This Week in Track and Field with Coach Deem and Devon Hill
April 4, 2012
HurricaneSports.com sat down with Coach Deem and Devon Hill to talk about the happenings in Miami Track and Field.
Devon Hill
Q: How does it feel to be a part of the Olympic Trials now after hitting the A qualifying mark last weekend at the Jim Click Shootout?
A: It feels good, it was a personal record for me, and to do it in the first meet gives me a lot of confidence going into my next race and moving forward toward the Olympic trials.
Q: Have you adapted your goals after achieving one so early in the season?
A: Not really, I believe this was more of a stepping stone toward my ultimate goal of making the Olympics.
Q: How are you keeping yourself focused on your collegiate season with such a big meet looming on the horizon?
A: I try to take the season meet by meet. I try to focus on things I need to work on from the previous meet. Basically I just want to worry about the current race at hand so I can be better prepared to achieve my ultimate goal.
Q: What are your expectations for this weekend at Florida Relays?
A: Hopefully, I get to run in the heat with the professional hurdlers. Mainly though, I just want to do better than last week, because I made a couple mistakes in my race in Arizona and I was a little upset about it. I just want to correct those mistakes and run faster.
Q: Are there any meets other than the Olympic Trials that you are really looking forward to this season?
A: ACC’s and Nationals. I want to get the hurdles double at ACC’s (110m and 400m), and as far as Nationals goes, I have a chip on my shoulder after coming in second at indoor nationals. So those two meets are the ones I’m really looking forward to before the Olympic Trials.
Coach Deem
Q: What are your reflections on last weekend’s performances in Arizona?
A: Overall, I thought we had some really good performances. Lindsi Arrington is just getting faster every week; she hit a personal record in the 1500 last weekend. Obviously it was a good opener for Devon [Hill] in the hurdles hitting the Olympic A-standard. I was really impressed by all of our relays because they were all very competitive, especially the men’s 4×100-meter relay. They are just going to get faster and faster once they get their exchanges better and have a clean race. Shannon Wright is getting better each week. So overall I was pleased with our performances.
Q: What is it like to have current and former Miami athletes ready to compete at the Olympic Trials?
A: It’s getting exciting. I knew Devon would be there, he really has that drive this year and doing all the things he needs too. With Lauryn Williams, Ti’erra Brown, and Dominique Darden, it just feels like we’ve been training forever even though Lauryn ran in some indoor meets. But now that I have an outdoor schedule and a real plan for them, you just get that feeling that it’s really here and it’s very exciting. They are all running at our Alumni Meet next weekend, which will be great for our program. There are also some other training groups coming down from Orlando so there should be a good level of competition.
Q: The Florida Relays is a staple on Miami’s outdoor schedule every year, what do you most like about this meet and what are you looking forward to this year up in Gainesville?
A: I really like what the Florida staff has done with the meet, for example, how they have all the individual events on Friday and all the relay events on Saturday. The format really allows coaches to accomplish something with their athletes early in the season. At this meet I can get our runners in multiple events before going lighter at next week’s meet going into ACC’s. It’s also nice because we have several athletes from the state of Florida who get to run in front of their families and friends. The meet is a great place to recruit because its mixed between high school and college races. It’s a good weekend for track and field.
Q: This weekend will be the outdoor individual race debut for Tarika Williams, as well as Thandi Stewart’s debut in the 400 hurdles, are you eager to see them pick up where they left off?
A: Yes, Tarika will be opening up in the 100 meters at the Florida Relays; she’ll run her first 200-meter race at the Alumni Invitational. We’re excited to see her start her season on the way to ACC’s. Thandi Stewart will open up in the 400-meter hurdles at Florida, and it’s good to have both of those ladies back on the track for us.
