Wildcats Make Sprint Drill Easier

The rigorous 28-sprint conditioning drill banned by Northwestern Athletic Director Rick Taylor following the death of football player Rashidi Wheeler last year has been made easier this season.

Junior running back Jason Wright said Coach Randy Walker has installed a new conditioning test of two 300-yard shuttle runs.

The drill will be conducted at Northwestern’s training camp in Kenosha, Wis., where players will begin formal practices Saturday.

Wright, a Diamond Bar High graduate who said he was one of several Northwestern players to collapse at the completion of last year’s drill on the day Wheeler died, said the new test requires players to sprint 25 yards, touch the ground and return to the start point--back and forth until 300 yards are completed.

After a five-minute break, the player must repeat the series of 12 25-yard sprints. Skill-position players have 55 seconds to complete each of the 300-yard shuttles.

Wheeler collapsed before concluding last year’s more demanding drill of 10 100-yard sprints, eight 80s, six 60s and four 40s. He died of exercise-induced bronchial asthma barely more than an hour later at Evanston (Ill.) Hospital.

Northwestern coaches violated NCAA rules by timing and filming the drill during the voluntary workout period, and by requiring those players who failed to complete it in the required time to repeat it in Kenosha. The Wildcats forfeited six regular-season practices for the violations.

“I practiced it on my own time this year during a practice led by some of the seniors,” Wright said. “I wanted to do it, just to be sure I could do it in Kenosha. No coaches were there. None at all.”

Wright said Northwestern athletic officials and coaches have fostered a more player-friendly style since Wheeler’s death.

“It’s just a feel,” Wright said. “There’s been no pamphlet given out about changes in coaching style, but you can just feel it.”