University of Minnesota Athletics
The Right Stuff - The Minnesota Women's 4x400-Meter Relay
5/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Assistant women's track and field coach Matt Bingle knows a good 4x400-meter relay is hard to come by. "I think anytime you can get four good 400-meter runners at the same time, that's definitely a blessing because they're hard to come by. To have four good 400-meter runners like that is something I've never had. Where I've been, it's always been one short or one and a half short, basically, of having a good four."
As the runners and their individual achievements can attest, Minnesota has `a good four.' Senior Shani Marks has been competing in the 4x400 relay all four years at Minnesota, also running on the team that had previously set the record in 2001. Junior Rachel Schutz has competed in both the individual 400 meters and the 4x400 relay and joined Marks on the record-holding team. Senior Lisa Mickelson earned indoor and outdoor school records and All-America status in both the 400 meters and the 4x400 relay at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse before moving to Division I competition in Minnesota for a final year. After a host of high school honors, freshman Kou Luogon was recruited specifically to run the individual 400.
But getting four good runners is just the beginning. "It's hard to get four good legs on a relay because you need all four to run well in the same day," says Bingle. "A lot of times you can have a relay run really well. All it takes is to have one runner have a bad day and you lose the opportunity to run really fast."
Schutz knows first hand how hard the 400 meters can be. "You're running such a long distance that you're not going to run the same each time. A 100 is a 100. It doesn't vary much. But with the 400, some days you're moving and others you have to struggle to get your time."
After getting the right athletes, there is the matter of getting the right order. Bingle confesses the runners "just kind of fell into that order" through a process of trial and error. Even though the order might be partially due to chance, each runner's attitude on and off the track helps her to fulfill her role in the relay. Mickelson runs the first leg of the relay, and according to Marks, that is for good reason. "We start out with Lisa because she's a very consistent, strong runner. We know she's going to give us a good lead."
Marks is the next runner, and Bingle notes that her role is equally important in gaining the early advantage. "The second leg is going to be somebody who can hopefully get a lead for us so if we're in a fast race, we can stick with it."
Bingle calls on the third leg to maintain or increase the lead, and Mickelson knows how important Schutz is in that position. "Rachel, she holds us together. That third leg is tough."
After a good start, elaboration and maintenance, a tenacious anchor is needed to bring it all home. Luogon has the attitude and ability to pull the race through to the end. As Marks states, "We always know that Kou hates to get beat, so we know she'll run people down at the end. She's a great anchor for us. We get really excited for her. In the last 100 meters, we're all screaming. And she's fun to watch because she likes to run people down, so it's always exciting."
Even though each person has her individual roles and performances, the runners' support for each other and their team is apparent by the cheering on the sidelines. Their strong bond is formed by hard work and dedication to the team. "I think each of us takes a lot of pride in our relay," says Marks, "and I think it's an important - if not the most important - event for us because it's team-based. It's almost the pride of our team, the 4x4. It's a big deal for our team to do well in that."
After becoming the first team in Minnesota history to win a Big Ten indoor relay title, Mickelson distinctly remembers how their bond and respect for each other's roles grew despite very different personalities. "I think the 4x4 has brought us together, especially after Big Tens. I think that was the greatest experience to win the relay together. It was so fun. My parents have it on tape, and we were all hugging and jumping around and so excited in pictures afterwards. It was pretty cool. So I think after that, we started to bond. We realized we have something special going for us. We appreciate what everybody does out on the track. It has an effect on how we all do together."
All of the collaboration led to an exciting and surprising landmark in Minnesota history - setting the 4x400 relay record twice in one weekend. Marks knew they were all working hard, but the payoff was still a little unexpected. "We knew that we wanted to run fast, but I think both times when we saw the time flash, we were in awe. We knew we ran fast, but it was like five seconds faster than we ran last weekend or the weekend before. We were really excited. We were very, very excited."
Bingle was confident in his runners' ability but still was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. "I knew we were capable of it, but some of the athletes had competed in events previously that day. I was surprised, yeah, but I knew we could do it. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
The new record time of 3 minutes, 40.28 seconds certainly was a boost for the team. "I think it gave our team tons of confidence to know that we can run 3:40," said Marks, "and we could have run faster than that because there were still problems with the relay - we had handoff issues and stuff - and so I think it gave us a lot of confidence."
Confidence will certainly lead this team into the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, especially since the event will be taking place on their home track. The athletes differ in their views of how beneficial the home-track-advantage will be since this relay has never run a complete race or competed on their own track. They will also be using a different start and finish line than they usually do during practice.
The women's 4x400 relay has proven they have the right stuff to challenge for another Big Ten title. Now with the right day and the right luck, the team just has to pull it off. As far as Luogon is concerned, there is no doubt what Minnesota will do. "Tell everybody to come to Big Tens because we're going to run really fast. We're going to make this race exciting." It takes a lot to make a good 4x400-meter relay: the right runners, the right day, the right competition, the right handoffs, the right order, the right goals, and even the right luck. But it sure seems like the women's 4x400 relay has the right mix this year, breaking the school record twice in one weekend at the Drake Relays on April 25-27. Even with what seems to be the right mix, nothing is certain. However, with the right goals, hard work, and a little bit of luck, the women's 4x400 looks to carry this momentum to an outdoor Big Ten title to match the crown they won indoors only months ago.
