No training facility a hurdle for Track and Field

The Marshall University women's Track and Field team does not have a track facility to call its own. 

Since 2005, the team has been practicing in a hallway on the second floor of the Cam Henderson Center, said Polly Hardy, the interim assistant coach of the women's track team.  Before 2005, the team had a full-size, 400-meter track that was demolished to make room for the First Year Residence Halls and Marshall Recreation Center.

The loss of the track was very hard for the team, Hardy said.  It's difficult for the team to gain support when it doesn't have any home meets. 

"Change and renovation is always good, but the fact that they did not replace the track is a little heartbreaking," Hardy said. "We support everything here at Marshall.  You know, our girls go to basketball games, our girls go to football games, our girls go to any and every athletic event possible, but for other athletes to support our track girls, that availability is just not there."

The university has recently supplied a large rubber mat for the team, specifically sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers, to practice on.  Hardy said the mat has been very helpful because it keeps the team from practicing on the hard cement floor as it  had done in the past.

The team really appreciates the mat but is a little disappointed that it took so long for the university to supply it, said Kristin Smith, member of the women's track and field team who participates in sprints and jumps.

"We can only ask so many times, and after that we just have to get over it and do what we came here to do," Smith said. "If you have the work ethic, you can do it."

Smith said it was difficult making the transition from her high school track team in Baltimore, Md., to Marshall because she went from practicing on a track every day to not having one.   

Practicing in the Cam Henderson Center is somewhat inconvenient because the team is responsible for taking out all of their own equipment and putting it back after they've finished practicing, Hardy said.

Hardy said the lack of facility sometimes negatively affects the athletes' attitudes.

"The level of confidence and the level of passion that our athletes have is sometimes very low due to the fact that they feel like the university does not care about their sport enough to provide a facility," Hardy said.

The lack of a proper facility and proper equipment also causes many injuries, Smith said.

"We can't practice as hard as other teams would daily because we don't have the proper place," she said. "If we do go hard every day, then we'll all be hurt.  We have to kind of back off of training if we're inside here. At meets, we're always the team that's all bandaged up."

Both Smith and Hardy said although the team doesn't have a nice facility to call its own, the athletes don't let it discourage them too much.

"Needless to say, we still get work done," Hardy said. "All our girls are passionate, and they love doing track, and so we put up with the have-nots."

Smith said she doesn't feel at a disadvantage to schools that have a nicer facility for training. Marshall's team can do the same things those teams with high-tech facilities can do, but they may have to work a little bit harder at it, she said.

"What you put in is what is going to come out," Smith said.

Smith said her dream track facility would consist of an indoor track because it would benefit the university as a whole. 

"We could actually hold track meets and bring in more money for the university because track meets do bring in a lot of money," Smith said. "But we have to get a track first."

Hardy said there has been some preliminary discussion about building a facility for the track team in the near future.

Kelsey Thomas can be contacted at thomas336@marshall.edu.