Poly women's indoor track team confident for '07 season

The Cal Poly women’s indoor track and field team has set the bar high this season and is already off to a good start.

Last Saturday, the Mustangs ushered in the new season as seniors Sharon Day and Danielle Ayers-Stamper competed in the Dempsey Indoor Preview meet hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle.

Day, who won an outdoor national championship in the high jump two years ago as a sophomore, was second in the event with a mark of 5 feet, 8 inches. After tying for first at 5-8, Day and Portland State’s Ashley Quay went to a jump-off and Quay won with a leap of 5-8 3/4.

Ayers-Stamper placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.17 seconds. She also tied for fifth in the high jump, clearing 5-4 1/4, and was 13th in the shot put with a distance of 9.66 meters.

Cal Poly competes next at the University of New Mexico Invitational from Jan. 26-27.

Indoor track and field, while more popular in cold-weather areas, contains many of the same elements of the outdoor variety with a few exceptions, such as the javelin.

The season, though, is much shorter than outdoor, enabling its athletes the opportunity to compete from mid-January through late February or early March.

At Cal Poly, the women’s indoor track and field program began about nine years ago after the athletic department made the transition to the Division I level.

“We have had some success – we have had several All-Americans,” said Cal Poly head coach Terry Crawford, who has coached the team for 15 years. “We definitely have made a mark, though the indoor season is not, as I like to define it, a season of emphasis.”

For many athletes, and especially those in California where “indoor is not of major significance,” as Crawford put it, the shorter indoor season is used as training grounds for the upcoming outdoor season.

“Indoor is like getting back into things, and then in outdoor I hope to get back to where I was before I was injured,” Day said. “I feel good fitness-wise, but I have a lot of form, technique and timing to work on in order to get back into the rhythm of jumping.”

Day spent seven months last year recovering from a foot injury after breaking her fifth metatarsus. But now she’s back and ready to continue perfecting her performance in the high jump.

“We’re excited to see Sharon back in uniform, to see her get back to a national-level indoor (standing) that will enhance her outdoor season,” Crawford said.

For Ayers-Stamper, this is her last chance to compete at the collegiate level in indoor events. And she wants to make the most of it.

She competes in the pentathlon, a one-day, five-part event which consists of 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800-meter run. At the New Mexico Invitational, she hopes to qualify for nationals for a second consecutive season. Last year she was 13th at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pentathlon.

“If we have a good chance to make it to nationals, then why not?” she said.

Added Crawford, “We feel like our team is much ahead of where we were last year. Our coaching staff is looking for this indoor season to help us jump into, and complement, the outdoor season.”