Assistant women's track and field coach Matt Bingle knows a good 4x400-meter relay is hard to come by. "I think anytime you can get four good 400-meter runners at the same time, that's definitely a blessing because they're hard to come by. To have four good 400-meter runners like that is something I've never had. Where I've been, it's always been one short or one and a half short, basically, of having a good four."
As the runners and their individual achievements can attest, Minnesota has `a good four.' Senior Shani Marks has been competing in the 4x400 relay all four years at Minnesota, also running on the team that had previously set the record in 2001. Junior Rachel Schutz has competed in both the individual 400 meters and the 4x400 relay and joined Marks on the record-holding team. Senior Lisa Mickelson earned indoor and outdoor school records and All-America status in both the 400 meters and the 4x400 relay at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse before moving to Division I competition in Minnesota for a final year. After a host of high school honors, freshman Kou Luogon was recruited specifically to run the individual 400.
But getting four good runners is just the beginning. "It's hard to get four good legs on a relay because you need all four to run well in the same day," says Bingle. "A lot of times you can have a relay run really well. All it takes is to have one runner have a bad day and you lose the opportunity to run really fast."
Schutz knows first hand how hard the 400 meters can be. "You're running such a long distance that you're not going to run the same each time. A 100 is a 100. It doesn't vary much. But with the 400, some days you're moving and others you have to struggle to get your time."
After getting the right athletes, there is the matter of getting the right order. Bingle confesses the runners "just kind of fell into that order" through a process of trial and error. Even though the order might be partially due to chance, each runner's attitude on and off the track helps her to fulfill her role in the relay. Mickelson runs the first leg of the relay, and according to Marks, that is for good reason. "We start out with Lisa because she's a very consistent, strong runner. We know she's going to give us a good lead."
Marks is the next runner, and Bingle notes that her role is equally important in gaining the early advantage. "The second leg is going to be somebody who can hopefully get a lead for us so if we're in a fast race, we can stick with it."
Bingle calls on the third leg to maintain or increase the lead, and Mickelson knows how important Schutz is in that position. "Rachel, she holds us together. That third leg is tough."
After a good start, elaboration and maintenance, a tenacious anchor is needed to bring it all home. Luogon has the attitude and ability to pull the race through to the end. As Marks states, "We always know that Kou hates to get beat, so we know she'll run people down at the end. She's a great anchor for us. We get really excited for her. In the last 100 meters, we're all screaming. And she's fun to watch because she likes to run people down, so it's always exciting."
Even though each person has her individual roles and performances, the runners' support for each other and their team is apparent by the cheering on the sidelines. Their strong bond is formed by hard work and dedication to the team. "I think each of us takes a lot of pride in our relay," says Marks, "and I think it's an important - if not the most important - event for us because it's team-based. It's almost the pride of our team, the 4x4. It's a big deal for our team to do well in that."
After becoming the first team in Minnesota history to win a Big Ten indoor relay title, Mickelson distinctly remembers how their bond and respect for each other's roles grew despite very different personalities. "I think the 4x4 has brought us together, especially after Big Tens. I think that was the greatest experience to win the relay together. It was so fun. My parents have it on tape, and we were all hugging and jumping around and so excited in pictures afterwards. It was pretty cool. So I think after that, we started to bond. We realized we have something special going for us. We appreciate what everybody does out on the track. It has an effect on how we all do together."
All of the collaboration led to an exciting and surprising landmark in Minnesota history - setting the 4x400 relay record twice in one weekend. Marks knew they were all working hard, but the payoff was still a little unexpected. "We knew that we wanted to run fast, but I think both times when we saw the time flash, we were in awe. We knew we ran fast, but it was like five seconds faster than we ran last weekend or the weekend before. We were really excited. We were very, very excited."
Bingle was confident in his runners' ability but still was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. "I knew we were capable of it, but some of the athletes had competed in events previously that day. I was surprised, yeah, but I knew we could do it. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
The new record time of 3 minutes, 40.28 seconds certainly was a boost for the team. "I think it gave our team tons of confidence to know that we can run 3:40," said Marks, "and we could have run faster than that because there were still problems with the relay - we had handoff issues and stuff - and so I think it gave us a lot of confidence."
Confidence will certainly lead this team into the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, especially since the event will be taking place on their home track. The athletes differ in their views of how beneficial the home-track-advantage will be since this relay has never run a complete race or competed on their own track. They will also be using a different start and finish line than they usually do during practice.
The women's 4x400 relay has proven they have the right stuff to challenge for another Big Ten title. Now with the right day and the right luck, the team just has to pull it off. As far as Luogon is concerned, there is no doubt what Minnesota will do. "Tell everybody to come to Big Tens because we're going to run really fast. We're going to make this race exciting."
Players Mentioned
