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On track for the long run
JMU track & field early success boosts attempt at second straight conference title in two years
By ZACH MENDENHALL The Breeze
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It can be hard to set team goals in individual sports like track and field, but for Director Delethea (Dee) Quarles, without having shared goals, there’s no shared experience.
Entering a new season means lots to be excited about for the team, including a new conference and indoor conference championships, junior distance runner Miranda Stanhope said. With a new championship in sight, the team plans to be a strong force among its new opponents.
“We’re just looking right now at figuring out where people fit in, so that we’re able to score the best that we can at the conference championship,” she said.
The Dukes will also return to the Penn Relays, a 128-year-old meet that the team hasn’t competed in since the 201819 season. Along with claiming another ECAC championship, there are still many “unknowns” when it comes to the Sun Belt Championships, Quarles said, but the team is keeping its sights on both.
Stanhope is particularly looking forward to this season’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston the weekend of Feb. 10-11, as she said she feels it’s one of the most competitive of the season. The competition is so strong that “you always have someone to run with,” she said, and even for non-running events, the competition pulls runners closer to their personal best.
“The indoor season is quickly passing us and quickly we’re going to be at the conference meet and so then we’ll go through those championships and hit a reset,” Quarles said. “It would be nice if we felt like we were in a position to have someone that the indoor national needs. We’re very unsure of that at this point.”
There’s also more motivation and a clear “attitude shift” among the Dukes, as heading into its first season of the Sun Belt — along with a new director — has given encouragement and created an exciting situation for the process.”
JMU is trying to get as many names as it can to qualify for its first ECAC indoor meet in March, and that comes with getting better and better each week, Quarles said. Learning and improving every week is the focus early in the season, as JMU’s been able to overcome adjustments of the past.
“Anytime you have that much change in a program, it can be a little bit daunting, but I think it just gives us more motivation,” Stanhope said. “To show that we can get through that just like we got through a lot of other things … I feel like this team is really resilient.”
Many Dukes have been trying to step outside their comfort zone, Stanhope said, practicing for events they’re not used to competing in, but it’s been “awesome” to see those same people shine in them.
“I think that it’s coming together pretty nicely,” Stanhope said. “The coaches are getting to see what areas are our strengths and who scores better and in which event.”
With practices being individualized, it allows athletes to work on any area they’d like to.
“I’ll run with maybe the mid-distance girls who can really push me to get some good closing speed for that divided distance race, or I’ll get some longer workouts with the other distance girls, and that’s very helpful to me to get to be surrounded by a bunch of people who are working towards the same thing as I am,” Stanhope said.
With the overall team score always in mind, every member of the team “competes for each other,” Stanhope said, out of respect for the hard work put in by others.
This season, Stanhope is focused on running more 5Ks, as last year felt limited due to fewer events and catching colds, she said. With staying healthy, she also hopes everyone’s hard work and supporting them during their workouts if I’m on the track while they’re doing one,” she said.
Stanhope described running as “an accumulation of fitness,” and “an exercise that doesn’t depend on one good or bad workout.” She feels it’s useful for people to gain the proper mentality when evaluating their training and to not perceive workouts as bad days.
“We all had an entire week before school started … There was a time for us to be in the same space and have dinner together and, you know, do some things together before the season started,” Quarles said.
The extra week together allowed for early bonding and a firm “bridge of communication” between team captains and coaching staff, she said.
During the team dinners, athletes discuss the highlights of winter break and tell others a fun fact that not many people know, Lloyd said. She said they were also encouraged to sit with members of the team outside of their event group in order to build connections with those they don’t often see in practice.
Having overcome COVID-19 and mono this past semester, Lloyd, who recently set a school record in pole vault of 3.81m at the VMI Winter Classic, said she’s thankful for the support in connections she has received from her teammates and coaching staff, as well as being able to talk one on one with Quarles.
“I got to tell her a lot about me, like, what motivates me and the things that have held me back in the past and what I want out of the season,” Lloyd said. “I really enjoyed getting to know her and just being able to talk and tell somebody about what I want to do.” like doing that too.”
Quarles continues to encourage the team by planning meets close to home.
For Quarles, living out her mantra she presented from her initial hire has promoted unity and consistency among the team, she said.
“It’s easy to get caught up in what our goals are, or like, how we do that day, but she’s definitely done a good job of making us pay attention more to how our teammates are doing and what they have accomplished,” Lloyd said. “There’s some events where I don’t really know what’s a good mark and what’s a bad mark. So it’s been good to learn more about what our teammates are working towards.”
Quarles said it can be a vulnerable thing to open up to coaches and listen to them 24/7, however, her philosophy has always remained to coach the person first and the events second.
In terms of how far the team still has to progress, Quarles said she feels they’re just now beginning to see the results of fall training, as the team chose not to compete during December and instead solely to train.
“There’s the collective goal and then there’s individual goals that our coaching staff works very diligently and hard with individuals to have a plan for everyone,” Quarles said.
Whether it means winning or just missing the top spot, Stanhope said she wants the team to do well at the Sun Belt Championship later in May and to show a new conference “we all have winning in mind.”
CONTACT Zach Mendenhall at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more track and field coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.
