Lareea Chisholm's career with the Syracuse track and field team began in a far-from-ideal manner. The Baldwinsville native was unable to train with the team during stretches of the fall semester due to a tonsillectomy.
"I was set back for about two months," Chisholm said. "I'm happy where I am now, but I still need to get out there and train harder."
An observer would hardly notice Chisholm has missed a day of practice. Since making her collegiate debut in The Syracuse Welcome Back on Jan. 12, the freshman has finished first in every event she competed in. Already, she has qualified for multiple championship events later in the season.
Syracuse travels to State College, Pa., for the Penn State National Open to compete today and Saturday. The Orange will compete in a field that includes 50 of the best teams on the East Coast. The good news for the Orange is the meet will be essentially off the record; scoring will be done based on individual, not team, performance.
The emphasis on individuals will give Chisholm a chance to continue to build her growing reputation as a standout sprinter.
At last week's Cornell Upstate Challenge, she captured a first-place finish in the 60-meter dash, setting a personal record. The finish was enough to qualify her for the Big East championships.
"It was a great start for a freshman," Fox said. "She could be at a national level by the time she's a junior if she keeps working hard."
Chisholm is hoping to surpass her performance at Cornell this weekend. If all goes according to plan, it will be just another brick in the road to what Fox says could be a "great future" for the sprinter.
"My goal this weekend is to lower my Big East time," Chisholm said. "My best is 7.66 seconds right now, but I'm going to lower it to 7.5."
Chisholm's focus on the Big East is a common attitude among the SU runners. Despite the fact the indoor season began only a few short weeks ago, Fox is already preparing his team for Big East competition.
"We always try to avoid injuries, and we're not too dinged up yet," Fox said. "We're always looking forward to the Big East though, and we need to stay healthy if we want to compete."
Chisholm's continued success will be vital to the lofty goals Fox has set for his team this year.
The Syracuse head coach wants his squad to be among the top three competitors in the Big East by the end of the indoor season. After this weekend, the Orange should have a pretty good idea as to how it will stack up against such competition as Villanova, Pittsburgh and Georgetown all plan to attend the meet. It will be important for members of each team to score well in the future, as most meets are scored by team.
"It's important for us to be consistent," Fox said. "We've been looking good in practice. Things generally look the same from day to day, which is what we're striving for at this point."
With Fox's mantra of consistency in its mind, the Orange will no doubt be expecting a solid team performance despite the alternate scoring. And for Chisholm, it's a chance to add on to the great start to her career.
"I put my all into everything I do," Chisholm said. "I'll keep working hard to reach my goals."
Be the first to comment on this article!