By Keith Henry
Coppin State sophomore Jibri Victorian has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 400 meter hurdles. However, it wasn’t by accident that he got to this point. It’s said that experience can prove to be a good teacher in life.
Victorian had to go through some experiences last year as a freshman. Coppin State head coach Carl Hicks explained, “Jibri qualified for the top 48 in this event last year. He made it into the top 24, but he didn’t make it into the top 12. He understood what he had to do to get there. He knew what it was all about going into this year. He knew that he had to get into that this year. He moved into the rankings tremendously.”
Jibri said about the experience, “My first time at regionals, I was just glad to be there because I really didn’t think I would make it my freshman year. I was really happy to be there. I wasn’t thinking about making nationals or anything like that. I just used that whole thing as a learning experience and just try to get better.”
According to Coach Hicks, Jibri had to get more physically stronger. Also, “He had to get faster, leg speed wise. He’s always had good endurance but there was a lot of stuff he’s had to work on. Better mechanics. That’s part of every year. Working on what’s going to make him better. So Jibri has been doing that and hopefully we can get him going as this week progresses. I know that he can get better.”
Hicks and Victorian has been looking at tape this past week, breaking it down to find out what he can do better. The challenges awaiting him this time are largely from the West where the best time at the regional was 49.5 seconds and the last person to qualify over there finished in 50.7 seconds. His time of 51.17 in the semifinals of the NCAA East preliminaries was good enough for 12th place, nabbing him the last spot to advance to the national championships.
Jibri knows that he has his work cut out for him on June 8-11 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. But a visit from former Coppin All-American Steve Delice put him at ease. “He basically congratulated me and just told me to go out there and do my best. There’s nothing to lose and you made it this far. All you could do is be grateful, go out there and do your best and represent Coppin,” said Victorian.
Victorian joins two other MEAC competitors in this event in Morgan State junior Trey Charles and Delaware State’s Leslie Murray. All three are good friends according to Jibri. He said, “Trey, Leslie and I are real cool. I’ve been racing Leslie since high school and I’ve met Trey last year. We’re real cool on and off the track. We know that when we get on the track, it’s competition. Off the track, we have fun, we play around and we’re good friends.”
Hicks said, “(There are) A lot of guys in this field Jibri has competed with from the IC4A competition to the MEAC competition. So he is very familiar with the runners and what they have to do.”
Hicks also said that Jibri knows his opponents. He knows what to expect going into a race. Hicks explained, “One thing about Jibri is that he is a student of the sport. He knows who is going around, who’s running what, how they’re running it and how to influence himself. That’s a part of being grown up. Learning who is in the race, how to study your opponent. That’s what he’s been doing and hopefully he can gain some ground from that.”
Jibri added, “I’m real technical about a lot of things in my running. I critique myself when I run and I have other people critique me in my run and I usually like my run to be real perfect. I’m really specific about the other technical aspects of my run whether it is my hurdling, my start or my finish and things like that.”
When it comes to the people he’s racing, Jibri says he know most of these young men, but it’ll be different at Drake. “The majority of the kids, I know of them. I know their races, I’ve seen them run. Having raced them all season, I don’t really have anything to worry about going into the race because I’ve raced them before and I know how it’s going to go,” said Jibri. “It’s still going to be a lot different at nationals because they have people coming from the west. I still have to go in with a mindset that no matter what, everybody is going to be starting the same.”
Jibri finished seventh in his heat yesterday and 22nd overall in the event. Jibri didn't advance to the finals this time. But this experience can only help him get better for the next two years of his career at Coppin State.
Coppin State sophomore Jibri Victorian has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 400 meter hurdles. However, it wasn’t by accident that he got to this point. It’s said that experience can prove to be a good teacher in life.
Victorian had to go through some experiences last year as a freshman. Coppin State head coach Carl Hicks explained, “Jibri qualified for the top 48 in this event last year. He made it into the top 24, but he didn’t make it into the top 12. He understood what he had to do to get there. He knew what it was all about going into this year. He knew that he had to get into that this year. He moved into the rankings tremendously.”
Jibri said about the experience, “My first time at regionals, I was just glad to be there because I really didn’t think I would make it my freshman year. I was really happy to be there. I wasn’t thinking about making nationals or anything like that. I just used that whole thing as a learning experience and just try to get better.”
According to Coach Hicks, Jibri had to get more physically stronger. Also, “He had to get faster, leg speed wise. He’s always had good endurance but there was a lot of stuff he’s had to work on. Better mechanics. That’s part of every year. Working on what’s going to make him better. So Jibri has been doing that and hopefully we can get him going as this week progresses. I know that he can get better.”
Hicks and Victorian has been looking at tape this past week, breaking it down to find out what he can do better. The challenges awaiting him this time are largely from the West where the best time at the regional was 49.5 seconds and the last person to qualify over there finished in 50.7 seconds. His time of 51.17 in the semifinals of the NCAA East preliminaries was good enough for 12th place, nabbing him the last spot to advance to the national championships.
Jibri knows that he has his work cut out for him on June 8-11 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. But a visit from former Coppin All-American Steve Delice put him at ease. “He basically congratulated me and just told me to go out there and do my best. There’s nothing to lose and you made it this far. All you could do is be grateful, go out there and do your best and represent Coppin,” said Victorian.
Victorian joins two other MEAC competitors in this event in Morgan State junior Trey Charles and Delaware State’s Leslie Murray. All three are good friends according to Jibri. He said, “Trey, Leslie and I are real cool. I’ve been racing Leslie since high school and I’ve met Trey last year. We’re real cool on and off the track. We know that when we get on the track, it’s competition. Off the track, we have fun, we play around and we’re good friends.”
Hicks said, “(There are) A lot of guys in this field Jibri has competed with from the IC4A competition to the MEAC competition. So he is very familiar with the runners and what they have to do.”
Hicks also said that Jibri knows his opponents. He knows what to expect going into a race. Hicks explained, “One thing about Jibri is that he is a student of the sport. He knows who is going around, who’s running what, how they’re running it and how to influence himself. That’s a part of being grown up. Learning who is in the race, how to study your opponent. That’s what he’s been doing and hopefully he can gain some ground from that.”
Jibri added, “I’m real technical about a lot of things in my running. I critique myself when I run and I have other people critique me in my run and I usually like my run to be real perfect. I’m really specific about the other technical aspects of my run whether it is my hurdling, my start or my finish and things like that.”
When it comes to the people he’s racing, Jibri says he know most of these young men, but it’ll be different at Drake. “The majority of the kids, I know of them. I know their races, I’ve seen them run. Having raced them all season, I don’t really have anything to worry about going into the race because I’ve raced them before and I know how it’s going to go,” said Jibri. “It’s still going to be a lot different at nationals because they have people coming from the west. I still have to go in with a mindset that no matter what, everybody is going to be starting the same.”
Jibri finished seventh in his heat yesterday and 22nd overall in the event. Jibri didn't advance to the finals this time. But this experience can only help him get better for the next two years of his career at Coppin State.
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