Track Field Championships Prep 1
Sports

Track & Field Prepares for MAAC Championship

The men and women’s indoor track teams are only a few weeks away from competing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships.

“We have gotten off to a slow start, but I feel like we have gotten better every week the last few weeks,” Head Coach Joe Compagni said. “That’s crucial because the end of the season is what matters the most for us. We are building in a good direction toward the end of the season, but we are not where we want to be yet.”

Redshirt junior thrower Tim Wilson has been one of the top throwers in the conference this season. He has won the weight throw in five of six events this year, and he credits that success to his coaches.

“We’ve had some unbelievable success so far. Abe (Throws Coach Abraham Flores) and I have a plan and we’ve been sticking to it,” Wilson said. “It’s been paying off and right now I’m just trying to hit that mark to get to Nationals. We are just going to take it week by week and we will get there eventually. We just have to trust the process.”

Wilson suffered a setback a few summers ago that caused him to miss his sophomore season, but he has come back and become a better athlete because of it.

“I tore my ACL two years ago playing basketball and I had to redshirt my sophomore season,” said Wilson, who credited Elite Sports Physical Therapy in Tinton Falls for getting him back. “Going through that pushed me more to come back and be a better athlete.”

“He’s a good example of how important is it to be passionate about your event because he cares a lot about what he does,” Compagni said. “He came back from a serious injury more focused and better than ever. First you just have to get back to where you were and then be really hungry and do a ton of work to get to a whole new level, and he’s done that.”

While Wilson has seen a lot of individual success recently, he knows that the team’s success is all that matters at the end of the day.

Track Field Championships Prep 2“Track is a very weird sport compared to others because we compete as individuals, but we are a team,” Wilson said. “If it wasn’t for my teammates, I wouldn’t be as successful as I’ve been. Without them, none of this would be possible. Every day in practice whether it be in the circle, weight room or on the track, we are all pushing each other to get better.”

Wilson, along with freshman thrower Jordan Wildermuth, were named MAAC Field Athletes of the Week as announced by the conference on Jan. 31. Wildermuth took third in the shotput (45’ 1”) and fourth in the weight toss with a distance of 52’ 5 ½”.

 “All of our freshmen have to go through adjusting to everything that’s new to them and Jordan has adjusted very well. She has made great progress the last few weeks especially,” Compagni said.

The track programs at Monmouth have a winning tradition, and Wilson intends to keep that going when they compete in the MAAC Championships at The Armory Track & Field Center in New York, NY on Saturday, Feb.18-Sunday, Feb. 19.

“This is my fourth year here and I haven’t lost a conference title,” Wilson said. “In fact, nobody on our active roster right now has lost a conference title in track. The legacy that has been left by the people who have graduated the last few years, we want to continue that because we don’t want to be the group that ends that streak.”

PHOTOS COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics