Dan Pribula is not one to procrastinate in his school work or training, but now in his senior year at Syracuse, the thrower knows it’s now or never to try and qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Pribula and the rest of the SU track and field team will compete in the Upstate Challenge in Ithaca on Saturday.

On Jan. 12, at the Syracuse Welcome Back Invitational, the team hosted a meet in order to become accustomed to competing again after more than a month off. Pribula was the only thrower to win an event in the meet, taking home the weight throw and shot put.

Pribula threw a 15.91m in the shot put, which is an Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) qualifying distance. He also qualified for the Big East Championship in the weight throw with a mark of 15.06m.

‘It’s good to have a win for him,’ assistant coach Enoch Borozinski said. ‘This time of the season can break down a person physically; it’s all about the results he is going to get later on in the season.’

By posting distances of those lengths, Pribula is guaranteed a spot in the Big East Championship meet in mid-February and the IC4A/ECAC championships in the beginning of March.

Pribula also earned Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Field Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. On Saturday, Pribula hopes to break the 16 meter mark and throw around 17 meters.

The closer he gets to 17, the better his chances to qualify for the NCAA Regionals on March 9, which he has yet to do in his career at SU.

By qualifying for the IC4A early on in the season, Pribula can concentrate on bigger goals.

‘Now I can stay focused and concentrate on trying to throw the mark I need to qualify for the NCAA’s,’ Pribula said. ‘I have never had distances long enough to qualify, so now is the time because my eligibility is up at the end of the spring.’

Borozinski has had Pribula working out in the weight room intensely the past few weeks, because it will produce results around the time of the high-profile team meets. Pribula will take Friday off for his body to recover in time for Saturday’s meet.

Pribula wasn’t even completely satisfied with his own performance last Friday.

‘We just came back from break, and we have been working really hard, so considering all of those factors I performed well, but personally I am always trying to get a personal record,’ Pribula said.

‘Dan’s our main guy,’ Borozinski said. ‘We have a few freshmen throwing now, but Dan has to anchor the event. There is a lot of pressure on him from the team. He is our lone bench mark performer, but he does well, he handles the pressure well.’

Published on January 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm