By: by Emily Diekelmann
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Gearing up for one of their most important meets of the season, the Kennesaw State men’s track and field team heads to Florida for the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Conference Championships, Friday and Saturday. Finishing in second during the A-Sun Indoor Championships, the squad looks to repeat last season’s first place finish in the outdoor competition.
“We’ve been working really hard with our sights set on the A-Sun Championship title and I think our guys have a good chance of doing just that,” head track and field coach Andy Eggerth. “ It’s been a challenging outdoor season, but many athletes have already set personal records in competition this season and virtually all set testing records in training. We certainly don’t take anything for granted though. There are some great teams out there that are certainly not going to hand us the title. We have to show up ready to play. I’m confident that our guys are ready and I look forward to a fun competition full of many personal records, school records, and conference records.”
Already breaking several school records during the outdoor season, junior Jaakko Nieminen will continue his quest for more All-Conference awards. During the A-Sun Indoor Championships, Nieminen finished second in the 5,000 and third in the mile to earn two All-Conference honors.
Earlier in outdoor competitive season, Nieminen broke three school records in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. His time of 8:23.96 gave him the new best in the 3,000, 14:41. 50 was good enough for the 5,000 meter record and 30:13.79 gave him the best school time in the 10,000 meters.
Returning for his final season, senior Jerome McKinzie will try to repeat his success from last year in the high jump that took him all the way to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon where he finished 22nd. He nabbed first at the A-Sun Outdoor Championships in high jump on his way to obtaining the school record with a 2.15 meter jump or over seven feet.
Joining McKinzie in his last season of competition, Josh McNair looks to repeat his first place in the shot put and second in the hammer and discus from last year’s outdoor championship. McNair’s top throw in shot put earned him a trip to the NCAA East Preliminaries where he finished 32nd with a top distance of 16.96 meters.
Competition begins Friday with the decathlon at 9 a.m. and concludes Saturday evening with 4x400 relays.