Since his freshman year, Darryl White has been a staple for Syracuse at the Big East Outdoor Championship. But with less than a month left until the Big East championship, White’s name is still absent from the list of qualified athletes.

White first qualified for the Big East in the 100 meters his freshman year. And SU assistant coach Dave Hegland doesn’t think this year will be any different.

‘He’s been coming off some injury,’ Hegland said. ‘He had surgery in August and couldn’t run until January, so he had a really abbreviated indoor season and still qualified for the Big East (Indoor Championship), but he should just be coming around now.

‘He’s finally had a couple months of fairly consistent training, so he should be ready to go in just a little bit.’

As the Big East Outdoor Championship approaches, the list of Syracuse’s competitors in Villanova is starting to take shape. Twenty-seven athletes have already qualified for the Big East championship, some more surprising then others, but Hegland doesn’t think the team is done.

White still has time to qualify. The Orange has a meet every weekend between now and the Big East championship, which takes place from May 6 to 8. White could qualify for the Big East meet as early as this weekend at the Auburn War Eagle Invite in Auburn, Ala.

For some athletes, lifting the burden of qualifying allows them to relax and put in better times. White’s current focus is on qualifying for the Big East, but once he does qualify he may find competing during the remainder of the regular season easier.

Junior Ieva Staponkute qualified for the Big East championship in the triple jump early in the season and feels it has benefited her performance.

‘It’s just less pressure,’ Staponkute said. ‘I think there is less pressure in competition, so you can compete well. Personally it’s working for me if I get it out of my way. I’m just relaxed and I can concentrate not on marks, but on getting (personal records). It makes it easier.’

One of the biggest surprise qualifications for SU this season is jumper SaDe Lewis. The freshman finished ninth in the 100 meter hurdles at the ASU Sun Angel Classic and qualified with a time of 14.65 seconds.

Lewis’ talent is no shocker, but it’s her immediate success that has been a pleasant surprise. She holds her high school record in the 100-meter hurdles and the triple jump, and finished third in the Colorado state championship in the hurdles her senior year.

What makes the freshman’s success so surprising comes from the fact that she is an architecture major, one of the most demanding and time-consuming majors.

‘Being really good at time management is important,’ Lewis said. ‘I just have to be really on top of everything and getting things done ahead of time, but I think it’s good because it helps me balance my time.’

Lewis is also benefiting from what she feels is some of the best coaching she’s ever had, as well as a talented group of upperclassman jumpers for her to look up to, as three other jumpers and two hurdlers have qualified for the Big East meet.

‘Coach Hegland and the best hurdlers on our team are a really good influence for me,’ Lewis said. ‘Coach coaches really good hurdle technique, so it just becomes second nature.’

The Big East Outdoor Championship draws much of the focus for now, because it is the first big meet of the postseason and the soonest on the calendar. But the team isn’t limiting its postseason focus just to the Big East championship.

The IC4A/ECAC and NCAA regionals wrap up the May schedule before the NCAA Outdoor Championship in June. While Hegland doesn’t want to look too far ahead, he knows that regionals and the NCAA championship are in sight.

‘I think we have kids that have chances to win at the Big East, and we certainly expect kids to be in that position, and we expect kids to go to regionals and nationals and do well,’ Hegland said. ‘We’re just excited now for these last couple weeks so we can see all this hard work take shape on the track.’

dbwilson@syr.edu

Published on April 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2