there are a number of exceptions to the rule when it comes to the lady runners here at WSC. Probably the biggest exception is in the form of one Carmen Garduno. She is three-time All-American and hold two Mexican National records in the 5000 and 10,000-meters. "What more can I say, her actions speaks louder than my words," Blaisdell said. "She has been down recently with a viral infection but will still be one of the top girls in the region." Garduno is a junior this year. Along with Garduno, Blaisdell will rely heavily upon senior Kristy Hamaski. Hamasaki is the first women athlete to be named as "Women Athlete of the Week" in the Mountain West Conference. Blaisdell said that Hamasaki is in perhaps the best shape of her life and has done an outstanding job in leading the lady's in x-country Farley Gerber and Chris Micek. Photo by Jeffery Bybee this season. Last year she enjoyed a fine season of running by qualifing for the national meet and Blaisdell predicts she will repeat as a qualifier this year. Two girls from this area that are making the jump from high school to college running with success are Camille Davis of Weber High and Becky Bjorn of Bountiful. Davis, who was probably the best high school runner in the inter-mountain area last year, is the toughest runner on the team when it comes to mental toughness. "Camille is mentally tougher than the rest of the girls," Blaisdell said. "In high school she ran the one and two mile and is now finding it easier than she expected to jump to the longer distances." "Becky is a very talented athlete and if she can keep her foot healthy, she will be one of the top freshmen." Blaisdell said. Bjorn has a nagging injury with her foot and constantly runs in pain. Since coming to WSC, she has fought off some of that pain and has proved to herself that she can compete in college." Along with Hamasaki and Garduno, Doreen Espinoza is the only other upper classman on the squad. She is a junior and came to WSC this year from Oxnard JC and her home is in Ventura, California. At Oxnard last year she placed 11th in the State of CA JC Meet, which is almost like a mini-nationals because of the numerous junior colleges in California. At the present, she is adjusting to the altitude change. The rest of Blaisdell's team consists of freshmen Sona Schmidt, Chris Avis, Diana Jones and Mary Losensky. An overall look at the women's team this year is a positive one. Blaisdell says this year's team is 200-300 percent better than last years. He has the makings of a consistent, strong and healthy team. His goal for the season is to place among the top four teams in the Mountain West Athletic Conference. Men's cross country team reaps rewards of tough workouts By Ron Davis Everyone is doing it or almost everyone. Those that can't wish that they could. Some are more serious than others. A few of the more serious are gathered here at Weber in the men's cross-country team. Under direction of head coach Charles "Chick" Hislop, this years team is already well into their 1982 season. The season started in mid-September and will end in November. The 1982 team is young with only one senior in the group. That senior is Chris Micek, a junior college transfer from Harvard JC in Los Angeles. Micek is mainly a miler and half-miler. Coach Hislop said that he is just beginning to realize his potential as a x-country runner. "One of the keys to a good season is if Chris can run to his potential." When Micek is not running x-country in the fall his talent will be used in the mile where he has a personal best of 4:06. The pace for Hislop 's squad this year is being set by sophomore Farley Gerber. Gerber, who is in the best shape of his career at Weber, is a Bingham High School product of 1978. After his freshman year he served an LDS mission and was here last year only for the indoor and outdoor seasons. - He holds the freshman record in the 3000-meter steeplechase and is sixth on the Weber All-Time list. The two premier freshmen on the team are Dave Andreasen and Darwin Williams. Andreasen set the overall Utah high school two-mile record last spring with a time of 9:19. Also last spring he was invited, along with other high school seniors across the nation, to the Golden West Invitational .in Sacramento, Calif, where he placed second in the 3000-meter. "Dave came from an excellent high school program and will run well for us this year in the mile and above distances, "Hislop said. Williams is a surprise to Hislop. Up until this year he had never run 10 miles at one time. Hislop said that Williams is the most untapped runner on the team at this point in time, and for the small amount of base (distance) work that he has, he has the lowest heart rate of any runner he has coached. William's resting heart rate is 40 beats per minute. The other members on the team are sophomores Dave Griffin of Mid vale, Dan Barto of Rock Springs, Wyo. and Mart Way-ment of Clearfield. The freshman are Scott Shuman of Harrisville, Chester Begay of Ogden, Jerry Allread of Vernal and Scott Zuelein of Casper, Wyo. The only junior on the team is Henry Barkhardt, who is also from Harvard JC. For these 14 runners, Hislop's philosophy of running will be different from years past. "It's not too much different than before but it sure helps the ones who are lacking in distance work, especially the freshmen. "Hislop said. One of these changes that Hislop has made deals with the way the workouts are structured. In the past, runners were allowed to walk between interval (speed) workouts, but now the runners don't stop or even walk during rest periods. A good example of this is mile repeats. The structure of it goes as follows; run one mile under five minutes, jog a half mile for rest, run one mile, etc. They repeat this until the workout has totaled ten miles. The change has made a drastic difference to the way the runners feel at the end of the week. Hislop said that" Instead of being worn down as in years past, the team is surprisingly rested at the end of the week and they are mentally, as well as physically, prepared for a race. An average week for the team is 80-100 miles of running. Since instituting this new way of thinking and doing, Hislop said that "each runner is able to put out his best effort on one day and be recovered enough to put out again the next. I'm pleased thus far because the runners are progressing as time goes on and there are no signs of being worn out." Coach Hislop is not the only one who thinks this style of training is doing a good job. "Coach is really working us out but the funny thing about it is that it's fun, "said Gerber, the number one runner on the team. "We are able to go out and enjoy ourselves but at the same time prepare for the race." As this new way of thinking is being put to the test, Hislop, who is in his 13th year at WSC, is planning to reap the rewards as he watches his runners excel beyond their potential. In the long run that is what it is all about anyway; seeing if one can reach from within and find abilities and potentials that he has never thought possible. And one of the ways of reaching down to find limits is to be a long distance runner for "Chick"Hislop at Weber State College. |