The Husker senior earns the victory at Saturday's adidas Classic in his first mile of the year.
TOMMY DAHLK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, February 8, 2008 6:00 pm
Nebraska distance coach Jay Dirksen was pleased to see senior Peter van der Westhuizen run well in his first mile of the year Saturday at the adidas Classic, but was happier to not see him fall down after the finish line.
The affects of posterior compartment syndrome have plagued the senior South African throughout his college career.
“He used to be laying on the track in pain at the end of races,” Dirksen said.
Dirksen said the muscle sheet in van der Westhuizen’s leg was too small to hold onto all the muscles.
Last year, van der Westhuizen had enough and underwent surgery to fix the problem during the offseason.
Now, after having moderate success during the cross-country season, van der Westhuizen ran pain-free at the Devaney Sports Center on Saturday.
Van der Westhuizen clocked a mile of 4 minutes, 2.19 seconds, the fifth-fastest mile in Nebraska history, and he won the event by more than nine seconds.
Not bad considering it was his first of the year and he has done mostly long-distance training so far.
“We really haven’t done any kind of speed work yet,” van der Westhuizen said. “It takes a few weeks to really get my time down. It’s the season opener. No one really pushed me in the race. It’s very different running against the clock.”
With shorter, more intense workouts on the horizon, van der Westhuizen is excited to run faster times later on in the year and get an automatic NCAA time. An automatic NCAA time is 3:59.50.
Also, unlike today, van der Westhuizen said he’ll benefit from seeing better competition in later events.
“That (better competition) alone could be the difference between getting a 4:02 to a sub four,” van der Westhuizen said. “Just having someone to run in front of you and pace you for the first 1,000 meters could be the difference. Running against people who are better than you usually brings your time down.”
Dirksen said he thinks the senior has a great shot of getting that time and that the surgery has made him a different runner.
“It’s made a world of difference in what he can do in training and how he feels,” Dirksen said. “I’m really excited about what he’s doing.”
With his leg problem apparently solved, van der Westhuizen just has to battle one more health element this year — the flu.
“I’ll need to focus on not getting sick,” van der Westhuizen said. “Every single year I’ve run the Big 12s with the flu.”
Reach Tommy Dahlk at 473-7431 or tdahlk@journalstar.com.