Redshirt sophomore hurdler David Klech won the 110m hurdles in 14.37 seconds and the 400m hurdles in 50.77 seconds as the Oregon men won their dual meet against UCLA, 84-79. The San Ramon, Calif. native competed with UCLA as a freshman, missing most of the outdoor track season with injuries, and sat out last season after transferring to Oregon.
Oregon Daily Emerald: After sitting out a year and fighting through injuries and illness before that, how have you managed to shed the mental fatigue?
David Klech: I think that we approached the season really systematically. Each indoor and outdoor meet all had their specific goals, and indoors was just kind of like a rust-buster. I was lucky enough that we had a good (4x400m relay) and I got to run two races indoors and kind of not have a super-high pressure situation, kind of shake off the rust, see where I was at. And then outdoors, I think we’ve just been progressively building with every meet, and I feel that by the time Pac-10s and nationals roll around, that I’ll be really sharp and ready to go.
ODE: After suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (a nervous system disorder), what steps have you had to take to control it on the track?
DK: Basically, since it happened, I really haven’t had to do much. It started in the beginning of November and I think I took six weeks off of running completely. Like, I wasn’t able to train, but I was able to cross-train on a bike. In January, I was able to do some running workouts, but they were really modified and we’ve been very careful, not putting too much on my plate. The high hurdles, we just started like last week, and we’re just adding things each week. So far everything’s gone really well. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.
ODE: Is it big for you, then, to run both the 110m and 400m hurdles, as you did against UCLA?
DK: Yeah, it was definitely good. I’ve run the 400m hurdles twice this year and won both meets, and it was nice to pull off the double. And especially going against UCLA, who I had run for, it was kind of nice. And especially for our hurdle group to sweep both races, it was definitely good for our group and good for our training morale.
ODE: What attracted you to transfer to Oregon?
DK: I don’t think there’s a better place to train in America. The coaching staff here is amazing, and just being in Track Town USA is great. Going for the Olympics in 2012, that’s what I want to run in – just having the Olympic Trials here, having U.S. nationals here, there’s so many big meets. It’s nice that we get to stay at home most of the season and really just get a lot of our training in so we’re ready to go by nationals.
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