The UNC Wilmington men’s and women’s track & field teams haven’t performed poorly to start their seasons. And they haven’t necessarily been superb, either. But, if history is any indication, no Seahawk fan should be concerned with mediocrity.

Jim Sprecher is a veteran coach with 10 CAA Championships and eight CAA Coach-of-the-Year awards. His method of training throughout the year for one ultimate goal has worked in the past, and he’s relying on it to work again this season. Even if his Seahawks are training on what he calls “dead legs” during the initial meets of the season, UNCW is aiming at one goal: the CAA Championships in May.

“We’re kind of a late developing team,” Sprecher said. “We keep working, and we keep getting better. We’re right there in the thick of things. Part of the reason we’ve won 10 championships is that we have our way of doing things.

“We don’t sacrifice our training early on for our competition. We figure that we go about doing things the right way. We have to work hard, stay healthy and be a little lucky. I guess we have a little niche.”

In the first meet of the season, the UNCW men finished third of six teams in the Navy Invitational, receiving a strong performance from senior Wil Zahorodny, who broke his own previous school record in the 1000-meter race with a blistering time of 2:26.44. Sophomore Aerial Chatman added a career-best mark in the long jump competition with 23-feet-2-inches. The UNCW women took fifth in the indoor meet.

“Wil Zahorodny has always been one of our top competitors since he’s arrived as a freshman,” the 16-year Seahawk coach said. “Aerial Chatman went to the NCAA triple jump (in last year’s NCAA East Regional). You don’t see many freshmen be able to do that.”

UNCW followed that up with a meet at the Captains Invitational in Virginia, where the Seahawks earned four first-place finishes. UNCW finished its January slate with the Liberty Open, Jan. 27-28, as veteran women sprinters led the way with victories in the 60-meter run (Maleena Reid) and one-mile run (Erin Brennan).

While the returning athletes have garnered much of the attention so far, Sprecher hopes the freshmen will make their mark this season, as well. There are 15 freshmen on the men’s team and 24 on the women’s side. That accounts for nearly 40 percent of the combined rosters.

“We have a nice balance between experience and youth,” Sprecher said. “We have such a strong tradition in our program. A lot of it is passed down from the classes.

“Even the freshman, I tell them, ‘You’re only a rookie at the first meet of the season. After that you have to step up.'”

The Seahawks’ next competition is the Penn State Challenge, Saturday.