Unleashing the "beast" within the UW sprint corps...

The University of Washington Daily has a feature on new sprint coach Raul Sheen, who was hired in October to replace LaMonte Vaughn.

Among the leaders of the current crop of Husky sprinters is senior Jordan Boase (left/photo by Paul Merca), who ran a school record 44.83 over 400 meters last year, finished third in the NCAA indoor, fourth in the NCAA outdoor meet, and advanced to the semi-finals at the US Olympic Trials, despite a stress fracture in his left femur that developed two months before the Trials.

Reporter Ben Foutz writes, "In just his first year coaching at Long Beach State, Raul Sheen led four of LBSU’s sprinters to the NCAA Outdoor Championships this past spring. Realizing the potential of the young coach, the UW made an immediate priority of bringing Sheen to Seattle — a move that Husky sprinters couldn’t be more excited about.

“The way he motivates us, I think it’s going to be a really great year,” said senior sprinter/hurdler Falesha Ankton. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He had so much success at Long Beach last year and I think he can work with our teams and make sure we have a lot of success.”

Sheen plans on doing exactly that.

Aside from the beautiful weather, the new Husky sprints coach says that he’s excited to return to his native Northwest because of the undeniable surge of energy at the University of Washington.

“Across the board — but especially in the track and field program — this is an exciting time for the University of Washington,” said Sheen. “The staff is really young and energetic. They’re passionate about the sport. They’re passionate about being good. Just to be a part of a progressive program that can be a top-10 national power for a long time, it’s amazing. This is where I want to be.”

The Huskies will compete at home Saturday as they host the UW Indoor Preview at the Dempsey Indoor facility.

To read the full article, please click here...