94 West Design Sponsors STC!
Shocker Track Club is pleased to announce a sponsorship partnership with its web designer, 94 West Design, for 2016!
Darren Muci, Shocker Track Club President, stated, “We are honored that 94 West Design is able to sponsor our club! 94 West Design has a strong history of sponsoring fitness-based organizations with a “kid specific” focus, and we are pleased that they are supporting our youth track team. Additionally they will make a donation to our club for every referral for website development.” Visit www.94westdesign.com/STC for details!
Indoor Meet Season Begins for STC Athletes
Shocker Track Club Athletes of all levels have begun competing in the indoor season. Elite Team Member Austin Bahner competed in the Pole Vault at the KSU Wildcat Invitational on January 9th and posted a very nice vault of 15′-1″ for a 4th place finish! Open Team Member Aaron Babbidge competed in the Wichita State Shocker Prelude on January 16th and posted very nice times of 6.98 (60m), and 22.76 (200m), for 6th and 3rd place finishes respectively! Youth Team members Kris Woods, Alyssa Wheeler, Gage Larson, Jake Cox, Christian Compton, and Clay Eckert competed in the National Pole Vault Summit.
Elite Team Member Profile ** Matt Byers
Happy 2016!
It’s an OLYMPIC YEAR!!! We at Shocker Track Club always get excited every four years – especially for our Elite Team Athletes! Each month we will be spotlighting some of our Olympic hopefuls to show what it is like to train like an elite athlete.
If you are reading this for insight into your New Year’s Resolution, keep reading! Sometimes when you really want to achieve your goal, you just have to buckle down and train like an athlete. There will still be a workout and some recipes posted under the respective sections. Hopefully you will find some inspiration following these athletes.
January showcases Matt Byers.
He is from Wichita, Kansas, and throws the Javelin. He attended Wichita East High School where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. He was a 2x City league champion in javelin and also the City league record. He attended the University of Iowa where he was a 2x All-American and 3x Big Ten Champion. He held the Big Ten record for two and half years and currently holds the University of Iowa Javelin school record. His highest finish at USA Championships was 2013 where he finished in 7th place.
Training schedule: Matt’s training schedule is pretty set in stone. Training and working a part time job can become quite the balancing act. All of his training is organized around his work schedule. Work is usually from 6:00am-12:00pm. Once work is over, he heads home to eat a good lunch and then heads to East High. His daily routine of training is Monday- Friday. At East, he completes lifting (strength training) and med ball throws. He follows that up with plyometrics (jump/power training) and sprints. Javelin is a very explosive, intense movement, so you have to train as such. His lifting consists of mostly Olympic lifts such as cleans, snatches, split snatches, squats, and bench. After the Olympic lifts are complete, he has auxiliary lifts that work the muscles specifically needed for javelin. The same theory applies when it comes to med ball throws – very javelin specific. Plyometrics and sprinting focus on intensity and aggressive speed. The combination of all of these is centered towards activating fast twitch muscles. Speed and strength will create the velocity needed to propel the javelin. Finally, he usually takes it easy on Saturday and Sunday. Matt also picks a day to do a light jog and shake out on the weekend. Along with actual strength and speed training, he has to do technical throw work. Currently he is throwing once a week. He usually picks a day where the weather in Kansas cooperates.
Diet: There isn’t necessarily a specific diet that he follows. It is more about staying away from junk food such as pop, sugar, fried food, etc. He tries to eat meat such as steak, chicken, and other lean protein sources such as fish. He makes a point to do most of the cooking at home to save money and calories. He believes for that keeping fruits and veggies in his diet plays a big role in keeping in good shape. He usually has a protein shake every morning that consists of kale, blueberries, raspberries, and protein powder. For lunch, it is pretty routine. He has a ham and turkey sandwich on wheat bread with yogurt and another fruit such as a banana. To keep hydrated, Matt sticks to mostly drink water and Gatorade.
Please follow and support Matt on his journey to Eugene, Oregon for the Olympic Trials, July 1-10, 2016.
Twitter: @mbyersjavthrow
Do you have a question about health, fitness or nutrition? Send it to Ask Laura, at futurist@shockertrackclub.com
Laura Markuly, MSE, ACSM HFS, NASM CES/PES/GFS, is an Exercise Physiologist and the owner of Bodyology Sports Performance, LLC. She also serves as the Futurist and Director of Volunteers for Shocker Track Club.
Merry It’s Time To Get Back To Work!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Happy Get-Back-To-Work! Yep, our resident Exercise Physiologist, Laura, says that it’s time to get back to work so that we can have a successful 2016! Check out her latest great articles –
- Lean It Out Lean It Out
- Full Body Medicine Ball Workout Full Body Medicine Ball Workout
New blog from STC Elite’s Austin Bahner
The 2015 season was a great year for me. It included a trip to Boston, MA where I placed 2nd at the USA Indoor National Championships, a trip to the University of Arkansas where I placed 2nd in the Decathlon, which then landed me a spot on Team USA for a Decathlon competition held in Ottawa, Canada called the Capital Cup. The most impressive, as well as my favorite part of the season, was traveling a second time for Team USA to Toronto, Canada for the biggest meet of my career; the Pan American Games where I placed 8th among some of the greatest athletes in the world.
As of right now, I am currently taking an active-recovery based break from Track and Field in general. In the next few weeks, I will begin light general body conditioning circuits to prepare myself for general Fall conditioning beginning in mid-October. From there, I will transition to light event work and a full weight lifting schedule along with my training workouts. As far as the start to my 2016 season goes, I will be training through the indoor season with the main focus being on outdoor. However, both the USA Indoor National Championships and World Indoor Championships will be held in Portland, Oregon this year. In the outdoor season, I will be competing to qualify for the USA Olympic Trials to earn a spot on the Olympic Team.
