As soon as Lauren Penney crossed the finish line in the mile competition of last Saturday’s Boston University Terrier Invitational in 4:39, she knew she had broken the school record. And not only did she break a program record, but her own as well.

Penney, a senior who is really a 3K specialist, initially broke the record early in her junior indoor season. When she first found out, Penney said she was shocked and excited. After lacking confidence as a freshman, Penney’s record-breaking performances elevated her confidence, allowing her to improve at seemingly every meet.

‘I was more confident because I was, maybe, surprising myself with how well I was running,’ Penney said. ‘It just made racing more fun, and I became more relaxed. It just made racing even better because you put less pressure on yourself.’

Penney will try to keep the momentum from her record performance going for the rest of the season. Though she won’t compete this weekend, her fellow school record holder Jarret Eaton will. Eaton, who shattered his own Syracuse indoor record in the 60-meter hurdles each of the past two weekends, leads the SU track and field team into the New Balance Collegiate Invite in New York City this Friday and Saturday. Only the sprinters will travel to the meet, which boasts elite competition from the Big East, ACC, SEC and Big 12 conferences. The meet holds a reputation as one of the most prestigious of the indoor season because of the regional and national implications.

Eaton has burst on to the national stage this season. The graduate student ran a national indoor best 7.49 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles last Friday at the Penn State National Invitational. His recent tear landed him on the watch list for the Bowerman Award, which is given annually to the top male and female track and field athletes in the country.

Head coach Chris Fox attributes the elite times to a risky decision to redshirt Eaton for both the indoor and outdoor seasons last year, allowing him to focus all his efforts on this fifth and final season of his career.

‘We wanted to take a chance and see how good he could be as a senior,’ Fox said. ‘As a fifth-year senior, you’re always better. The chance you take is staying healthy.’

Eaton has stayed healthy all season. He’s posting some of the best times of his career and is establishing himself as one of the best hurdlers currently competing in college track.

Fox said he believes Eaton’s decision to remain in Syracuse for a fifth year was wise for his development and performance. But the lack of competition was a tough adjustment last season. Fox said it takes a unique athlete to choose to redshirt and remain motivated during the course of a season.

‘It’s hard,’ Fox said. ‘He competed on his own in some open races, but for the most part he didn’t compete much. It takes a special kid to be able to sit out and just do hard work and not really contribute to the team, at least points-wise. But it paid off.’

The times Eaton has posted the last two weeks make improvement a huge task. Fox said posting a lower time is not an important factor for Eaton in the New Balance Invite. He will refine the technical aspects of his race without preoccupying himself with times. If Eaton chooses to let up a little, Fox said, it would probably happen this weekend.

But other sprinters see this weekend as an opportunity to improve times and establish themselves on the national scene.

Flings Owusu-Agyapong, another fifth-year senior who runs the 60-meter dash, is close to qualifying for the NCAA indoor championship. Fox said she would like to post a time close to qualification this weekend. Also, Amadou Gueye, who runs the 60-meter hurdles with Eaton, has a chance to accompany his teammate to nationals. Fox said all of the sprinters, maybe with the exception of Eaton, are looking to post their best times of the season.

Regardless of his outcome at the New Balance Invite, Eaton will be a force to contend with for any national competitors this season. He sacrificed last season for this season, and Fox feels Eaton’s performance this year is well worth the wait.

‘We rolled the dice,’ Fox said. ‘And it worked out great.’

jspramuk@syr.edu

 

Published on February 1, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu