2008 Woodie Awards
Busy schedule keeps Fortin prepared
By: D J Palomares
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: Sports
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Typical college students may enjoy their late nights and later mornings. However, student athletes have to be a lot more disciplined.
Fortin, a sprinter for the men's track and field team, is enrolled in 16 credits and has a major in marketing and logistics.
"They have got to budget their time, and they have got to be organized," said coach Jim Knapp. "We don't have much trouble with that. Our people are serious students."
Fortin begins every day at 8 a.m. He has about a half hour to get ready before his 9 a.m. class. On an average day, classes last until about 1 p.m. He has a break for lunch, then practice in the afternoon.
Practice may last as long as four hours on days he and his teammates lift. After practice, he has dinner, followed by studying before bed.
"Studying, I spend at least three hours a day," Fortin said. "I study after dinner, which is after practice. It consists of going to Woldt Computer Lab and printing off any documents I need, then walking up to the academic wing of the Indoor Athletic Center to work in a quiet environment."
On weekends, when many students may be recuperating from a week's work, Fortin puts all of his work to test in competition. After competition days, there is no practice, but Fortin takes it upon himself to run.
"The day after a meet, like Saturday or Sunday, I will get out and do two-mile runs to loosen up for the next week of practices," he said.
This type of workload is not uncommon to the sprinters or any other student athletes. However, there are regulations designed by the NCAA to make sure they are not being overworked.
"The NCAA requires that you cannot require an athlete to practice more than four hours a day, and we don't come close to that," Knapp said. "There is also a limit of 20 hours a week, and again we don't come close to that. This is all documented and turned into the NCAA."
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