After celebrating its fifth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship title, the men's track and field team split into two teams.
One headed to Los Angeles for the Occidental College Invitational on May 10, where a highly competitive group of long-distance and medium-distance runners competed from all over the country.
The second team headed to Davis to compete in the Aggie Twilight. These last two meets give competitors a chance to increase existing provisional marks they already have.
The select few who made the cut will head to the NCAA Championships in Pomona from May 22 to 24.
There are no summer workouts held on campus for the team. Instead, coaches meet with their players and assign training regiments to practice on their own. A rule by the NCAA only allows coaches to train with players on campus for 144 days, said Oliver Hanf, women's track and field head coach. Coaches assigning conditioning workouts to players is permitted.
The summer season is the only real off-season for track and field athletes. Despite their season not starting until spring, there is still a fall workout once school resumes. The early schedule allows many players, especially first year athletes, to work out the kinks in their games and begin a peaking schedule for the May CCAA Championships.
Nine women and 14 men are graduating this season, but coaches are finishing the signing of the first wave of high school recruits. Transfer recruits get more time in the summer to decide which colleges they will commit to.
Christian Del Razo can be reached at cdelrazo@theorion.com
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