PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

The Puma’s track and field team has dashed out to a great start this season, with 14 athletes qualifying for the Indoor Championships. The PVCC team expects additional athletes to qualify for the upcoming Outdoor Championships.

“We have done well,” says track and field Co-Head Coach Todd Lehman. “Our numbers are down a little bit this year, but we have been recruiting well and the kids we have are good. They are a likeable group, too.”

Lehman hopes that the Pumas’ early success will lead them to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s National Championships. “Our goals are always centered around having success at the national championships, both indoor and outdoor,” says Lehman. “We always want to finish in the top five for both men’s and women’s. We typically are in the top 10. Those are our goals.”

Aside from the national championships, Lehman also takes pride in allowing students to continue their careers, have fun and create opportunities at schools beyond Paradise Valley.

“We have been very successful in taking athletes with limited or no opportunities to continue the sport at a four-year school ... and [we] give them two years of better training,” says Lehman. “It gives them time for success and the opportunity to reach four-year schools.”

Dave Barney is the other half of the co-head coaching team. Barney primarily deals with distance athletes and helps oversee the whole team. Lehman helps recruit and coordinate the sprinting, jumping, throwing and multi’s, along with the rest the staff. Lehman and Barney spend a lot of time finding the right students for the program.

“We’ve got good kids in our program,” says Lehman, “kids that we are proud of, kids that will represent us well, represent themselves and the school well, and we are proud of that.”

The Pumas started training for the track and field season in October, while the cross country and distance runners started training in June. With roughly four months before the first meet, Lehman says that a lot of training still needs to be done in preparation for the season.

“Many of the events are technical, so there is a lot to learn,” says Lehman. “We have to stick to the fundamentals and go over things that are not always fun. We like to try and teach kids their events so that they have an understanding of what they are doing.”

The Pumas have many athletes that had tremendous success last year returning this season, including All-Americans Samantha Hatch, Adrianna Vargas, Heather West and Samantha Culiver. Samantha was also the runner-up in pole vault last year at the Indoor Championships.

Nancy Piazza, who is a two-time All-American and the National Indoor and Outdoor Champion for pole vault last year, is also returning. Nate Harris, a national qualifier last year, has a good shot at being an All-American this year, according to Lehman.

The team also has two freshmen ranked in the top five: Martin Nevarez and Kyle Fugit, who are ranked second and third in the pole vault respectively. “We have outstanding athletes who have had success and are going to continue having success,” says Lehman.

The NJCAA Indoor National Championships are held in Texas on March 2- 3. The Outdoor National Championships are May 17-19 in Coffeyville, Kansas.