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| Rick Sloan |
Cougar Chats, Copyright 2009, Washington State University Athletics. All rights reserved.
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Cougar Chats presented by:
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Chat with Track & Field Head Coach Rick Sloan this Friday, June 5 at 10 a.m.
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| Moderator: Good morning Cougar fans and thank you for visiting wsucougars.com and today's online chat with Washington State Track and Field Head Coach Rick Sloan. Next week, the Cougars will be sending 10 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, June 10-13, in Fayetteville, Ark. Coach Sloan, thank you for joining us today. Let's get right to questions. |
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| Jim (Seattle): Did any of the Freshman Javelin throwers get an at large bid to NCAA's. If not how did they do at Regionals since the whole year for them was a great start to their college career? |
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Rick Sloan: Jim, you are correct. It was a great year for our freshman women javelin throwers. Neither of the freshmen received an at-large bid to the NCAAs but Jennifer Hamilton (157-0) finished seventh at the regional meet with 151-8 and Courtney Kirkwood, who broke the freshman school record at 170-8 earlier this year, finished 17th at regionals. Marissa Tschida (sophomore) will be representing WSU at the NCAA Championships. Marissa threw 180-8 for a school record. |
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| Seattle: What does it take to make it onto the Cougar track team as a walk on? |
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Rick Sloan: It depends on the event and what we currently have on our team. We are always looking for outstanding student-athletes to move our program forward. |
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| Chuck Millard, Yakima, WA: What are the prospects of having home meets on Mooberry Track next year? Hopefully the Martin Stadium work will be completed so we can see you guys & gals in action again. |
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Rick Sloan: Chuck, we are currently not anticipating any home outdoor meets for 2010 due to the anticipated renovations to Martin Stadium. We will, however, be hosting two indoor meets in the month of January. |
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| Todd McKinlay, Duvall, WA: Rick,
I took a Judo class from you in 1978 and thoroughly enjoyed the pounding you gave me in the demonstrations as I was about your size and one you picked on regularly. Your passion and knowledge of the track world are much appreciated by the Cougar Nation! Thank you for your years of dedication!
GO COUGS! |
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Rick Sloan: Thanks Todd. I have been at Washington State for 36 years now and have loved every one of them. I can't think of a better place to spend my career. |
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| Bill (Seattle): Coach, do you approach the NCAA Championships any different than any other meet in terms of preparation and what are your expectations heading into next week? |
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Rick Sloan: Great question Bill. Our approach to the national championships is a little different in that we incorporate a little more rest in our preparation. We have been training hard since September and feel that the most important aspect of our preparation is to be well-rested. I expect all of our student-athletes to compete like Cougars as they have all season long. |
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| Jim (Spokane): How special is Jeshua Anderson and what he has accomplished so far? |
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Rick Sloan: Jim, Jeshua Anderson is a rare talent who doesn't come along very often. He is certainly one of the finest athletes to ever wear a Cougar uniform. In 2008, for the 400m hurdles, Jeshua was the Pac-10, West Regional, NCAA, U.S. Junior and World Junior Champion with the fifth fastest time in world junior history, and a WSU school record, of 48.68 seconds. He is an outstanding and a remarkable athletic talent that all Cougars can be proud of. |
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| Cindy (Norwalk): Hi Coach Sloan! I was wondering do you feel like you have accomplished what you hoped to with your team this year? |
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Rick Sloan: Thank you for the question Cindy. We have had an outstanding season and I am extremely proud of the way our team competed all year long. We had very high goals at the beginning of the season, and while we have not met all of them, we have one competition remaining and hope to end the season on a strong note. |
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| Jerry (Olympia): Does the level of intensity and tension increase at the NCAA Championships compared to other meets? If so, how do you keep your athletes relaxed? |
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Rick Sloan: Jerry, certainly the level of intensity increases at the national championships, but we have competed intensely throughout the year. We tell our athletes to do what they are capable of doing and to not try so hard that they diminish their level of performance. We want them to have confidence in their abilities and understand the amount of work they've put in to get to where they are. Great competitors are always at their best under the most competitive situations. |
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| Cindy Robinson (Norwalk, CA): Hey Coach Sloan! Do you expect to have more success next year with the new recruits you are bringing in? |
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Rick Sloan: Cindy, I am very excited about the incoming student-athletes who have committed to Washington State. We lose some outstanding competitors from this year's team but we have a very strong nucleus of freshmen and sophomore student-athletes returning next year. With our returners and incoming recruits, the Cougars should be strong next season |
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| Moderator: Okay that's all the time we have. Coach, thank you for joining us once again and best of luck at the NCAAs. |
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Rick Sloan: Thank you. I would like to thank all of you who asked questions and everyone who supports the track & field program at Washington State. The men's team especially had an outstanding season and I am excited about the direction the entire program is headed. Our coaching staff does a remarkable job of identifying and developing talent and Cougar supporters should be very pleased and proud to have such outstanding coaches and people committed to the Cougar Track & Field program. |
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| Moderator: Thank you to everyone for your questions. Remember, to get all the information about WSU Athletics and next week's NCAA Championships, go no further than wsucougars.com, the official website of Cougar Athletics. Please check back to wsucougars.com for future online chats |
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