Dear Track & Field Alumni(ae)
While we may be a ways off from the start of the official track season, I wanted to get in touch with all of you and provide an update on the program. It’s still early in the XC season, but with both teams having some great results, we are confident that track season will be equally as successful. Our women’s fourth place finish at NCAA’s will be very tough to duplicate this year but we are always looking to challenge ourselves.
In my time coaching here at Amherst College, we have had some tremendous success at all levels of competition. With the success that we have enjoyed, the level of interest in the program has increased and as a result, the number of participants has grown tremendously. For this success to continue, the student-athletes on the team need more attention from the coaches, and in trying to provide that, the program would greatly benefit from additional full time assistant coaches. Your support and funding, can help to enhance what I am currently providing for our assistants and helping to fund other positions to better support our program. We have been blessed to have some extremely dedicated coaches – John and Amy are still with us - who have provided a great deal to the program; but they are here at 4:00 for practice and leave right after, and there are a great many other things that need to get done that have started to become somewhat overwhelming. This season we are fortunate to welcome two new coaches, Alison Wade and Shauneen Garrahan, to the program. Both will be helping with track and XC and, while they are only part time, they are in the office throughout the day and taking on a lot of the things that I would normally be scrambling to get done myself. In addition to helping coach, Shauneen Garrahan’07 is training to run the steeplechase at the 2008 Olympic Trials. She made a bit of history last spring when she captured three national titles in the same meet – the 10k, steeplechase, and 5k – and if that was not enough, she was also recently named one of nine finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which is being announced October 27th.
Trying to provide insight into this upcoming season and the team’s potential, as well as a brief recap of our past season is pretty tough to do in a letter; so I would encourage you to take a moment to check out the website that I maintain at www.amherst.edu/~xcountry/track.html. I am constantly updating it and I hope that you can take a few minutes to check it out. In addition to the team site, I have also created an alumni website at http://www.amherst.edu/~xcountry/alumni/tfalumni.html. It is admittedly a work in progress that I started this past year. I would absolutely love and welcome any of your thoughts and ideas as to how to make this a source of information that is beneficial to both alumni and to our program. For those who may be returning for the reunion weekend in May, this could be a great resource to help us get some track group activity planned out in advance – be it a fun mini meet at the track, a group run, or some kind of get together of the teams of the past. I am also interested in establishing an alumni member list on the page that can serve as a means for contacting some of your former teammates.
It is my intention to keep the program on the road to success, but in order to do this I need your help. As former track & field athletes at Amherst College, you can continue to be an integral part of the track & field program through your support. I am very thankful for the gifts that many of you have provided in the past, and hope that you can continue to support the program. These donations allow us to do more for the athletes and, in turn, help improve individual and team efforts. On behalf of the Amherst College Track & Field team and the coaching staff, I would like to sincerely thank you for your continued support and interest in the track and field program.
If you have suggestions or simply want to let me know how you are doing, please do not hesitate to contact me at elnedeau@amherst.edu or 413-542-8117
Best wishes for a wonderful year.
Erik Nedeau
Amherst College Track & Field