Northwestern University Athletics
Head Coach 'A Havahla Haynes Discusses Upcoming Season
8/28/2017 2:06:00 PM | Women's Cross Country & Track
The Wildcats kick off the 2017-2018 Season with the UIC Flames Opener on Sept. 2. NUSports.com sat down with Head Coach 'A Havahla Haynes to talk about what to expect this season from her squad.
Northwestern will be looking to build off the momentum of a successful 2016-17 campaign, a year in which the 'Cats finished a program-best ninth at the Big Ten Championships, and went from 23rd two years ago to eighth last year at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
"We have increased our depth a lot," said Haynes, entering her third season as head coach at Northwestern. "We have had two freshmen come in that are healthy and fit, which has brought that to the forefront. And then all our women have had a really great summer of training and we're the healthiest we've ever been."
The team will be looking for even more from last season's freshman standouts, Aubrey Roberts and Sarah Nicholson.
"I have a feeling they will be our leaders again," said Haynes. "They are going to progress to the point where they are leading but leading with confidence versus leading just by fitness, which is huge."
Roberts recorded the team's best 5K and 6K times last season, and placed fourth individually with a team-best time 20:17.1 at the NCAA Midwest Regional, qualifying her for the NCAA National Championship.
"She's very diligent about what she does and when she does it," Haynes said of Roberts, who ran the second-fastest 5K time in school history last season at the Dr. Keeler Invitational. "She trusts the process and always tries to push the barrier but never to the point where I have to stop her or pull her back from a workout. That's a very fine line on knowing that part of yourself."
Nicholson finished just behind Roberts on the program's all-time list with a 5K time of 16:29.37 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, and finished second overall at Alex Wilson Invitational.
"I told them both that when we hit the Regional meet, they should both be in the top ten," Haynes said of her expectations of the two young runners. "Which is huge just to have two people up front bringing down some low points for us, really putting themselves in it."
The 'Cats will welcome back another star in rising senior Isabel Seidel, who ran the fastest 3,000M Steeplechase in school history last season, clocking in at 10:31.22 and winning the Dr. Keeler Invitational.
Northwestern will participate in fewer events than last year, focusing more on facing a higher level of competition and keeping their eye on the big goal – returning to Nationals. After the season-opener at UIC, they'll head down to the Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State University on Sept. 30 to prepare for the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14.
"Last season I had to break it down to what meets can we be competitive at, what meets are going to help us score against other teams and other regions and who are going to be automatic qualifiers out of those regions," Haynes said. "At OSU, we start with a meet that is Southern teams and less Midwest teams so it gets us an immediate shot at those programs."
To prepare for the season, Haynes is having the group focus on building strength, doing a lot of long, aerobic work and not really working on the speed or the sharpening yet.
"We have plenty of time for that," said Haynes, who will have four weeks between the team's first two meets of the season to continue to focus on training. "Our goal is, how do we get our aerobic base up so we're as strong as possible on any course. Then we're going to start honing the skills, bring our training times down and hit them more toward race pace versus preparatory pace."
The season-opener at UIC will be the first the of six events the #B1GCats compete in this fall. Their full schedule can be found here.
Northwestern will be looking to build off the momentum of a successful 2016-17 campaign, a year in which the 'Cats finished a program-best ninth at the Big Ten Championships, and went from 23rd two years ago to eighth last year at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
"We have increased our depth a lot," said Haynes, entering her third season as head coach at Northwestern. "We have had two freshmen come in that are healthy and fit, which has brought that to the forefront. And then all our women have had a really great summer of training and we're the healthiest we've ever been."
The team will be looking for even more from last season's freshman standouts, Aubrey Roberts and Sarah Nicholson.
"I have a feeling they will be our leaders again," said Haynes. "They are going to progress to the point where they are leading but leading with confidence versus leading just by fitness, which is huge."
Roberts recorded the team's best 5K and 6K times last season, and placed fourth individually with a team-best time 20:17.1 at the NCAA Midwest Regional, qualifying her for the NCAA National Championship.
"She's very diligent about what she does and when she does it," Haynes said of Roberts, who ran the second-fastest 5K time in school history last season at the Dr. Keeler Invitational. "She trusts the process and always tries to push the barrier but never to the point where I have to stop her or pull her back from a workout. That's a very fine line on knowing that part of yourself."
Nicholson finished just behind Roberts on the program's all-time list with a 5K time of 16:29.37 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, and finished second overall at Alex Wilson Invitational.
"I told them both that when we hit the Regional meet, they should both be in the top ten," Haynes said of her expectations of the two young runners. "Which is huge just to have two people up front bringing down some low points for us, really putting themselves in it."
The 'Cats will welcome back another star in rising senior Isabel Seidel, who ran the fastest 3,000M Steeplechase in school history last season, clocking in at 10:31.22 and winning the Dr. Keeler Invitational.
Northwestern will participate in fewer events than last year, focusing more on facing a higher level of competition and keeping their eye on the big goal – returning to Nationals. After the season-opener at UIC, they'll head down to the Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State University on Sept. 30 to prepare for the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14.
"Last season I had to break it down to what meets can we be competitive at, what meets are going to help us score against other teams and other regions and who are going to be automatic qualifiers out of those regions," Haynes said. "At OSU, we start with a meet that is Southern teams and less Midwest teams so it gets us an immediate shot at those programs."
To prepare for the season, Haynes is having the group focus on building strength, doing a lot of long, aerobic work and not really working on the speed or the sharpening yet.
"We have plenty of time for that," said Haynes, who will have four weeks between the team's first two meets of the season to continue to focus on training. "Our goal is, how do we get our aerobic base up so we're as strong as possible on any course. Then we're going to start honing the skills, bring our training times down and hit them more toward race pace versus preparatory pace."
The season-opener at UIC will be the first the of six events the #B1GCats compete in this fall. Their full schedule can be found here.
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/ Women's Cross Country & Track
/ Women's Cross Country & Track
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