Northwestern University Athletics
Head Coach 'A Havahla Haynes Talks About What to Expect This Season
9/2/2016 11:23:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
This weekend, the Wildcats kick off the 2016-2017 Season at the Illinois Dual in Champaign, Ill. To start things off, NUSports.com sat down with Head Coach 'A Havahla Haynes to talk about what to expect this year, from staying united to staying healthy.
Fostering Unity
With a year of experience as Head Coach of the Wildcats under her belt, 'A Havahla Haynes is taking steps to ensure cohesiveness amongst her team. "The newcomers are diligent and they're going to make an impact. I think that some of them are going to fall into the top five, and some even in the top seven when we're traveling to our championship meets. The veterans know how to get stuff done, and they know how to work hard in order to piece it together and be the leaders on some level up front."
New Assistant Coach Austin Brobst introduces an excellent benefit to the team's personality dynamic. When asked about what it's like to work with Brobst, Haynes said "It has been pretty great. What's nice is that we work differently but have the same end goal. What I miss, Coach Brobst picks up. What he misses, I pick up -- that's a great thing when you're trying to keep eighteen women on the ground running. Our personalities are different, meaning that we have personalities that any of the women can find a connection with, and I think that's really helpful."
Careful Training
In order to improve upon last season, Coach Haynes puts a focus on consistency in every aspect of training. Following a season dotted with injuries, Haynes is taking extra precautions to ensure healthy improvement in her student-athletes. Being no stranger to injury herself, Haynes draws on her personal experiences as a runner at the collegiate level, saying "I was injured a lot when I was in college, early on, and I remember it being really tough mentally to stay in-tune with myself and in-tune with the team, and I think those experiences have allowed me to help them navigate injury and stay away from it in the long-term."
This experience with injury led to developments in Haynes' training methods, such as the use of the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill, intended to aid in both the rehabilitation and strengthening of her runners by reducing impact. In addition to the use of the AlterG, Haynes puts a focus on the individualization of the training programs of each of her runners. "We've reduced mileage on some of them, and then on some of them we've reduced intensity but kept mileage. There's a varying amount of things that happen depending on the individuals. Essentially, muscle fibers and how they work effectively," Haynes said.
A Midwestern Mentor
As a Wisconsin native, 'A Havahla Haynes loves being in the Midwest after transitioning from the University of New Mexico, where she served as Associate Head Coach. "I'm happy to be back. Evanston feels like a really tight knit community and has a small town feel on some level, so that has been great. I enjoy it and I hope to be here for a while." When asked about her decision to coach Northwestern student-athletes in particular, Haynes credits their incredible motivation both in the classroom and in competition. "They're in a really developmental period, and I hope to inspire confidence and mentorship for them. I can really help them develop into bright, brilliant young women."
What to Expect
With excitement brewing out of talks of her first recruiting class, Haynes thinks fans can expect improvement in competition. "I would say that we're going to have more depth, and hopefully that translates to higher positioning in some of those larger meets that we've maybe struggled with in the past. Hopefully, we'll have some frontrunners that do things that maybe haven't been done here in a little bit." When asked about standouts in practice leading up to the start of the season, Haynes mentioned Andrea Ostenso, a returner, and highly sought-after recruit Aubrey Roberts, who she credits in having had some pretty impressive early workouts. "I think she'll run well across the cross-country course."
The Wildcats kick off the 2016 campaign on Friday, Sept. 2nd in Champaign, Ill. at the Illinois Dual. This meet is the first of six for the Wildcats during the fall season. Their next competition, the Bradley Intercollegiate, will be held two weeks from now in Peoria.
