SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Make no mistake about it, this has not been the easiest of years for the Susquehanna University men’s and women’s track and field teams and head coaches Jim Taylor and Craig Penney respectively. Without a campus facility for their teams to train on because the new Nicholas A. Lopardo Stadium/Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is presently under construction near the site of where the old field and track stood, Taylor and Penney have had to get quite creative in practice to keep their teams competitive.
Even with their best efforts, injuries and other departures have left too many holes and may have made their preseason team goals a reach at this weekend’s Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Widener University’s Leslie C Quick Jr. Stadium. Still, the coaches are hopeful that each of their squads will have their best performances of the year with some top individual accomplishments.
The Susquehanna men were third at the conference indoor championships during the winter, while the women were 8th.
Competition will begin Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. and continue through Saturday. Host Widener won the conference indoor crown and is favored to repeat outdoors on the men’s side, while the Moravian women won their fifth-straight MAC indoor championship and are also favored to win their eighth-straight outdoor championship.
MEN’S PREVIEW
“Widener is very strong. It (the championship) is probably theirs to win, and a battle for the rest of us for second,” said Taylor, who is in his 22nd year as head coach of the Susquehanna men. He has directed his program to 10 team titles — the last just two seasons ago.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think finishing second would be a real accomplishment for this team — given the circumstances surrounding us this year”
The Crusaders have no qualifiers in three events this weekend, making the team championship a tough hill to climb for Taylor and his team.
Topping the list of individual contenders will be the three NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship qualifiers in the javelin in freshman Matt Deamer (Lewistown/Indian Valley H.S.) and seniors Adam Ressler (Robesonia/Conrad Weiser H.S.) and Erik Benson (West Reading/Wyomissing H.S.).
Deamer automatically qualified for nationals and set a new school modern era record in the event to earn the top seed at MACs with a throw of 211-7 at the Bucknell heptagonal on April 15. The throw is believed to be one of the longest by a freshman in Division III history. He comes in off of winning the Millersville Metrics last Saturday with a throw of 199-5.
Ressler is also an automatic qualifier for nationals and had broken the school modern record with a throw of 206-11 at the Messiah Invitational on April 8. Seeded second in the jav at MACs, he is also coming off a good showing Saturday at the famed Penn Relays — throwing 198-2 to place 10th out of the field of 30 throwers from mostly Division I and II schools. While he has exceled most in the javelin this spring, Ressler won the 1999 MAC indoor high jump championship and was second indoors this season (6-2). He qualified for outdoor nationals in 1998 as he tied the school record with a leap of 6-9, and is seeded second at MACs this weekend with a jump of 6-6.
Benson has also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with his throw of 191-8 to place third to only Ressler and Deamer at the Messiah Invitational on April 8. He is
While the Crusaders are strong in the jav, they have no other qualifiers in the other three throwing events.
In addition to Ressler, the Crusader contingent appears strong in the jumping events, led by senior tri-captain Matt Fenstermacher (Watsontown/Warrior Run H.S.). Fenstermacher repeated as champion in the long jump indoors (21-5½) this season, finished second in three other events, and was fourth in yet another. He was second in the triple jump outdoors last season, also making the NCAA Division III Championships with a leap of 46-8¾. Fenstermacher is seeded first in both the long (22-7) and triple jumps (44-11) this weekend.
He will also lead the Susquehanna effort on the track after finishing third in the 100-meter dash (11.27) and anchoring the second-place 400-meter relay team (42.55) a year ago at MACs. He is seeded second in the 100 this season (11.19), while the Crusader 4x100 relay is also seeded second (43.46).
Junior John Green (Reading/Governor Mifflin H.S.) will also figure in the jumping events and run a leg on the 400-meter relay.
The 1998 MAC outdoor long jump champion (21-8), Green was third indoors (20-8¾) and fourth in the triple (42-9) this season. He is seeded third in the triple (44-3) and eighth in the long (21-0½) this weekend.
