December 1, 2009

PREVIEWING THE INDOOR SEASON WITH COACH SPOONER

RICHMOND, Va. – With the start of the indoor track & field season just days away, VCUathletics.com sat down with men's Head Coach Julian Spooner to get an inside look into this year's squad.

After a five-year hiatus, the Black & Gold have rejoined the ECAC/IC4A for the 2009-10 academic year, which gives the Rams a chance to compete at a championship caliber level during the winter season.

VCUathletics.com: What’s the goals for the team heading into the indoor season?

Head Coach Julian Spooner: First and foremost, we want to make a big splash in IC4As. It’s a great opportunity for kids who might not reach the NCAA Championships to get experience at a championship-caliber meet.

VCUathletics.com: What’s it mean to you and the program to be back involved with the IC4As?

JS: It’s an excellent chance for our kids to compete against some high-level talent. Like I mentioned it give some kids who might not have the chance at the NCAA-level to see what it takes to compete at a championship meet. The IC4As is like a little step below the NCAAs and it gives our guys obtainable standards that if they work hard enough that all of them should be able to reach at some point during their time here at VCU.

VCUathletics.com: How do you as a coaching staff use the indoor season in comparison to the outdoor season?

JS: Well now that we’re back in the IC4As, we have a championship meet to look forward to during the indoor season, but our number one goal each season is to win the CAA Championships [outdoor]. In order to do that, we have to use the indoor season as somewhat of a preparation method for the outdoor campaign and everything that leads up to the conference meet in late April.

VCUathletics.com: For people outside of track and field, how is the indoor season different than the outdoor?

JS: The biggest thing is the different tracks that we will compete on. With the indoor, you can have tracks on hydraulics, flat tracks, banked tracks, and on and on. That’s a challenge to get used to, but as far as running, it’s a lot more tactical in the winter because it’s very tough to pass once someone has a lead in a race. With the banked tracks, you have to go up and around someone, so it’s a difficult task just to pass someone. There are less events with the likes of hammer and discus and javelin, only being outdoor events.
Personally, I like the indoor meet because there is constant action, and everything seems to happen at a quicker pace, which is good, especially for our new guys who haven’t really been involved in a collegiate meet.

VCUathletics.com: For this year’s squad, what’s the area with the biggest strength?

JS: For the past couple years, we’ve really tried to balance our team out and have the ability to score points in every event. We’ve always had a ton of talent in the sprints and jumps, but my staff and I have really focused on trying to fill in all the events so that we can get points in various spots come the conference championships.

I really think this year more than any other recent year we’ve done that and I’m excited to see how our guys are able to perform against the talent that George Mason, William & Mary, UNC Wilmington and the other schools in our conference throw out there.

VCUathletics.com: What’s the deepest event for your team this year?

JS: Like I mentioned before, we’ve always had a lot of success in the sprints and jumps area. With DeAngelo Wilson returning, along with Antonio Norvell and Donnie Seward, we have a ton of talent there. Then Norvell is able to help us out in the jumps along with Brian Wallace and Ronnie Black who gave us a ton of points last April.

VCUathletics.com: Who do you look towards to step up as leaders of this year’s squad?

JS: Well it starts and ends with our upperclassmen really. Those are the guys that have been around and know the lay of the land and can really set the tone for our younger athletes. Guys like Piotr Dybas, DeAngelo Wilson , Kevin Brinkley (transfer from South Carolina) and Antonio Norvell are really going to be key to us.

VCUathletics.com: Lastly, who are some guys that you think could really surprise people?

JS: The first guy that comes to mind is Joe Edwards. He’s extremely talented and had a great summer and offseason in workouts and looks primed and ready to go. Brinkley is a guy who is new to our squad, but has some collegiate experience and can make an immediate impact. Donnie Seward came on strong in the back end of last year and I think he can really have a big year for us.