Written by Administrator
After years of a distance-dominated track team, Harding University’s men’s 4×400 sprint relay team provisionally qualified for nationals at the Bison Invitational on Saturday, April 3.
The relay is the first sprint relay team at Harding to provisionally qualify in what team member Frank Bolling, who runs the first leg of the relay, said has been six or seven years. The team is keeping their fingers crossed for an official spot in the competition.
The NCAA invites 12 to 14 teams out of all who provisionally qualify to participate in the national meet and releases the list after the last qualifying race of the season.
The team has a unique chemistry, with team members ranging from freshman Kory Howard to sophomore Milton Stewart, junior Blake Arnold and Bolling, the senior of the group.
The diversity works to the team’s advantage, according to Bolling, who said the varying levels of experience push each athlete to perform his best.
“It works out well because we’ve got leadership, but we’ve also got guys who can take care of business. Kory’s really stepped up even as a freshman. He’s shown real maturity just going out there and working with Blake and Milton every single day,” Bolling said. “It helps when you have two guys that are strong leaders on the team and a freshman who can just jump in and learn from them and work hard with them. They’ve really pushed each other, and it’s been good.”
Arnold, who runs the last leg of the race, said that the biggest change for him this season has been his mentality and training ethic, which he thinks made a big difference in his running.
“I’ve been going hard seven days a week since August,” Arnold said. “I’ve dropped a lot of time. I’ve been more committed.”
For Howard, the third runner who is facing his first collegiate season, training with more experienced athletes has been a positive but challenging experience.
“It’s weird because it’s more relaxed, but at the same time it’s a lot more difficult,” Howard said. “The workouts are ridiculous, trying to keep up with Blake and Milton. It definitely creates faster improvement though, having people that are a lot faster than you to run with.”
The team continues to look forward to the rest of the season, with goals to shave up to two seconds off their race time in the Kansas Relays this weekend.
“We’ll be fresh then, and we’ll only be running relays,” Bolling said.
No matter what the remainder of the season holds, second leg Stewart said he feels blessed to have the ability to run.
“I have been running since my mom took me to the doctor as a baby to ask what was wrong with my feet and legs, and why I was still so clumsy at the age when most kids start walking; the doctor simply said ‘He’s a runner,'” Stewart said. “I run track because of the feeling after a race. There is no better feeling. I’m competitive, and God has blessed me with the ability to run fast, so I’m doing it.”
