The Winthrop track and field team traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at the end of February to compete in the Big South Conference Indoor Championships.
“We knew that going in that this was the youngest team, and we did not have the experience that was needed,” said head cross country and track and field coach Benjamin Paxton. “The last two years, we did not have many who had competed at the championship level before.”
At the meet, Winthrop’s Bautista Vivanco and Libby Roush received All-Academic honors as a result of academic achievements.
“Being the recipient of this prize was definitely something very meaningful to me,” Vivanco said. “This award serves me as a reminder of my roles not just as a Winthrop athlete but also as a Winthrop student, in the sense that it gave me encouragement to continue developing my academics through the rest of my college career.”
In addition to receiving the academic awards, Vivanco competed in the 200– and 400-meter dash and was the third leg of the 4×400 meter relay.
Freshman Jaden Mathieu broke a personal record and freshman record in the high jump at the meet, finishing one spot off from the podium with a jump of 2.00 meters.
“I’m pretty satisfied with how I did in breaking my personal record, getting the freshman record, and being one place away from All-Conference from my first Big South Championship was great,” Mathieu said.
Winthrop’s highest–ranking performer was Ambar Nunez-Gomez, who finished in second place in the women’s weight throw with a toss of 17.43 meters. Winthrop’s Daren Hinds also ran a freshman record of 8:42:62 for the 3,000-meter run.
Now that the indoor season has ended, the teams are preparing for the outdoor season.
“We are on a nice three-week break which will help in recovery both mentally and physically. We will be able to work on volume and then rest during spring break before returning to compete at [the] University of North Carolina at Charlotte Invitational,” Paxton said.
During the outdoor season, there will be several athletes in disciplines that are not contested indoors, such as 400-meter hurdles and discus.
“These athletes will make an impact on the conference level,” Paxton said.
In preparation for the upcoming outdoor season, Nunez-Gomez plans to work with her coach in being process–oriented.
“I have a lot of goals for the rest of the season,” Nunez-Gomez said. “I definitely want to push my hammer personal record further than it was last year. I want to be able to improve little by little each meet, even if it was centimeters worth of personal records.”
As Mathieu enters the upcoming outdoor season, he will be watching film and doing extra work outside of practice.
“My goal is to make incremental improvements and eventually hit 2.09 [meters], which is 6 feet and ten inches, and [that] will place me in the top 100 [for] Division I high jump,” Mathieu said.
Winthrop track and field will be hosting the Winthrop/Adidas Invitational at the Irwin Belk Complex as its only home meet this season. The meet will be held March 24-26.
“Admission is free and a great way to spend your spring days at the Winthrop farm,” Paxton said.
