By MATT DiFILIPPO

Staff Writer

You probably won't find many track and field coaching clinics where the topic is having long jumpers leap off stage and onto pole vault mats. But Waterville coach Ian Wilson ran one of his practices that way recently.

"They had a great time," Wilson said. "They were kind of hanging in the air. They really had a blast."

Normally, Wilson would make use of the facilities at Colby College in Waterville to have his long jumpers hone their skills. But Colby College has been under construction since the summer, and there's only so much you can do inside a high school.

"The biggest losers right now are our field kids," Wilson said. "You can run in a hallway or run outside the school, but there's really no way to simulate (field events)."

Winslow coach Bob Morrison said running outside has been unfeasible because of the snow, and running inside can lead to shin splints. So Morrison is focusing on strength exercises and trying to find something to break that monotony. He has even toyed with the idea of the coaches and athletes breaking out their shovels on the outdoor track.

"We've got some ideas that we might tell them one day to dress in their snow gear and run in the hills," Morrison said. "We haven't come up with any super-creative ideas yet, but we're trying."

Morrison agreed that the pole vaulters, jumpers and throwers will be hardest hit when the season starts later this month. Winslow's first meet is at Bowdoin College on Dec. 22.

"That first meet will be a really rusty one for (the field) people," Morrison said. "It's a little hard to say, 'You're going to pole vault. I know you haven't done it since last spring, but give it a go.' "

While running, unlike the field events, can be done in a lot of different places, Wilson said it is still important for new runners to get on the track and familiarize themselves with the curves.

"For a kid who's never run indoor track, running on an indoor track is a pretty tight curve," Wilson said. "They have to learn how to really lean."

In addition to Colby being unavailable, Morrison is dealing with construction at Winslow High School, so even if he wanted to try Wilson's stage-dive/long jump trick, he has no place to store the mats.

"At the moment, we're in a closed-off hallway, and trying to make the best of what we can do," he said. "We will increase the running as we get closer (to the first meet). I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we can get into Colby and salvage half the season."

Wilson is hearing that might be possible. Although construction is ongoing, Colby did open its gymnasium for basketball games on Saturday, which is a reason for some optimism.

"My guess is a couple weeks more," Wilson said. "Really, to be honest, that's a lot earlier than they had originally planned. They had originally said it would be the entire season."

The bright spot, Morrison pointed out, is that all teams in the area are in the same predicament. When Colby does become available, high school teams can use it once a week. That isn't a lot, but it does make a difference.

"It's pretty crowded," Wilson said, "but it's really the only time a kid gets an opportunity to do a jumping event full speed."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com