Senior nursing major Blake Alexander was recently named the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week. He added this title to an extensive list of achievements, which he has compiled throughout his career at William Jewell College.
During his time at Jewell, he has set school records for both the 60 meter hurdles and 110 meter hurdles. With a time of 13.88 seconds, he also holds the GLVC record in 110 meter hurdles. Alexander was named the GLVC Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, an indoor NCAA II All-American for the 60 meter hurdles in 2016 and NCAA II All-American in the 110 meter hurdles in 2016. He received All-American honors again March 11 at the NCAA II National Championships.
Photo by Amy Kontras
“Being an all-American has to be my biggest accomplishment,” said Alexander. “Becoming an All-American is just a sign that all the work you put in during the off season and season has finally paid off.”
Despite all these accomplishments, Alexander continues to push himself further. At the beginning of the season, Alexander laid out his goals for the year: he wanted to break his own records, claim the conference championship in the 110 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles and be named All-American.
“I have not met all my goals yet but here in the next couple weeks hopefully I can put together some solid races to achieve my goals,” said Alexander.
He will prepare for the rest of these races in the same manner that he has all season. Like most athletes, he maintains a consistent pre-race routine.
“Before I race I like to walk around the track surface and get a feel for it,” said Alexander. “Then I usually do my warm-up to prepare for my race and try to get some block starts in to make sure I’m prepared to race.”
When asked about his favorite memories, his accomplishments on the track were not the first thing that came to mind. Instead, he values the experiences he has shared with his teammates.
“My favorite memories about Jewell track and field would have to be the bus rides back to Jewell,” said Alexander. “They are always fun and you never know what’s going to be said or done in the back of the bus.”
The Cards will hop on the bus and head for Missouri University of Science and Technology for their next track meet April 23.