Green in track meet

[Eric the Red]

LJS: Speed isn't enough in Husker cornerback's first sprint race Reply

 

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From LJS:

 

Tierre Green showed up at the track Friday night in some blinding orange shoes.

 

And when the gun sounded for a 60-meter race, those orange shoes went to the lead. But then halfway home, they seemed to stumble and other, more mundane shoes passed.

 

The orange shoes finished third in their heat, 19th overall, not good enough to make it to today’s 60-meter finals of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.

 

Standing alongside the Devaney Sports Center track, Green shook his head. This collegiate track is no joke, kind of like switching from running back to cornerback. The Husker football player can tell you a little bit about that, too.

 

It was just this indoor season that Green decided to join his football mate Titus Brothers on the track team.

 

“I know I can do it, but getting out there and actually doing it and just thinking you can do it are two different things,” said the sophomore Green of sprinting.

 

“It’s a struggle at times, but I love both sports. I don’t want to say I want to do something then just turn around and quit.”

 

Green was a track star at Omaha Benson, winning his share of state medals, but in high school you can get away with just being fast. In college, usually, you can’t.

 

“I related to him after the race that running the 60 is not that much different than being a cornerback on the football field,” said Husker sprint coach Matt Martin. “You can practice and practice, but when the lights come on and it’s for real, you can’t forget your mechanics.”

 

Green’s biggest problem may be his ambition.

 

“He’s trying so hard to hit a home run,” Martin said.

 

The problem with going for a home run is that, instead of keeping a relaxed stride, you either get too low or pop straight up like a cadet.

 

Green did the latter in his race, and there was no coming back from it. He was fighting himself the whole way after that.

 

It’s not that he did terrible. His time of 6.98 seconds was less than two-tenths behind the best time. But in track, that’s enough to land you in 19th.

 

One of the fastest 60-meter sprinters in the country is Texas freshman Jamal Charles, fresh off playing running back for the Longhorns. In his first race, Charles ran a time of 6.68, one of the fastest in the country.

 

“You have to be just a natural to just show up and do that,” Martin said.

 

Regardless of their times, Green and Brothers deserve some credit. Both guys estimate they put in about six hours a day between football workouts and track practice.

 

By the end, you’re “wore out, just done,” Brothers said. “But I love it.”

 

Expressing those same feelings, Green said he wants to run a time around 6.7 by the end of the year.

 

He laughed when asked which was more frustrating: switching from running back to cornerback (as he did this fall) or trying to be a college track star on the fly?

 

“Track,” he said. “Because I know I’m faster than my times. It’s just getting it down where it’s smooth and I’m not straining.

 

“It will come eventually, hopefully sooner than not.”

 

Briefly

 

Some notable Husker performances were turned in Friday by:

 

** Ashley Selig and Sara Jane Baker not only finished 1-2 in the pentathlon, they also automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.

 

Selig’s winning point total of 4,107 ranks as the second-best in the country so far this indoor season, while Baker’s 4,088 is third-best.

 

** Junior Arturs Abolins took top honors in the finals of the long jump, going 25 feet, 31/4 inches.

 

** Junior Priscilla Lopes put a whipping on the rest of the field in the 60 hurdles. Her time of 8.06 in her preliminary race tied her for best in the country and automatically qualified her for the NCAA meet.

 

Most of the meet’s event finals will occur today, with the field events leading things off at 10 a.m. at the Devaney track.

[DJR313]

Tierre is flippin fast and he will get faster at the 60 once he gets his mechanics down. That time Jamal Charles had is unreal.