Post by elp525 on Jun 8, 2011 21:59:54 GMT -5
June 8, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - Now before anyone jumps the gun and gets the wrong idea here, know first that there is nothing illegal about this. The fact of the matter is, the prospective student-athlete in question is still, oh, perhaps six to 10 years away from conception, much less decades from adolescence and competition.
Still, that hasn't stopped a handful of Bridgeport High School coaches from plotting and planning for what, the year 2030?
"We're already looking for houses for them,'' track coach Jon Griffith joked a month or so ago.
"Oh yeah?'' Chelsea Carrier perked up when told of the interest. "Sure, that's fine with me.''
The world is littered, of course, with offspring of athletes. Still, it's hard to ignore the potential of this one.
On July 31, Carrier, perhaps the best all-around track and field athlete ever produced by this state, will marry Wes Eades, who in addition to being an all-state football player at Bridgeport owns some rather jaw-dropping school-record times of his own in the sprints and the long jump.
Let the house hunting begin.
First things first, though. Carrier is in no real hurry to settle down and start a family. She has plenty to occupy her time - not just now, but in the next year and perhaps the four years after that.
Such is the life of a potential world-class track and field athlete, which Carrier might well be.
Beginning today in Des Moines, Iowa, the West Virginia University senior from Buckhannon will compete in both the heptathlon and the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA championships. She is one of a handful of college women this year who have broken 13 seconds (12.97) in the hurdles. But where she really excels is in the multi-events.
Her score of 5,927 in the heptathlon at the Texas Relays in April has pushed her to a No. 2 ranking nationally in that event behind Nebraska's Chantae McMillan.
No matter how she fares this week at the NCAAs, though, this is really just the beginning for Carrier, even if she is a fifth-year senior. In a sport in which athletes generally do not peak until their late 20s and perhaps early 30s, the Buckhannon native still has worlds of room to grow and improve.
She and her coaches just have to figure out in what direction to point her.
"She's so talented in so many areas that we're going to have to sit down here in the next 12 months and figure out where she's going in the trials,'' WVU track coach Sean Cleary said. "I honestly couldn't tell you.''
Those trials of which Cleary speaks are the 2012 Olympic trials, which are in just over 12 months. That leads up to the 2012 London Olympics.
Truth be told, that's probably a bit far-fetched for Carrier. She's actually relatively new to track and field all together, having picked it up only when she quit a promising gymnastics career in the eighth grade. It didn't take her long to make her mark in the sport and in four years running for Buckhannon-Upshur scored more points in the state high school track meet than anyone, male or female, before or since.
And in so many ways, Carrier is still feeling her way through the sport. She loves the 100 hurdles and could conceivably become world class in the event in a reasonably short amount of time. Consider that her best time this season of 12.97 is three one-hundredths of a second off the eighth-place time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
But she also ran the 400 hurdles just three times this season and probably would have qualified for the NCAA championships in that event had she entered. She won the Big East long jump title with a leap of just over 21 feet. And in the heptathlon, well, her versatility obviously makes her strong in that.
"That's a great question. We're still having that conversation,'' Cleary said when asked where Carrier's Olympic future might be. "Four years ago I sat down with [WVU Hall of Fame coach] Marty Pushkin and he gave me his opinion. I sat down with the jumps coach and she gave me her opinion. We sat down as a staff and discussed it. And nobody agreed.''
Carrier isn't being much help, either, continuing to excel everywhere. All of which means that, realistically, 2012 might be a bit too soon.
"Yeah, because I know in each event I still have a lot more in me to go,'' Carrier said. "When I get stronger and older and more mature I think I can improve in each event. London isn't too far off, so hopefully if I don't make it to that then I'll be ready four years after that.''
Of course, first things first. Now comes this week's NCAA championship meet, which will be rugged for Carrier because of the schedule. The heptathlon - which includes four strong events for her (100 hurdles, 200, high jump and long jump) and three not-so-strong ones (800, javelin and shot put) - is contested today and Friday and the first round of the 100 hurdles is also today. Carrier will have perhaps 20 minutes between the end of her 200-meter dash in the heptathlon and her trials in the hurdles.
Scheduling quirks like that - not to mention other factors - can have a tremendous effect on the outcome of competition, so this is no make-or-break meet for Carrier. It's huge, of course, but in the grand scheme it is just the next step toward an Olympic goal.
"I think if Chelsea lived in any other country in the world she'd be an Olympian now,'' Cleary said. "She just happens to live in the best track and field country in the world, so that kind of puts that in perspective a little bit. But I think if Chelsea sticks with this sport four more years she is an Olympian, maybe in one more year.''
In the meantime, there's that not-so-small matter of a mid-summer wedding. Even when she runs, Carrier wears the antique diamond engagement ring that is steeped in Eades family history dating back to the 1700s. Eades is no longer a competitive athlete, having injured a hip while running track at Wheeling Jesuit and then transferring to WVU to finish his education.
"He's a freak of nature. He was a 10.7 (100-meter runner), a 22 flat (200), a 23-foot long jumper,'' Carrier said. "He's just a little guy and it's unfortunate he hurt his hip. He was an awesome football player, too.''
