University of Massachusets Athletics
Sophomore Making Strides at UMass
February 26, 2003 | Women's Indoor Track
Feb. 26, 2003
Sprinting down the runway, Christina Huff slowly adjusts the pole in her hand and prepares to launch herself over the bar in front of her. Within a few seconds the sophomore from Springfield, Mass., finds herself lying on her back, encompassed in a mass of padding. While she missed her attempt to heave herself over the bar, Huff isn't discouraged, instead she starts giggling at her failed try at the pole vault.
After all, this event is all new to her. Normally a sprinter on the UMass women's indoor track and field team, Huff decided to take up the pole vault as a new event this year. She wanted to add a field event to her list of experiences, and with the graduation of 2002 Atlantic 10 silver medal winning vaulter Rhianna DaCruz, UMass needed to add more athletes to its lineup to compliment school record holder, Brandy Green.
But Huff isn't ready to categorize herself as a replacement for DaCruz quite yet. For now she's just worried about trying to learn the techniques of her new event.
"It's coming along. I've got some practice to do," Huff joked.
While the pole vault is a new experience for Huff, competing in sprinting events has become old hat for her. Competing in the 55-meter dash, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, Huff has made her way near the top of the standings in her respective events. Last year, Huff was named to the All-Conference team in the 100-meter dash, a selection she earned through her performance in the conference's postseason meet.
A year ago, Huff placed second in the 100-meter dash at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships, finishing at 12.22, just .02 behind the winner, Temple's Aderonke Adeniyi.
"Do you know how close that is? That's a lean," Huff explained. "It's just whoever leans across the line first, that's who wins."
Despite the disappointing loss at the end of the 2002 outdoor season, Huff has returned to her winning ways during the 2003 indoor season. Competing in the indoor portion of the schedule for the first time, Huff is quickly becoming accustomed to her new environment with several wins already under her belt. Through UMass' first three meets of the season, she has won the 55-meter dash three times and the 200-meter dash twice.
At a quadrangular meet against Boston College, Boston University and Sacred Heart on Jan. 18, Huff won both the 55-meters and the 200-meters in times of 7.41 and 25.69, respectively. Her efforts earned her the honor of Dinn Brothers UMass Athlete of the Week.
Huff's success in her time at UMass has also earned her the praise of Head Coach Julie LaFreniere.
"She has a nice range and is a very strong athlete," said LaFreniere.
All of this success is unexpected for an athlete who didn't even start the sport until high school. An avid soccer player from the time she was eight years old, Huff never really had any interest in running track until her parents convinced her to join the team her freshman year.
"Who wants to run, just run?," Huff joked.
But Huff gave track and field a chance throughout high school and eventually the sport grew on her.
"I was good at it, so I stuck with it," said Huff.
Huff's initial hesitation toward track and field has now grown into an appreciation of a sport that she is trying to maximize her potential in. Not satisfied with last year's second-place finish at the 2002 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships, Huff wants to both add titles to her name and improve on her times in all of her events.
At the 2003 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships, Huff hopes to finish in the top three in both the 55-meter and 200-meter dash. She also wants to decrease her times to 7.1 in the 55-meter and break 25 seconds in the 200-meter. For the Atlantic 10 outdoor season, Huff's sites are set even higher.
"In the 100, I want to win it, finish first," said Huff.
Beside adding an Atlantic 10 title to her list of accolades, Huff also hopes to lower her time in the 100-meter dash to 11.8 or 11.9. Last season Huff finished the year with a season-best 12.22.
Huff's incentive for lowering her time is not to work her way up the Atlantic 10 rankings, where she currently stands in second place in the conference in the 200-meter dash at 25.69. As a freshman Huff learned the true value of rankings.
"I don't care about the rankings," said Huff. "I was ranked pretty high last year and I didn't do too well, so I don't think they are that important."
With a year of competition at the collegiate level behind her, Huff is able to enter this season with more perspective on what she needs to do on the track. Along with this attitude comes a more relaxed approach to competition.
"This year I am not as nervous and am more focused," Huff said. "The only time I really get nervous is when I am in the blocks and I hear the gun go off. Otherwise, I am usually laid back pretty much all of the time."
This relaxed attitude is apparent as Huff tries her hand at the pole vault. Not concerned with the fact that her teammate, Green, can routinely clear heights well over 10 feet, Huff continues to work on the little things. After an hour of practice has already passed she is still trying to work on her form, trying to put together the pieces of what's needed to be able to enter the pole vault in a competition. She continues to will herself over the bar at a much lower height than that of Green's jumps, yet the whole time she is able to offer up a giggle at her missed attempts at the bar, knowing that eventually the technique and success will come.
But until then, Huff is keeping her goals near the ground for her successes in her new event. While Huff has hopes of winning the conference title in the 100-meter dash and wants to beat her own personal times in the 55-meter and 200-meter, her goals for the pole vault are much more modest.
"I just want to clear the bar," laughed Huff.