ElizBy Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

They come in as freshmen loaded with potential. If all goes as it should, they leave having reached — maybe even exceeded — that potential.

Alex Heacock sees that of his athletes often as William & Mary's director of track and field. And he's seeing it this year with two senior standouts heading into the CAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, which begins Thursday at The Armory in New York City.

Sprinter Jackson Cooley improved from a 7.13 in his first 60-meter run as a freshman to a school record-tying 6.81 earlier this month in Blacksburg. Elizabeth Upright soared from 3.22 meters (10-6¾ feet) in her first career vault to a personal best 3.90 (12-9½), which is fifth in program history, last week in Annapolis, Md.

There are few things that please a coach more than an athlete being rewarded for four years of consistent, hard work.

"When you can zoom out and look at their growth over that time, and you see them accomplishing new things with personal bests in their senior year, that makes it sweet," Heacock said. "The kids who consistently bring it every day and have success, man, that's one of the most gratifying things for a coaching staff to see."

Cooley's 6.81 tied the program record originally set in 2015 (and matched a year later) by Davion Hutt. Cooley set his previous best (6.85) a week earlier at George Mason. The strong regular-season finish has come despite back issues that shelved him for last weekend's trip to the Navy Select.

"We've kind of been taking it slowly for the most part," he said. "I feel really healthy now and ready to go. I'm doing just one 60 meters at conference, and I feel really good and explosive. I'm excited for that."

Cooley wasn't at his best at Blacksburg but still finished fourth in the finals. He's seeded eighth in the CAA Championships.

Upright also wasn't feeling tip-top at Navy because she slept poorly the night before. Yet after clearing her third and final attempt at 3.80, she clinched at least a tie for first place with teammate Elizabeth Strobach. At 3.90, she missed twice before a strategy switch.

"Tommy and I have found that with how pumped I get for a third attempt, we usually go up a pole," said Upright, referring to Tribe assistant Tommy Barrineau, who coaches the jumpers. "That's what I did for that third attempt.

"We always say 'Go up and YOLO (You Only Live Once) it.' I was able to put more of my energy into the pole and it gave me more lift."

Upright's previous best was 3.75, which came two weeks earlier at Virginia Tech. In the program's history, only four vaulters have cleared higher than 3.90. Teammate Olesya Sitkowski (3.91) is one of them.

It's the third-best jump in the CAA this indoor season behind Charleston's Luzy Lieger (4.06) and Campbell's Lakelyn Bass (4.00).

"I knew that height had been achievable for me for a while," she said. "The past few meets, I had been putting up great attempts at bars around 3.90. I knew it was coming sometime soon.

"Because I felt kind of terrible that day, I went into that meet with no expectations. I was like, 'I'll treat it like a practice and prep for conference.' Which might have helped me in the end."

Going into his final indoor championship, Cooley wants to do his part to boost his team's point total.

"Although there's like a gazillion events, at these conference meets just one good race can motivate someone else to have a good race," said Cooley, who is graduating in May with a BBA in finance. "It's all about getting to the finals, and you perform to the best of your ability. Those 10 points can lead to another 10 points."

Cooley was born in New York and lived his first two years in Manhattan. He's been back a few times, including with his high school team to compete in The Armory, which was built in 1911.

Upright, who is graduating with a BS in computer science, knows she still has the outdoor season ahead. Still, she's a little sentimental about her final indoor conference championship.

"I'm really trying to take in each meet and enjoy not just competing but being with my teammates and cheering everybody on," she said. "I'm really trying to bring that energy into the last indoor conference meet and probably my last indoor meet ever. Just soak up that time with my team."