Anyone else want to offer up a house to these two?
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - Now before anyone jumps the gun and gets the wrong idea here, know first that there is nothing illegal about this. The fact of the matter is, the prospective student-athlete in question is still, oh, perhaps six to 10 years away from conception, much less decades from adolescence and competition.
Still, that hasn't stopped a handful of Bridgeport High School coaches from plotting and planning for what, the year 2030?
"We're already looking for houses for them,'' track coach Jon Griffith joked a month or so ago.
"Oh yeah?'' Chelsea Carrier perked up when told of the interest. "Sure, that's fine with me.''
The world is littered, of course, with offspring of athletes. Still, it's hard to ignore the potential of this one.
On July 31, Carrier, perhaps the best all-around track and field athlete ever produced by this state, will marry Wes Eades, who in addition to being an all-state football player at Bridgeport owns some rather jaw-dropping school-record times of his own in the sprints and the long jump.
Let the house hunting begin.
First things first, though. Carrier is in no real hurry to settle down and start a family. She has plenty to occupy her time - not just now, but in the next year and perhaps the four years after that.
Such is the life of a potential world-class track and field athlete, which Carrier might well be.
Beginning today in Des Moines, Iowa, the West Virginia University senior from Buckhannon will compete in both the heptathlon and the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA championships. She is one of a handful of college women this year who have broken 13 seconds (12.97) in the hurdles. But where she really excels is in the multi-events.
Her score of 5,927 in the heptathlon at the Texas Relays in April has pushed her to a No. 2 ranking nationally in that event behind Nebraska's Chantae McMillan.
No matter how she fares this week at the NCAAs, though, this is really just the beginning for Carrier, even if she is a fifth-year senior. In a sport in which athletes generally do not peak until their late 20s and perhaps early 30s, the Buckhannon native still has worlds of room to grow and improve.
She and her coaches just have to figure out in what direction to point her.
"She's so talented in so many areas that we're going to have to sit down here in the next 12 months and figure out where she's going in the trials,'' WVU track coach Sean Cleary said. "I honestly couldn't tell you.''
Those trials of which Cleary speaks are the 2012 Olympic trials, which are in just over 12 months. That leads up to the 2012 London Olympics.
Truth be told, that's probably a bit far-fetched for Carrier. She's actually relatively new to track and field all together, having picked it up only when she quit a promising gymnastics career in the eighth grade. It didn't take her long to make her mark in the sport and in four years running for Buckhannon-Upshur scored more points in the state high school track meet than anyone, male or female, before or since.
And in so many ways, Carrier is still feeling her way through the sport. She loves the 100 hurdles and could conceivably become world class in the event in a reasonably short amount of time. Consider that her best time this season of 12.97 is three one-hundredths of a second off the eighth-place time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
But she also ran the 400 hurdles just three times this season and probably would have qualified for the NCAA championships in that event had she entered. She won the Big East long jump title with a leap of just over 21 feet. And in the heptathlon, well, her versatility obviously makes her strong in that.
"That's a great question. We're still having that conversation,'' Cleary said when asked where Carrier's Olympic future might be. "Four years ago I sat down with [WVU Hall of Fame coach] Marty Pushkin and he gave me his opinion. I sat down with the jumps coach and she gave me her opinion. We sat down as a staff and discussed it. And nobody agreed.''
Carrier isn't being much help, either, continuing to excel everywhere. All of which means that, realistically, 2012 might be a bit too soon.
"Yeah, because I know in each event I still have a lot more in me to go,'' Carrier said. "When I get stronger and older and more mature I think I can improve in each event. London isn't too far off, so hopefully if I don't make it to that then I'll be ready four years after that.''
Of course, first things first. Now comes this week's NCAA championship meet, which will be rugged for Carrier because of the schedule. The heptathlon - which includes four strong events for her (100 hurdles, 200, high jump and long jump) and three not-so-strong ones (800, javelin and shot put) - is contested today and Friday and the first round of the 100 hurdles is also today. Carrier will have perhaps 20 minutes between the end of her 200-meter dash in the heptathlon and her trials in the hurdles.
Scheduling quirks like that - not to mention other factors - can have a tremendous effect on the outcome of competition, so this is no make-or-break meet for Carrier. It's huge, of course, but in the grand scheme it is just the next step toward an Olympic goal.
"I think if Chelsea lived in any other country in the world she'd be an Olympian now,'' Cleary said. "She just happens to live in the best track and field country in the world, so that kind of puts that in perspective a little bit. But I think if Chelsea sticks with this sport four more years she is an Olympian, maybe in one more year.''
In the meantime, there's that not-so-small matter of a mid-summer wedding. Even when she runs, Carrier wears the antique diamond engagement ring that is steeped in Eades family history dating back to the 1700s. Eades is no longer a competitive athlete, having injured a hip while running track at Wheeling Jesuit and then transferring to WVU to finish his education.
"He's a freak of nature. He was a 10.7 (100-meter runner), a 22 flat (200), a 23-foot long jumper,'' Carrier said. "He's just a little guy and it's unfortunate he hurt his hip. He was an awesome football player, too.''
Anyone else want to offer up a house to these two?
