2008 Woodie Awards
Berger trying to become king of hurdles
Senior competes at NCAA championships in Iowa
Jeff Newman
Issue date: 6/12/08 Section: Sports
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The senior hurdler qualified for this week's NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Iowa for the third consecutive year by posting a season-best time of 13.72 seconds - good for fifth place in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA East Regional Championships.
At the 2006 nationals, Berger finished second in the 110-meters with a career-best time of 13.49 seconds - the second fastest time in program history, behind only Renaldo Nehemiah's collegiate record 13.00-second finish. But at the 2007 nationals, a false start in the qualifying heat disqualified Berger from competing.
This year, Berger says he thinks his prior experiences have helped prepare him for what he believes is most crucial to his success this weekend: his mental approach.
"It's great experience just knowing what I have to do once I'm there and knowing that the competition is going to step it up to another level," Berger said.
Berger will have to beat the odds along with his opponents in order to achieve his goal. He entered Wednesday's qualifying round ranked 19th in a field of 26 hurdlers competing in the 110-meters. Athletes with the best 16 times in today's heat will move on to Friday, where those with the top eight times will advance to Saturday's final.
"The cliché is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical," Berger said. "If you go into a race with doubts in your mind, you might as well stay home. It doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in; if you aren't confident, you can't race with anybody."
This week will be the last time Berger competes as a Terp. A two-time ACC Champion in the 110-meter hurdles, Berger has helped revitalize a track program that from 1954 to 1981 won 26 indoor ACC titles and 26 outdoor ACC titles but has not won since.
"The big thing for me is the contribution this kid has given to the [program] in his four years here has been tremendous in getting to the NCAA level and helping us in recruiting," head coach Andrew Valmon said. "When we come back and think about what we want to be as a program, we want to be in the upper echelon ... and he'll lead by example."
Right now, Berger says his only goal is to win the championship. But he admits that breaking Nehemiah's time, and subsequently setting a new school and national record, would be icing on the cake - but extremely difficult to do.
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