The Big Ten Athlete of the Year and a promising freshman will represent MSU this week at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Junior All-American Paul Terek, who won Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Meet at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships honors earlier this month, will compete in the pole vault and the decathlon at the competition, which started Wednesday and continues through Saturday.
As for the MSU women’s team, freshman Michelle Carson will be the lone competitor donning green and white. Carson will be competing in the 10,000-meter run.
Carson, who runs the 10,000-meter race today, provisionally qualified for the meet with her performance in late March at the Stanford Invitational. She also finished in third place at the Big Ten Championships earlier this month in Bloomington, Ind.
Aside from representing MSU, Carson ran internationally for Canada at last month’s World Junior Cross Country Championships in Ostend, Belgium. She hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The top seeds in the 10,000-meter run include Colorado’s Jodie Hughes and Brigham Young’s Tara Northcutt. Carson is ranked 19th in the event.
Terek, a Spartan co-captain, holds the Big Ten and MSU records in the decathlon with 7,695 points, which he set at this year’s conference championship. Despite the fact MSU hasn’t had an NCAA outdoor track champion since Bob Steeliest won the 440-yard hurdles in 1967, Terek feels confident.
“Everyone has dreams of winning,” Terek said. “It’s a tough field, but we’ll see what I can do.
“I’m gonna try and get 8,000 points. My strongest events are the pole vault and the throwing events like the discus, shot put and the javelin.”
Terek admits the hurdles and the high jump are not his strongest events, but he and his coaches are still high on his overall chances at the meet. Field events coach Will Wabaunsee thinks Terek has a good shot at success at the meet.
“I think he’s gonna light it up,” Wabaunsee said. “It’s going to be real competitive because there is a tough field, but you always want to win it. We all want him to do well and represent MSU. We want him to finish in the top six and get a plaque.
“Paul has a strong desire to work hard and he has put in the work in the fall and the summer. Sometimes we even have to tell him to go home when he’s frustrated because of his highly competitive nature.”
Terek’s main competition in the decathlon looks like it will come from Tennessee’s Stephen Harris after top-seeded Claston Bernard, of Louisiana State, was disqualified on Wednesday. Terek is ranked fifth nationally in the event.
In the pole vault, Terek will have to overcome Texas’ Brian Hunter and Northern Iowa’s Jacob Pauli, who are the top seeds. Terek is ranked 11th.
Terek’s championship schedule is a hectic one. On Wednesday, Terek completed four decathlon events and the pole vault during three-and-a-half hours. He then finished the fifth event of the decathlon’s first day of competition later in the day.
Terek will complete the other five events in the decathlon today.
While Terek wants to do well at the NCAA Championships, he has higher long-term goals.
“I love to compete, I love to go to the meets,” Terek said. “Next year, I’d like to repeat in the decathlon and hopefully win nationals.”
The Livonia native also revealed his hopes of qualifying for the USA Outdoor Championships next month and representing the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
To qualify for the USA meet, Terek needs 7,800 points in the decathlon this weekend.
