Craycraft Keeping Track of Student-Athletes

Over the last five years, Millikin University Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Andrew Craycraft has made great strides in improving the Big Blue programs.
          In 2020, the Big Blue's men's track and field team recorded the team's best finish in Millikin history at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Indoor Track and Field Championships finishing in second behind national powerhouse North Central College. For the second straight season, Craycraft and his staff were recognized for their accomplishment by being named the CCIW Men's Indoor Track Coaching Staff of the Year.
          With the start of Outdoor Track scheduled for late March, the Millikin track and field program had high expectations for the 2020 season. However that all changed on March 12 when the NCAA announced that the Winter and Spring Sport Championships would be cancelled due to the Co-Vid 19 crisis. Craycraft was in North Carolina at the NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championships when the word came down that Millikin's three qualifiers would have to head home without competing. Within the next few days, the entire Outdoor track season had been cancelled.
          With the majority of the track and field student athletes off campus on Spring Break, Craycraft began to figure out ways to keep the team informed, motivated and assured in an every changing world. The communication began with mass emails to the team with the latest information on how the Co-Vid 19 crisis would impact the track season, the remainder of the spring academic semester and the world in general.
          As it became evident that most of the athletes would finish the semester at home, Craycraft looked to other strategies to keep his team engaged. One example is a daily conference with the middle distance athletes via Zoom. The runners get together each afternoon to discuss that day's individual training run, do a core and strength workout and update each other on their individual lives. Athletes are checking in from places like Algonquin, Bourbonnais, Bloomington-Normal, Eureka, Mokena, Naperville, Potomac and Shelbyville to name a few.
          "When all of this happened I spoke to this group, specifically (middle distance) about keeping our "why" intact, said Craycraft. "They need to have as much normalcy in their lives as possible. That means - we need to talk about training, we need to check in on each other....and maybe more simplistically, we need to SEE EACH OTHER."
          While keeping the student athletes physically and mentally healthy is Craycraft's main concern right now, he is keeping his team focused on the work that is needed academically, socially and athletically to continue the success of the Big Blue Cross Country and Track and Field program.

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