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SMU Track Coach Still working his Magic

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SMU Track Coach Still working his Magic

Postby davidsmu94 » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:17 pm

And for the record, Robertson made the team as well!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 6081d.html

Ticket to Beijing all they've wanted


11:11 PM CDT on Saturday, July 5, 2008



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EUGENE, Ore. – Both Michelle Carter and Michael Robertson entered the U.S. Olympic track and field trials focused on harnessing their power, technique, passion and nerves into one, defining performance.

On unleashing the shot puts or discus throws that would get them to Beijing.

Mission accomplished for Carter – who at 22 became a second-generation Olympian by winning the shot put on Saturday with a personal best and U.S.-leading mark of 61 feet, 10.25 inches.

"You practice day in and day out for it," said Carter, the Red Oak and Texas-ex whose national high school record still stands, before she opened competition. "You put all that you learned into [these] moments, and that's it."

Robertson, who trains with Carter at SMU – on the future grounds of the Bush Library, no less – under throwing guru Dave Wollman, gets his chance in the men's discus final today. Jason Young, of Samuell and Texas Tech, is also competing.

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Robertson, 24, is the defending national champion. He advanced to today's finals with a throw of 198-01.

Carter qualified for the trials in 2004 but opted not to compete because she thought she wasn't ready.

The daughter of Michael Carter – the former SMU star, 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the shot put and three-time Super Bowl winning nose tackle with the 49ers – sure is ready now.

Wollman said Carter is in excellent shape and just starting to tap into her abilities. After graduating from UT in December, Carter moved home to work with Wollman, a family friend since she was little.

The trials have been busy for the Carters. Michelle's little sister, D'Andra, of Texas Tech, competed at the trials in the women's discus. Mom, Sandra, is in town, chronicling it all with her camera. Dad is home after undergoing hip and knee replacement surgeries.

Wollman said Carter excels thanks to her athleticism, balance, range of motion in her hips and her ability to feel what her body is doing.

Carter, it's also worth noting, is a girly-girl shot putter.

Yes, that's right. Her nails are always done – pink tips with a silver flourish this week – and her headbands and earrings for competitions are carefully selected.

"She's got to look like a million bucks," Wollman said.

She should feel like it too, after joining her father as an Olympian. He, too, holds the shot put high school record, of 81-3.5. Set while he attended Thomas Jefferson, it's considered by many to be the greatest high school record in history.

When Michelle Carter got into the sport in seventh grade, her father asked her, "Do you know what you're getting into?"

"I had no idea," she said.

Good thing that didn't stop her.

Robertson is back at SMU, which he attended from 2002-2004 before the school shut down its men's track program.

Robertson finished his NCAA career at Stanford, earning a degree in economics.

But you'll find him in the electrical section at the Home Depot on Skillman St., where he works part-time, thanks to the elite U.S. Olympic Committee program that helps support Olympic hopefuls.

At almost 6-6, Robertson has height but not as much beef as some of his competitors. But Wollman said he has the rhythm and mental and technical ability to put all he's got into the discus.

"I feel the peak coming on," Robertson said. "I don't even know what I'm capable of. You don't know where the ceiling is."
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Postby ClassOf81 » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:44 pm

Coach Wollman is up there with ... remember when we had a great men's soccer coach?
Congratulations to Coach Wollman on sending more Mustangs to the Olympics. You're the best, Coach!
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