Contrary to popular belief, Monday evening is not the next time your Terriers will be involved in a vicious B-Line Battle. Those who truly cannot contain their excitement for the Beanpot final will be able to express their anti-Boston College sentiments on Friday and Saturday at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center, as the BU men’s and women’s track teams host the Eagles. Providence College has the honor of serving as third wheel in each meet, with the BU-BC rivalry taking center stage.
The women will be in a similar situation to the Icedogs, as they try to gain revenge on a Boston College team that beat them by a wide margin in a quad meet on Jan. 17. The Terriers are simply looking for improvement.
‘[Providence and BC] both have very strong programs, so this should be a great meet for us,’ said BU women’s coach Lesley Lehane. ‘I’m looking to see everybody on the team improve from where they’ve been.’
The BU women are coming off the Terrier Classic, a highly competitive meet in which the team performed well. Senior Lauren Warman won the 500-meter race, while junior Mary Ellen Bingham and senior Andrea Stuermer both turned in typically solid results in the jumps and the pole vault, respectively.
Providence, however, features a distance crew that captured 6th place at the Cross Country nationals. Throw BC’s well-balanced team in the mix, and BU’s distance runners, led by senior Sherida Bird and sophomore Dina Mijuskovic, should be a key factor in the meet.
Lehane suggested that overcoming such a deficit against Boston College could be difficult, but otherwise is quite optimistic.
‘We should beat Providence,’ she said. ‘I think everybody is doing great, it’s just a matter of keeping everyone healthy. I think we have a really good shot at winning the conference.’
The men also have a score to settle with Boston College, as the Terrier Cup on Jan. 18 was not enough to decide a winner. The Eagles ended that meet deadlocked with the BU men at 90 points, and the Terriers are hoping to outscore BC as well as the Friars this time around.
Much like the women, Providence features a strong distance squad, while BC boasts a more rounded team. Both should be good competition for the Terriers.
‘These are two good schools that we like to compete with,’ said BU men’s coach Pete Schuder. ‘BC and Providence have similar programs to us, so it would be nice if we could beat both teams. I know that our guys are going to be looking forward to going out and doing the best that they can.’
Schuder will also be watching his distance crew, with the spotlight on junior Jochen Dieckfoss. A perennial qualifier for the NCAA championships, Dieckfoss is coming off sickness and an injury and hopes to be progressing toward the upcoming conference meet on Feb. 21-22.
‘[Dieckfoss] is key to our success at the conference meet,’ Schuder said.
Senior captain Matt Adler will also be an important athlete in the middle distances, as he is determined to improve from his performance at the Terrier Invitational two weeks ago. Schuder will also be making two important changes, moving senior Rob Wong from the 5000 to the mile as a means of training, as well as moving freshmen Spencer Bellott from the 800 to bolster his 1000-meter group.
Overall, the team is entering the key stretch of the indoor season, but the Terriers should be ready.
‘We’re going to go four weeks in a row now where we have to run pretty hard,’ Schuder said. ‘This is our exam time. We’re starting to get pretty sharp; the guys are coming along.’
There is no better way to speed along that process than a meet against a heated rival like BC.
‘This week I am hoping things will click,’ Schuder continued. ‘I know the guys are quite excited about this phase of the season. It’s time to get rewards for the hard work they’ve been doing.’