When winter break ended, Drake University senior Savannah Ming didn’t want to leave her parents. And she definitely didn’t want to leave her dog. 

“I enjoyed being home with my family [during winter break],” Ming said. 

But she needed to return to Drake. Ming’s last-first meet with the Drake Track and Field team was on Jan. 17 and would be followed by weekly competitions until her graduation day.

The sprints runner needed to be back in the Knapp Center training and bonding with her team so she could set herself up for a successful final season.

As Ming made the 4 ½ hour drive from Chicago to Des Moines, Iowa, it hit her.

“I’m on the road and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Ming said. “When I get back, I’ve got T-minus four days and then I’m in competition mode. We’re in uniforms. We’re traveling. And it doesn’t stop.”

Suddenly, returning to Drake for J-Term didn’t feel like an obligation. It felt exhilarating since she’d be competing again, Ming said.

“I come back [for J-Term] and it’s one of the only times of the year where my only thing that I get to get up and do is my sport and have the love for my sport that I have on a daily basis,” Ming said.

Drake athletes used winter break and J-Term to improve their athleticism and team chemistry. 

“Go time” and phone time

The fall semester ended and winter break began on Dec. 13, according to the Drake University Academic Calendar. J-Term ran from Jan. 6 through Jan. 24. 

For Anna Miller, a Drake Women’s Basketball player, this was not a time to relax, she said.

“It’s ‘go time’ right now for us during J-Term,” Miller said. “I think your basketball athletes in particular are really, really hard at work right now.”

Drake WBB players’ focus for winter break and J-Term was becoming better basketball players and enhancing their team chemistry, Miller said. 

But Drake WBB players did get to go home for a portion of winter break.

“Winter break for us as basketball athletes, since our season is a winter sport, is just a couple days,” Miller said. “I went home to Minnesota for four days and just got to hang out with my family, but otherwise I’ve been on campus practicing and playing games.”

During J-Term, Drake WBB practiced on the court for 20 hours per week, the same frequency as during fall semester, Miller said. 

But without needing to attend classes and do homework, the team was in the gym more, Miller said. 

“I would say I’m probably at the gym for around eight hours a day right now,” Miller said. “[I’m] not necessarily always practicing, but whether we’re like eating meals there or just hanging out as a team, [we spend] a lot more time there. It’s like a full time job.”  

However, it’s a fun full-time job, Miller added.

“It’s really special to be able to spend a[n] extra amount of time with my teammates and we get to do basically nothing together and it’s just really fun, whether we’re just all literally sitting on the couches, on our phones or whatever we’re doing,” Miller said. 

Bracing for March Madness

Drake Cheerleaders’ focus for winter break and J-Term was preparing for the possibility of performing at the NCAA tournament in March and helping new members get acclimated to the team. 

Ava Mohr, a sophomore on the team, said she got to spend all of winter break at home but was still responsible for keeping fit.

“[Our coach] sends out [workouts],” Mohr said. “Right now, we workout maybe three to four times a week as a team and then we’re expected to keep up stretching outside of just those team practices. And then during break, it’s the same three to four days a week if you can.” 

Mohr said she ran, stretched and trained abs and legs in her home gym during winter break. 

“There’s still an expectation there to keep [in shape] — especially to stay stretched because, if you do dance or you do anything like that, even taking a week off and you come back, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m feeling that,’” Mohr said. 

Drake Cheerleading returned to the Knapp Center in time to perform at the Drake WBB game against Valparaiso on Jan. 4. The team proceeded to hold practices and perform at every basketball game during J-Term. 

But not every cheerleader attended all of the practices and games. Team members had the flexibility to pursue plans apart from Drake Cheerleading, said sophomore Monty Russell.

“A lot of us also do have our own jobs, and I know quite a few of them are taking classes over J-Term or doing other things,” Russell said. 

Still, those who were available to perform at games would arrive at the Knapp Center 90 minutes before tip-off. This practice time was good for getting new squad members acclimated to the team and polishing skills, Russell said. 

“I know everybody’s doing their own thing, trying their best,” Russell said. “As long as we’re getting better and getting prepared for, like, March Madness. And if we do go to March Madness, I know that everybody’s improving every day and I think that extra time, even if not everybody’s here, just having that with the small practices, you get more one-on-one time and you can really work on what issues that we have within our skills.”

Prep101 and Zoey101

For Drake Track and Field athletes, J-Term is a time to “grind,” said Savannah Ming.

“J-Term is known, and winter break is known as the time where if you work hard, it will pay off for the spring season,” Ming said. “And if you don’t work hard, it will be evident for the spring season.” 

Thus, Drake Track and Field followed a consistent schedule over J-Term, Ming said. 

On Monday and Wednesday mornings, the team lifted weights from 8 to 9:15 a.m.  

Most of the team practiced from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday. But depending on what events members specialized in, their call time could vary day-to-day. For example, on Wednesdays, Ming would begin practicing at 2 p.m., she said. 

“[My coach] said that he split us up purposefully on those days so that shorter sprints and longer sprints and mid distance sprints can be a little bit more separated and get more focused attention,” Ming said. 

Drake Track and Field members had more time to recover their bodies during J-Term, Ming said. 

“Me, personally, I was usually so busy during the semester,” Ming said. “I genuinely didn’t get to go see our trainers. [I went] maybe twice in the entire August to December of first semester.”

But during J-Term, Ming wasn’t taking any classes. She said she visited her trainers after practice every day.  

The recovery resources Drake athletes have access to include Normatec boots, massage therapy and hot and cold tubs. 

“All those little things like that that really help to like, take care of our bodies when we’re doing heavy workouts, heavy lifts and a lot of aggressive stuff to our joints,” Ming said. 

Ming said she noticed a difference in her teammates over J-Term. 

“Usually by the end of the first semester, all my teammates are like, ‘I’m sore, I’m tired and everything hurts,’” Ming said. “But in J-Term we get to come back and really take care of ourselves. I can see the lightness in everyone and it’s nice.” 

As much as J-Term is a time for Drake Track and Field athletes to “grind,” it is also a time for them to bond, Ming said. 

She and her teammates have enjoyed watching “Zoey101,” “iCarly” and “Black Mirror,” Ming said. 

They also have been painting and playing Rummikub, a game of tiles, Ming said. 

“At least as a team, [J-Term] it’s usually a good bonding time,” Ming said. “We get to see each other at our most focused or our most relaxed because we don’t have the stresses of academics and everything.”