Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Angie Rosillo Jason Nelson (right) passes the baton off to Jody Johnson, who are member of the men's 4x100 team practice on Friday. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Angie Rosillo The Sac State 4x100 team prepares to race during practice. [Click to enlarge]

As the Sacramento State track and field team enters the middle of the season, it's still trying to get on the same page with the men's 4x100 meter relay team.

The team is headed in the right direction, coach Kathleen Raske said.

"It takes time for them to be comfortable with each other to be a good relay team; each day that they practice with one another they get closer and closer," Raske said.

This year, the relay team added two new runners, junior hurdler A.J. Reed and freshman hurdler Ronald Brookins, to replace two of the experienced seniors from last year's team.

Throughout the season, Raske would run more than one relay team to see if there was anybody who would stand out and be on the A team. She also ran a lot of the sprinters in the 100 meter sprints to see who was fast enough for the relay team. Reed and Brookins emerged to be good candidates for the job.

"This year, AJ has gotten a lot faster with his starts and his acceleration, and Ronald came in running pretty good for the freshman class, plus he has a good stride because he is pretty tall," sophomore sprinter Jason Nelson said.

Since the beginning of the outdoor season, the team has competed in seven meets and will only have three more meets until Big Sky Championships. The team is confident and think the players can make the positive strides to do good things this year.

"I think we are adjusting fine. Our first couple of meets we had a hard time getting our handoffs down, but we are improving each week," Reed said.

Arsenio Corbin, who holds the indoor 55 meter hurdle record at Sac State, and Raphael McFarlane, the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Most Valuable Athlete award winner, were the two legs who were replaced by Reed and Brookins when they graduated. Former teammate and relay runner McFarlane wants them to succeed.

"I think they have a good team this year, and since they are fairly young, they will have more experience for next year's team as well. I know we had a fast team last year so that would be a hard act to follow, but they are a close second," McFarlane said jokingly.

Senior sprinter Jody Johnson and Nelson are the only returners from the Sac State record team that went 40.16. However, the newly reassembled team is on the right path to getting close to the record.

The team ran the 4x100 in 41.06 seconds two meets ago, with some mess-ups on the exchanges, Johnson said. That time is .3 away from getting its name in the Sac State record books.

"Once we get our handoffs down, and become more confident with ourselves, everything will be French Toasts (sweet)," Johnson said.

Nelson said each meet the team will focus on the little things that will drop its times down more and more; the goal is to peak at the Big Sky Championships and the NCAA Regionals.

The runners said it is a good thing that each member of the 4x100 relay team does not compete solely in the 100 meter sprints. Instead, all of them fit into the scheme of things, Johnson said.

"Our 4x100 meter team is diverse when it comes to track sense, because the team has me. I do the 100 and the 200, and there is (Reed) and (Brookins) who do the 110 hurdles, and (Nelson) is just the misfit, but it's good because he runs the longest legs of the 400. So it is a good look," Johnson said .

Raske said it is all about competitiveness - who wants it more. And if the team wants it, it has a shot at the record books. She said the team just has to keeps working hard and take it meet by meet.

David Green can be reached at dgreen@statehornet.com

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