Some of you will know Will Haw. He’s our 800m specialist who headed out to Michigan last year on an athletics scholarship at Northwood University. Will has been competing in one of the toughest NCAA Division II conferences in the country and has just finished his first ever indoor track season with this update from the Great Midwest.
His recurring time for the 800 indoors is 1:52. He ran it five times this season and Will says he’s happy with it. Though Will being Will, he also said he would have liked to go a bit faster.
At the conference championships he was part of the Northwood Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team that came second overall. For those of you not familiar with the DMR, it’s a team relay where four athletes each run a different middle distance leg (1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m) combining speed with endurance across the squad. In the context of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC), second place is a serious result.
Individually Will finished 4th in the 800, just behind three athletes who have gone on to qualify for the nationals, all of them 1:48 guys. Frustrating, but he knows where they are and he’s already got his eye on them and the outdoor season.
It’s worth saying that indoors is genuinely more challenging for Will than most. He’s a tall runner, and indoor tracks are tight, banked, and unforgiving on athletes with longer strides. Getting five consistent 1:52s in those conditions in his first ever indoor campaign is something we are all proud of.
As for what it’s actually like over there, Will can’t recommend it enough. The facilities are world class, the support systems around the athletes are serious, and the travel and experiences that come with the scholarship are, in his words, “leaps and bounds above anything in the UK system.” He’d recommend it to anyone thinking about the route.
Outdoor season is up next. Those 1:48 guys need to watch out for Will.