With that being said, it will be a long and somewhat expensive journey. That is why I have set up a funding campaign through gofundme in order to attain these goals and dreams of mine. I have set up a goal of $10,000 in order to cover the expenses that are necessary to have the best opportunities possible. Some of these expenses include meet costs, airfare, hotel, rental car and gas. Other costs will go toward shoes, spikes, apparel and therapeutic needs to keep me injury free. The allotted goal amount has come from those specific costs and more. The following is a link to my gofundme account – http://www.gofundme.com/BahnerToRio2016 
Attention Throwers!
Like to throw stuff? Then the 2015 Shocker Track Club Throws Pentathlon is for you! Click here >> STC 2015 Elite Throws Pentathlon for the event flyer. This USA Track and Field sanctioned meet is designed for collegiate and post-collegiate athletes. However Masters athletes may compete and must bring their own age-group implements for competition certification. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., on Saturday, October 24, 2015; competition begins at 10:00 a.m. Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium Throws Field (southwest of the stadium) and Shot Put Ring (inside the stadium) are the event locations.
Blog from STC Elite and Sub-4 miler Tomas Cotter
The summer of 2015 was without doubt the most successful period of Track and Field in my career. I set PR’s over 5 distances (800m, 1500m, mile, 5k, and 4 mile) with the sub 4 minute mile being the most significant. Running 3.58.50 and becoming the 27th fastest Irish miler of all time was a special feeling. Add that to the fact I broke it on a track I used to practice on twice a week as a kid in front of my family and you have a surreal moment that I will never forget. Reclaiming my Irish National 3000m steeplechase title in a windy 8:47 was another significant moment for me as I was constantly looked at as the #2 steeplechaser in the nation. Other races to note was my 1:50 800m and 14:16 5k.
What’s next for me? I just came off a four week break were I got to do things without having to plan around practice and racing which was nice. I took a mental break from Track and Field which I feel is very important. Over the next few weeks I’ll gradually build my mileage before hitting a peak of 85-90 mile weeks around the start of November. I’ll also ease yoga, abs, hurdle mobility, and light weights into my weekly training. The first few months of 2016 I will run some indoor with the focus still being outdoor from April – August were I’ll try qualify for the European Championships and Olympic Games.
This brings me to my gofundme campaign that I recently set up. The purpose of my gofundme account is to raise $5000 to help me achieve my dreams of qualifying for the European Championships and Olympic Games. The money I raise will go towards travel costs to meets in California, Iowa, New Jersey and across Europe in the summer. Travel costs include plane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and gas. Add that to physio needs to keep me injury free, use of anti-gravity treadmills, apparel, shoes, spikes, and entry fees and that’s where my figure comes from. The following is a link to my gofundme – http://www.gofundme.com/tomascotter
2015 2016 Board Members Elected
The Shocker Track Club elected the following individuals to Board Member seats for the 2015-2016 year (new members in bold) – Darren Muci (President), Chris Ellis (Vice President), Ryan Patton (Treasurer), Larry Staton (Secretary and Director, Masters Team), Steve Rainbolt, John Wise (Head Coach, Elite Team), Chandra Andrews (Assistant Treasurer), Cole Davis (Director, Youth Team), Vic Everett, Bill Faflick, Denis Fraizer, Dylan Hartnett (Director, Elite Team), Joan Hearne, Curtis Hernandez (Head Coach, Youth Team), Amber McGown Hetzendorf, Mike Holladay, Patric Jackson, Emily Green Maier, Laura Markuly (Futurist), J Means, Shamoya Pruitt (Assistant Director, Youth Team), Mark Schwarm, Damian Smithhisler (Shared Seat), and Darius Draudvila (Ex Officio). Nicholas J. Means, Attorney, was appointed as Of Counsel.
STC Outdoor Masters Meet Scheduled for September 12th
Registration is now open for the Shocker Track Club Outdoor Masters and Open Track Meet! The meet will be held at Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium on Saturday, September 12, 2015. Adults of all ages and abilities may compete in this USATF sanctioned meet. Youth may compete in the Pole Vault ONLY! For questions, contact Larry Staton at masters@shockertrackclub.com. Complete registration information is available in this flyer >> STC Masters Open Sep 12th 2015 FLYER
STC Elite update – Cotter runs 3:58 mile, Bahner 8th at Pan Am’s
It’s been a big week for a couple of STC Elite athletes as they continue to compete in international competitions around the world.
The big news this week was Tomas Cotter running 3:58.50 in the Mile at the Morton Games in Dublin, Ireland. Cotter had run some good races this summer in Europe but this was definitely his best. He is the 51st Irish man to break the four minute barrier and was the top athlete from his country in this race.
From Cotter, “I knew it was possible but to be the first Irish man and beat some of the world’s best was incredible!”
He has the Irish Championships in two weeks and is working on getting in a couple other fast European races now that he has a fast time in the Mile. He will probably run the 1500m and 3000m steeplechase.
Here is the link to the race video – the Mile begins at 2:04:55
STC Elite athlete Austin Bahner has also had a busy summer capped by an eighth place finish in the Pan Am Games Decathlon. He scored 7451 points, just two behind seventh and 49 behind sixth place. It was his second international competition of the summer representing the USA as he has now made four different national teams in his career.
Congrats to Tomas and Austin for their terrific performances!
