As he crossed the finish line in first place in the 60-meter hurdles at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational last weekend, Jarret Eaton had something else on his mind.

‘I wanted to make sure I didn’t fall on the ramp,’ the graduate student said with a laugh.

For the third straight weekend, Eaton took first in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a 7.54, beating the runner up by 0.14 seconds in the meet in New York City. A weekend earlier, he finished in 7.49 seconds, which broke the Syracuse record he had set the previous week. Eaton still said he wants to top his record-breaking performance again this season.

Along with the rest of SU, though, Eaton is going to use upcoming meets to prepare for the eventual Big East and NCAA championships. On the women’s side, SaDe Lewis won the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.74, good enough to qualify her for the Big East championships.

Eaton has been the individual headliner for the Orange this season with his record performances. And he is working hard to break his best time with the rest of the meets this year.

‘I’m feeling good,’ he said. ‘If I can break 7.49, then I’m really close to the national record. That’s exciting.’

Eaton said he didn’t run his best at this race and has room for improvement, but he did enough to finish first.

Regardless of his personal performance, the opposition he faced and beat Friday boosted his confidence. Eaton said there were two or three All-Americans running against him, giving him a preview of what he’ll face at nationals next month.

With the Big East and NCAA Indoor Championships approaching, Eaton will not participate in either of the Orange’s two meets this weekend, the Valentine and Kane invitationals. The coaches and Eaton agree that his body should be well rested for the major competitions. He expects to do the same hurdle workouts in practice, with possibly an extra rest day or two.

Head coach Chris Fox said he doesn’t expect Eaton to win every single time he competes, but ‘he’s certainly good enough to win every weekend.’

Last Tuesday, the Syracuse hurdler was named one of 12 male track athletes to the Bowerman Award Watch List, which honors the top track athlete in the country. Fox also pointed out that the season is far from over, although Eaton has been very successful thus far.

To continue his success this season, Eaton says he needs to stay focused, keep his body as healthy as possible and get the most out of his training.

Lewis is keeping the same mentality as she continues to push herself to get better. Lewis did not prepare much differently for the meet, running sprints over hurdles and focusing on her form. She used the meet to perfect the details, and it led to her victory in the race.

‘I wasn’t really focused on coming in first, even though that was exciting,’ she said. ‘I was more focused on getting a good time for myself and making sure I worked on my technique.’

Fox said Lewis is off to a good start, and her performance Saturday exemplified the progress that many of the Orange’s athletes are making this season.

The head coach also spoke about how these recent meets are all leading up to the Big East championships, which he stressed as one of the team’s biggest goals. He said he wants the Orange place in the top third of all Big East competitors.

Eaton expressed his satisfaction with how many of Syracuse’s track and field athletes have qualified for the conference championships, which begin Feb. 18 in New York City.

He is happy with the all of the events the Orange will be represented in, and he is especially pleased with the multiple hurdlers who will join him there.

‘I think everyone’s doing really well,’ Lewis said. ‘Everyone is working hard, pulling out good times and breaking records, so it’s really exciting to see everyone doing so well.’

pmdabbra@syr.edu

Published on February 9, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb