Spring Break
Athlete of the Week: Aaron King
Issue date: 2/24/09 Section: Sports
The staff of The Daily Campus will be spotlighting one individual each week whose performance stands out amongst all others. This week, we chose to honor Aaron King who won the Big East title in the heptathalon and set a school record in the long jump.
Name: Aaron King
Sport: Track and Field
Year: Sophomore
Major: Kinesiology
Hometown: Wharton, N.J.
This weekend, Aaron King won the Big East title in the heptathalon, which consists of the 60-meter dash, long jump, shotput, high jump, 1,000 meter run, pole vault and 60-meter hurdles. He also set a school record in the long jump at 24-feet-10-inches. He was one of two athletes to take home individual titles for the Big East champion Huskies (senior shot putter Andrew Dubs was the other).
Is it difficult to train for a heptathalon because there are so many other events?
It's different, but you don't really train for the 1,000; you train like a 400-meter runner. Having good 400 strength, you can run a solid mile, but you don't really run long distances or train for the 1,000 because you lose fast twitch muscles.
Do you feel at all underappreciated on campus with so much attention on the basketball teams?
Yeah, we're not a high-revenue sport, we don't bring a lot of money to the school, of course they're not going to market us like they should. But we've won five of the last six Big East championships, we've been dominating, we've won more than the guy's basketball team. And The Big East is definitely a big-time track conference. People know about the Big East.
What are your individual goals for the rest of your career?
Take down the school records in all my events I compete in, because that will set me up for the Olympics outside of college. I think I can have a shot at the big national records if I ever have the day put together, it's a matter of timing and avoiding injuries. I know physically I can be right there.
Do you have any hobbies besides track?
Fishing. I fish tournaments; I fish all the time over the summer. Sometimes I fish from 9 in the morning till sundown.
Does anyone ever confuse you for Andre Dixon?
All the time. I'll go to Grand Union, Big Y, Wal-mart and people will always come up to me and say 'Hey Andre Dixon,' and I'm like 'No man, I'm Aaron King.'
Name: Aaron King
Sport: Track and Field
Year: Sophomore
Major: Kinesiology
Hometown: Wharton, N.J.
This weekend, Aaron King won the Big East title in the heptathalon, which consists of the 60-meter dash, long jump, shotput, high jump, 1,000 meter run, pole vault and 60-meter hurdles. He also set a school record in the long jump at 24-feet-10-inches. He was one of two athletes to take home individual titles for the Big East champion Huskies (senior shot putter Andrew Dubs was the other).
Is it difficult to train for a heptathalon because there are so many other events?
It's different, but you don't really train for the 1,000; you train like a 400-meter runner. Having good 400 strength, you can run a solid mile, but you don't really run long distances or train for the 1,000 because you lose fast twitch muscles.
Do you feel at all underappreciated on campus with so much attention on the basketball teams?
Yeah, we're not a high-revenue sport, we don't bring a lot of money to the school, of course they're not going to market us like they should. But we've won five of the last six Big East championships, we've been dominating, we've won more than the guy's basketball team. And The Big East is definitely a big-time track conference. People know about the Big East.
What are your individual goals for the rest of your career?
Take down the school records in all my events I compete in, because that will set me up for the Olympics outside of college. I think I can have a shot at the big national records if I ever have the day put together, it's a matter of timing and avoiding injuries. I know physically I can be right there.
Do you have any hobbies besides track?
Fishing. I fish tournaments; I fish all the time over the summer. Sometimes I fish from 9 in the morning till sundown.
Does anyone ever confuse you for Andre Dixon?
All the time. I'll go to Grand Union, Big Y, Wal-mart and people will always come up to me and say 'Hey Andre Dixon,' and I'm like 'No man, I'm Aaron King.'
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