Cougs seek success in Seattle

Todd+Wakefield+competes+during+the+Cougar+Indoor+Invitational+at+the+Indoor+Facility%2C+Feb.+1.

Todd Wakefield competes during the Cougar Indoor Invitational at the Indoor Facility, Feb. 1.

Todd Wakefield wants to win.

He’s no stranger to it, having won the 3,000 meter at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships last year. This weekend, he will look to defend his title in addition to scoring well in the mile.

“The main thing about championship racing is winning,” senior Todd Wakefield said. “I’d love to make nationals and place in the top 16, and hopefully that will come with a win this weekend.”

WSU Head Coach Rick Sloan will rely on Wakefield and the rest of the men’s and women’s distance teams to score well at the MPSF Championships this weekend in Seattle. He said the squads are ready and excited to compete this weekend.

“We’ve had five or six meets to kind of get ourselves going, and some people are going very well and are very ready for the competition,” Sloan said. 

Wakefield, who is currently ranked 37th in the mile in the Track and Field Results Reporting System top 50, agreed with Sloan. He said that the preparation the team has done this season prepared him well for this weekend.  

“We’ve kept training, kept lugging the miles, done a lot of pace work and speed work,” Wakefield said. “I think I’m in a better position now than last year. I didn’t have anywhere near as much speed as I do now.”

In long distance races such as what Wakefield will be running this weekend, strategy is just as critical to scoring as the physical aspect. Wakefield said he has a few strategies for how he will run this weekend. He said he anticipates a few runners from different schools with a chance to make nationals, so the mile will be ran at a quicker pace than usual.

However, there could be other variables that come into play, he said.

“You never know exactly how the race is going to pan out, so you just prepare for what you do best,” he said. “You have to go into it preparing for every circumstance.”

This weekend, Wakefield said his goal first and foremost is to win.

“Personally I want to give my best performance and leave it all out on the track,” he said. “If I do qualify for nationals, that would be great.”

Wakefield said the best part of running is the competition and the rivalries, including stepping out on the track with the other competitors he knows or knows of and trying to beat them in each and every way. He said there is nothing like storming past the field and running on to win the race.

“Plus I hate losing,” Wakefield said. “I hate losing so much.”

After the MPSF Championships this weekend, WSU will prepare for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., March 14 to 15.