Fighting Knights Women’s Track Program
Lynn Athletics Announced the Addition of a New Women’s Track Team, Making it the Fifteenth Sport Hosted on Campus
Lynn University’s athletics welcomed the 15th NCAA sport to the division II school: women’s track.
Although the official starting date of women’s track is slated for the 2017-2018 season, the coaches have been hard at work to make the team come together.
“Right not, we’re pretty much just recruiting, so the athletes that we recruited this fall are all going to be on the track team,” said Chris Wood, head coach. “So the nine people we brought in are all participants in that when it comes next spring.”
With cross-country in season, the women have been practicing almost everyday of the week.
“I think that running in general is extremely tough. You need to be mentally and physically strong,” said Daniela Papadakis, junior. “Track is about being fast and cross country is more about having endurance, I would say it just depends on the person.”
“We’re going to do a small non-traditional segment season this spring, so we’ll probably have three meets, just kinda three tests for them to get their feet into collegiate track in Florida,” said Wood. “And then toward the end of J-term [next year] we’ll start with the actual season and we’ll have hopefully about 25 athletes that will move over from cross country.”
“There’s some good meets in Florida, there will be five to seven track meets [next spring] and it’s strictly long distance program,” said Wood.
To name a few, runners will participate in four by eight relays, four by four relays and 10k distance events.
With the cross-country runners transitioning over to track, Coach Wood hopes this helps the team’s fellowship.
“There’s going to be good cohesiveness,” said Wood. “There won’t be a transition, it will make for a really nice 12-month annual cycle without anything weird disrupting it.”
With the addition of the women’s track team, Lynn Athletics is now comprised of nine women and six men’s programs, ultimately expanding the Lynn brand.
“If you have a good idea at Lynn,there’s never a bad idea, you just kinda keep working until you get something that really makes sense,” said Devin Crosby, athletic director. “That’s what really makes Lynn special.”
The track team will be holding try outs this spring for their debut season.
