Senior hits stride, goals outdoors

Rose Richmond isn't satisfied with second place. The senior finished as the national runner-up in the long jump, but remains reluctant to accept anything other than first place.\n"If she doesn't win she knows there's something she needs to do to win," assistant coach Wayne Pate said. \nRichmond, along with teammates and fellow seniors Danielle Carruthers and Rachelle Boone, traveled to the NCAA Indoor National Championships in mid-March. Carruthers finished second in the 60-meter hurdles, and Boone finished third in the 200 and ninth in the 60.\n"They did fantastic by anyone's standards but their own," Pate said of the trios national performances.\n"I'm not satisfied, but I'm happy," Richmond said of her second place finish. \nRichmond, who is the indoor Big Ten champion in the long jump, said she considers her solid indoor season to be a stepping stone as the outdoor season gets under way by boosting her confidence in her abilities.\nAfter the first outdoor meet of the season, Richmond is already in stride for a landmark season. Her jump of more than 21 feet at the Florida Relays last weekend was good for first place, qualified her for the NCAA Regional Championships and marked the second best outdoor jump in her career. \n"She's only going to get better," coach Randy Heisler said.\nPate said he is most encouraged to see Richmond do so well while in the midst of intense start-of-the-season training which consists of heavy lifting and more running than usual.\n"It's really nice for her to have a good first meet under her belt," Pate said.\nRichmond said that she too was impressed by her performance despite having sore and tired muscles.\n"It's better than what I thought I'd do," she said.\nRichmond said that, because of the training, she would have been happy with jumping 20 feet. She jumped over one foot further than she expected.\nShe said her goal for the season is to beat her personal record set at last year's outdoor Big Ten Championships by jumping a high 22 feet "but 23 (feet) would be nice," she said.\nPate said he thinks this is a realistic goal for Richmond because she has continued to improve year after year.\n"I've never coached a person who has improved every year," he said. "She hasn't peaked yet."\nRichmond and her teammates will travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend for the Texas Relays.