Cailla Prisco
Sports Editor
College athletes are determined, hard working, and productive. But college athletes that compete in multiple events are a different breed of hard-core. Not only do they excel in one sport, but multiple events that require different training.
Keene State track and field twins Alexis and Skyler Gotheir run different events that require different types of training, including hurdles, jumps, and multis which can include javelin and shot put.
According to KeeneOwls.com Skyler Gauthier was named LEC Field Athlete of the Week after an “impressive showing at the Silfen Invitational, finishing third in the heptathlon, totalling 4,067 points, which is good for 20th nationally.”
A heptathlon is when a track and field athlete competes in all seven events.
Gauthier’s heptathlon performances included fourth place in the 200 meter dash (27.53 meters), second in the 800 meters (2:36.47), fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.15), third in the high jump (1.52 meters), first place in the shot put (9.77 meters), third in the long jump (4.91 meters), and third in the javelin (25.73 meters).
Making the time to put in the practices and the have the time management skills to prioritize training is a challenge.
Alexis Gauthier said, “communicating with coaches is important.”
“Like any sport your body might have some soreness and tight muscles, we just have to communicate with our coaches about that stuff and if we have too, we’ll switch our training schedule up,” she added, “With multis you just have to take each event at a time and not think about anything that happened in the previous events or ones that are coming up” said Alexis Gauthier.
Events like javelin and shot put requires a lot of arm and upper body strength while hurdles and sprints require cardio and speed. That means that the athletes must work every part of their body while training and competing.
“Maintenance is pretty important, because we work hard throughout the week. You have to take care of your body properly or you won’t perform how you want to,” said Skylar, “The good thing about multis is that you work on other events you might not always do, so it gives parts of your body some time to recover.”
Both Skylar and Alexis competed in the Springfield Invitational this past weekend on April 19 and 20.
According to Keeneowls.com, Skyler Gauthier won the 100 hurdles in 16.00 seconds flat and Alexis Gauthier was third in the long jump at 5.03 meters, with Skyler Gauthier in fourth at 5.01 meters.
wThe twins will both compete at the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship hosted at Fitchburg State on Saturday April 27. The start time is 10 a.m.
Cailla Prisco can be contacted
at cprisco@kscequinox.com