Sophomore Ryan Hollis (Mifflin/Juniata H.S.), and freshmen Matt Lowe (Liverpool/Newport H.S.) and Tim Pelc (Bethlehem/Salisbury H.S.) should also figure in the jumps. Hollis is seeded fourth this weekend in the triple (44-3), while Pelc is sixth (44-1¼) and is battling a hamstring pull. Lowe is a fifth-seed in the long jump (21-1¾).
Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Beau Heeps(Allentown/Parkland H.S.) should be a contender in the sprinting events and run on the relays. Heeps was fifth in the 200 (:24.41) indoors this winter, and is seeded fourth in both the 100 (11.23) and 200 (22.60) outdoors.
Despite sursing a hamstring pull which will keep him out of the relays, fellow sophomore Jason Ward (Avondale/Avon Grove H.S.) will run the 400-meter dash and is seeded second this weekend (50.30). He was third in the 400-meter dash (:50.56) and also ran on both placewinning relays at MACs last spring.
Among the distance runners, senior Matt Woolley (Branchville, N.J./Pope John XXIII) appears to be the top hopeful in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He is seeded seventh in the event (10:25.48), despite being in just his second year of running it.
Sophomore Trever Fike (Millerstown/Greenwood H.S.) and junior Nick Hoffman (Boiling Springs/Boiling Springs H.S.) lead the Crusader contingent running over more conventional hurdles.
Also bothered by injury during most of the spring season, Fike was second in the 110-meter high hurdles (:15.68) at MACs outdoors last season, and is seeded fourth in the event (15.75) this weekend.
Hoffman is ranked fifth among qualifiers in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles (56.86), and is ninth in the high’s (15.75).
WOMEN’S PREVIEW
“I think, we’re going to find a way to get everyone to contribute. While we don’t have a lot of people, they’ve worked hard and will be real competitive in several events this weekend,” said Penney.
1999 MAC 400-meter dash indoor champion (1:01.67) and senior co-captain Jen Becker (Simsbury, Conn/Simsbury H.S.) heads the list of contenders and appears to now be healed from a pair of leg stress fractures which ended her outdoor season prematurely a year ago. Becker didn’t compete at the conference indoor meet, but is seeded third in the 400 (1:00.89) this weekend. During a healthier 1998 campaign, she was fifth in the 400-meter dash (1:01.67) and sixth in the 200 (:27.81), also anchoring the second-place 1,600-meter relay team (4:06.91) in 1998 — setting a school record in the 400-meter dash (1:00.41) that season. She will also run on both relays this weekend, with Susquehanna ranking third in the 1,600 (4:12.53) and fourth in the 400 (52.02) this weekend.
Junior Emily Dugan (Athens/Athens H.S.) also runs on those relays and is one of the team’s top hopefuls in the hurdles. Fifth in the MAC indoor meet in the 200-meter dash (:29.08) this year, she was third in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.59) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (:17.05) outdoors a year ago. Dugan ranks third in the 400s (1:07.85) and sixth in the 100s (16.68) among the qualifiers this weekend.
Freshman Alison Ream (Mifflintown/Juniata H.S.) also runs on the relays and is ranked eighth in both hurdling events (16.95 in 100, 1:10.63 in 400).
Senior co-captain Sarah Costello (Palmyra/Palmyra H.S.) and freshman Erin Colwell (Belleville/Indian Valley H.S.) top the Crusader distance contingent.
Costello has set new school records in both the 3,000 (11:04.50) and 5,000 (19:43.90) meter runs this spring, and also set the school record in the 10,000 (41:21.53) while finishing fourth in the event outdoors last season. She will run the 5,000 and 10,000 this weekend and is seeded eighth and sixth (42:02.31) respectively.
Colwell was fifth at MACs indoors this winter in the 5,000-meter run (19:53.98) — and has the school indoor record at 19:08.63. She is seeded fifth in the event outdoors by virtue of that indoor time.
The Crusader women are very thin on the field, qualifying just two high jumpers and one thrower in both the discus and javelin this weekend.
