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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN TRACK & FIELD MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 11, 2015Mick ByrneTHE MODERATOR: The men's and women's track and field director of cross‑country track and field Mick Byrne is here. COACH BYRNE: We have just completed the regular season last Friday at home and going into that meet, we challenged our student‑athletes to‑‑ we're always looking at that last meet as a precursor to the Big Ten Championships, get more student‑athletes on the bus and to throw down some marks to get on the bus, number one, but to get to the regional meet which is at the end of the month here. We think that we had a very successful meet, some great performances, and certainly got five or six more women on the bus and five or six more men on the bus for this week's Big Ten Championships and that's exciting because when you challenge your student‑athletes and they come through the coaches are happy and the kids certainly are happy. Like Bebe said, it's a tough week going into competition, finals week, kids are busy and stressed out and we leave on Wednesday. In saying that, the coaching staff and our student‑athletes are excited about Big Ten's, we always say we train for Big Ten's and beyond, so going into the Big Ten meet this weekend looking for some good performances, certainly on the men's side trying to replace the number of points, 75 plus points from last years men's team through graduation and also red shirts, obviously a young team this year but certainly need some of our younger student‑athletes to step up and hopefully they will do that. On the women's side, as Brian said we have 7 scorers coming back and hopefully they will come out this weekend and set the tone for the rest of the women and we'll have a good meet. Q. Hi, Mick. Michael Lihrman has gotten a lot of headlines obviously how about Jesse Johnson's progression in the pole vault? COACH BYRNE: Yes, we did, Jesse was in the dog house with coach Byrne for a little while, but he came out of the dog house after Friday's performance. He is short on reps, that was his second meet of the year and I think lesson learned by Jesse, I think he was out there to prove coach Byrne wrong but in fairness to the kid it was a great performance, it was a school record and we're excited about that. Hopefully we will get him on the bus more often and he'll will hit that 18‑foot mark if the weather is good this weekend, he had a couple of good looks at 17‑10 so you never know. Q. Mick, what intrigues you about‑‑ they're not going head to head but in a way they are, did Deanna and Georgia in the heptathlon? COACH BYRNE: They train together, obviously and they have a lot of fun. They're two women when you are out there at practice and see them on a day‑to‑day basis, you see them and they enjoy competing together and enjoy training together and I think they push each other, not only on the training arena but also in the competition. So Deanna does not want to give up that No. 1 spot to Georgia and Georgia has a little bit of that Canuk attitude and wants to improve all the time. They're national caliber athletes and they always look to better their marks and to do that they're going to have to beat each other. Q. Do they have similar strengths? Different strengths? What are their highlights in terms of what they do best? COACH BYRNE: Certainly Georgia in the high jump, it's her number one event I would say. They are both even on the sprints, Deanna is a great hurdler, certainly on the shot put, Deanna, more experience in the throws for Deanna, but Georgia certainly in the high jump, her No. 1 event and if she can hit that 5‑10 marks, she jumped 5‑8 and a half this past weekend at the home meet so she can accumulate big points in the high jump. Q. Mick, do you think the way your team finished in the Big Ten indoors is a motivational factor going into the outdoors? COACH BYRNE: Absolutely, that's unprecedented certainly for the men's side and we talk about it constantly. I think they certainly understand that, hey, looking back on 2013 between indoor outdoor and the number of points that the seniors scored, in red shirts like with Austin Mudd and Ziemek and Morgan McDonald a freshman who scored indoors, I think they understand there is an opportunity for them to contribute to the team. Nobody wants to finish 10th in the conference meet and certainly going into this weekend that's not something we are accustomed to, and we don't plan on that happening. Q. Can Brianna Bower chip in a few points? COACH BYRNE: Yes, absolutely, she had a big weekend this past weekend and she is third in the Big Ten and she was hurt during the season and is short on reps but she can definitely improve. Big Ten on the field events has gone to another level, across the board, all events you will see Big Ten kids in the top‑10 on the national list. Brianna certainly can. Q. Coach, what are you expecting out of Kelsey Card this weekend as she leads the conference in both shot‑put and discus? COACH BYRNE: On the women's side, Kelsey is without doubt, the team captain, the leader going into the meet, her and Deanna do a great job motivating the kids and it's just to take that leadership role. You know, we always talk about a meet like this, don't let the meet beat you because a lot of kids, just because it's the Big Ten Championship freak out or get overly excited and underperform, but when you have leaders like Kelsey in two events and also Deanna, you're in a pretty good spot. The team meeting is a little bit different and a little more low key because the younger kids understand that Deanna and Kelsey have been through the mill before. THE MODERATOR: Anything else? Thanks, Mick. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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