Health on relay team's side as nationals await

Editor's note: This is the last in a series of stories on Eastern New Mexico University track and field athletes heading to the Division II national championships this week.

PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico Women's 400 relay team has overcome the adversity of injuries and some execution issues to emerge as one of the better 400 relay teams in the country. The Greyhound relay team of Danee Bustos, Maijah Mathis, Kandice Miles and Lateria Slaughter have been on a roll lately, as they have qualified themselves for this weekend's NCAA Division II Outdoor Nationals in Charlotte.

The team was without Mathis, a sophomore who will be the third leg of the relay in Charlotte, for a majority of the outdoor season. Mathis went down with a hamstring injury during warmups of the ENMU Open at Greyhound Stadium back in March.

"The (rehab) process was very frustrating because you gotta get your hamstring warmed up more before meets than the other runners," Mathis explained. "(Right after I injured my hamstring) I just felt that I still had confidence and I would make it back."

The 400 relay team showed how good it was by qualifying for nationals - without Mathis. Junior Zhane Gurule filled-in during Mathis' absence and helped the relay team to a 46.60 at the New Mexico Junior College Ross Black Invitational to get the Greyhounds provisional qualification.

However, Mathis' return at the Abilene Christian Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet in late April led to a 400 relay victory, and a time of 45.96 seconds, greatly improving Eastern's standing heading into nationals.

In fact, the 400 relay team followed that up with a second-place finish at the Lone Star Conference Outdoor Championships, once again improving on their time. This time around, they ran a 45.93-second time, before heading over to the West Texas A&M Last Chance Meet to fine-tune their technique, including those pesky hand-offs.

"With the relay team, everybody has to be faster and the hand-offs have to be perfect," Mathis said. "It feels great to be back. I remember returning to my first track meet, and I didn't have any pain. I was very surprised by my performance."

Two of the relay members, Bustos and Miles, will also compete as individuals at the Outdoor Nationals. Both of them will compete in the 200 meter dash event, but they're just as excited to be competing in a team event like the 400 relay.

Bustos says that it was especially exciting to get into nationals while one of their legs, Mathis, was down. In fact, with Mathis' return and subsequent improved time, the 400 relay team is now ranked seventh in the country, trailing No. 1 Lincoln (Missouri) by 0.35 seconds.

For Bustos, the second leg of the event, improving on things like hand-offs are just a matter of practice making perfect.

"I think it's just practicing it over and over again," Bustos explained. "(We try to) recreate a race environment in practice by running the relay. We'll definitely have to run in the 45's to have a shot at nationals, maybe a 45.50."

For Bustos, it will be a return trip to nationals as an individual, after qualifying for the Indoor Nationals back in the winter, in which she received All-American honors. For Miles, on the other hand, it will be her first trip to nationals.

Miles, who will be the anchor, or final leg, of the relay team, says she never expected to qualify for nationals in either event, and is particularly excited and ready for this weekend. According to her, the team has gradually shown a lot of growth in every facet of the 400 relay, and it's enough for her to not be shy on confidence this weekend.

"I expect us to make it to the finals," Miles said. "I think we can finish top five. We just need to get to finals and then maybe we can get top three. We can definitely get top three."

While it's always important to finish strong, you must also start strong. That task will belong to Slaughter, who as the first leg of the relay team, must get off the line fast. Fortunately for the Greyhounds, speed hasn't been an issue.

According to Slaughter, she's worked with the ENMU coaching staff a lot on block starts in practice, and she's hoping those extra reps will help her get the Hounds in position for at least a top eight finish.

"I feel like first leg is the most pressure," Slaughter said. "If we don't see a good start, my teammates will have to play catch-up."