Though the initial tryout phase of track & field has begun, it is still possible to find a way on the roster for the spring semester. 

“We are looking for some girls that may be interested in throwing the javelin,” said assistant track & field coach Corey Mistretta. “A lot of times, we find javelin throwers if they played softball, especially if they played centerfield. They have a really strong arm and the javelin is something easy we can teach. If there is any girl interested in that, that would be good.”

According to Mistretta, those who ran cross-country in high school are also welcome to come out for track & field. 

“If there are any girls that ran cross-country in high school, still interested in running to stay in shape or whatever, we can always use distance runners,” said Mistretta. “We would welcome them to come out. It may just be so they could stay in shape or maybe they want to do it to be a member of the team or a collegiate athlete or give them something to supplement them academically.” 

Currently, part of the goals of the walk-on tryouts is to find the student who may have been missed in previous recruiting. 

“The ones we are looking for now are un-recruited walk-ons, kids that we may have overlooked,” said Mistretta. “And there is always someone out there, you can’t see them all. Someone we might have missed, just someone looking for an opportunity.”

On Monday, Aug. 22, returning scholarship and invited walk-ons showed up. According to Mistretta, 75 or 80 people are currently going through the process of tryouts. Nine or 10 students showed up and said, “I want to be a part.”

Students interested in trying out for track & field, or any sport that offers walk-ons, must meet certain criteria that can be found out on lionsports.net. Also, students’ academic performance will influence the possibility of being on track & field.

“You got to be committed,” said Mistretta. “It takes a big commitment to be a student athlete. The NCAA, they require a lot from our athletes academically as far as staying on progression to graduation, there are all kinds of new rules that you have to follow. If that doesn’t happen, we start losing what is called APR points and what that is, is if we lose too many APR points and get below a certain threshold, then the university will take scholarships from us. So it is real important that we take in kids that succeed academically and succeed at the Division I athletically.”

Track & Field tryouts are divided in three phases. The initial tryout phase, the fall testing phase and at the end of the fall semester, a competition roster will be named and only those students will return for the spring semester on track & field.

“At the end of the fall, we will determine the team that we will bring into the spring semester, the competitive team,” said Mistretta. “It is like three different phases to the cutting process. But, we always encourage people that want to come and who want to try out. I think it is a great opportunity for kids to come out and experience what it is to be a collegiate athlete.” 

If interested in trying out for the track & field team, contact Mistretta by email at [email protected], stop by his office found in Room 175 of the kinesiology building or call his office phone at 985-549-5249.