Lady Rams 'focused' on outdoor season

The Winston Salem-State women's track and field team fell 3 points short of winning the indoor CIAA Championship Feb. 9-10 at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Va. 

"It's hard to digest as a competitor and a competitive coach," said Head Coach Inez Turner.

The Lady Rams finished the first day of the championship in first place, 15 points ahead of the champions, Saint Augustine's. However, they were unable to close the deal on the second day.

Turner said she will not dwell on the lost but focus on the positives and the upcoming outdoor season.

"To be honest, I'm not worried about any [other] team. I strongly believe that if we just push ourselves and do our part there's nothing to fear."

The outdoor season will begin March 15 and the championships will be April 19. Turner said the five-week period gives the team time to prepare mentally. 

Austin Davis, assistant coach, said he believes the team can bring home the outdoor championship. Entering as the new field events coach this season, Davis said he is very proud of his athletes. 

"We scored 48 points in field events compared to last year's eight," Davis said.

"That is a big achievement." 

Tajanel McNeill, sophomore nursing major from Greensboro, led the way being named the field events MVP.

"I was not expecting it," McNeill said.

"When you are working toward something, you don't think 'I want this trophy or I want this award.' The main goal is to get as much points as possible for the team."

McNeill finished second in the triple jump, third in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. 

"I didn't expect to jump that far in triple jump. That was ridiculous, I shocked myself," McNeill said.

Turner said as head coach, moving forward means making sure her coaching staff is intact.

"It starts with us and we have great coaches," she said.

Turner said the coaches are very experienced. She said they came together and organized exactly how they want the season to go. 

Despite not winning the indoor championship, Davis said the Lady Rams had a successful indoor season. 

The ladies' most successful meet was Feb. 1-2 at the NCAA Division II Team Challenge in Geneva, Ohio. Of 22 teams, WSSU placed second overall. Some of the Lady Rams broke personal records and five athletes achieved NCAA provisional qualifying times and distances for the NCAA Division II National Championships. Turner said she hopes there will be more qualifying times before nationals. 

Davis said it took a while for the women to adapt to having two new assistant coaches. He said once the Lady Rams started to set personal records and improve from their performances last year, they began believing in their new coaches and program.

McNeill said the expectations from the new coaching staff were different. 

"They had me running distances although I do the jump events but it definitely helped. When we started competing I felt the change; my endurance was good."

She also said the positivity of Turner causes a ripple effect, where the coaching staff and athletes tend to pick up the same attitude.

"She is positive all the time, even at times when it's not normal to be positive," McNeill said.

She said along with Turner's positivity, sprint coach Clifton Huff is very passionate and Davis is very competitive and a big motivator for the team.