Syracuse runner Valerie Boling is finally starting to feel like she’s in her senior year – of high school.

As a sprinter at George Washington High School in Denver, Boling won four consecutive state championships. At SU, she has run into much success, but anticipates her best to come in her final season.

The Syracuse track and field season started Saturday when Boling and the Orange raced in the Cornell Relays in Ithaca. The men’s and women’s track and field teams both raced to a quick start, with several Big East qualifying times.

Boling headlined the track portion of the meet for Syracuse, finishing in first place in the 60-yard dash. Boling’s time of 7.74 seconds was good enough to qualify for the Big East Championships. Right behind Boling was junior teammate Christen Tucker, who blazed to a Big East qualifying time of 7.81 seconds.

Sophomore Alton Kohn highlighted the men’s part of the relay for SU, winning the 60-yard dash with a Big East qualifying time of 6.81 seconds.

For the field events, Jessyca Jackson starred for the Orange. Jackson set a new SU indoor pole vaulting record at 11-5 . Sophomore Daniel Pribula won the men’s shot put with a mark of 50-11.

Head coach Andrew Roberts was neither pleased nor disappointed with SU’s performances. He viewed the meet as a building block for the next meet on Jan. 15 in State College, Pa.

‘We have work to do,’ Roberts said. ‘We’re not where we need to be. But we’re not supposed to be there either. What we’ve done in training is really to prepare them for the outdoor events. We’re not able to get it all done by December.

‘It met my expectations. We got the first meet out of the way and our coaches got the information they need for the athletes they work with. Now they can effectively fine-tune their training and get off and running.’

For Boling, getting off and running comes quicker than usual. When she came to Syracuse her freshman year, she was dealing with injuries and other problems. Boling thinks she’s made progression each year and is focused on her senior year.

‘I was missing provisionals by tenths of a second last season, and it made me feel angry,’ Boling said. ‘I don’t want to feel like that anymore, so I had to work harder to get where I am now.’

While Roberts thinks Boling is about where she was at this time last year, Boling said she feels more confident than ever. For the Orange, that’s a very good sign, considering Boling earned All-Big East honors her sophomore season and placed first in a few meets during her junior campaign.

Now the focus is on ensuring the senior season continues the trend of improvement.

She admits that she’s not much of an indoor runner, although she views the winter season as an effective way to prepare for the spring. It will also allow her teammates to get up to speed.

‘Valerie is the leader,’ Roberts said. ‘She brings senior expertise and experience to the group.’

Boling doesn’t mind leading. After all, it’s a position she’s familiar with.

‘It’s starting to feel like high school again,’ Boling said. ‘Everyone’s looking at me like ‘You have to do well.’ A lot of my teammates are younger and feel like I felt my freshman year. They look at me as an example and see what I’ve become and see what they need to do.’

Published on December 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm