Crusader Track & Field Teams Begin Outdoor Seasons at W&L Sat.
Both Hope to Improve Upon Third-Place MAC Indoor Finishes
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Twenty-first-year Susquehanna University men’s track and field head coach Jim Taylor and new Crusader women’s coach Karen Brandt may differ considerably in experience, yet both have similar cretos for their respective teams as they open their outdoor seasons Saturday at the Washington & Lee Invitational.
Their goals for their outdoor seasons — make up some serious point deficits from the recent Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Championships by the time the conference outdoor meet rolls around on April 30 and May 1. Both Crusader teams were third at the MAC indoor meet — with the men 93 points behind champion Widener and 19 down on second-place Moravian, and the women 62 behind runner-up Lebanon Valley and 91 behind defending champ Moravian.
Making up ground outdoors is nothing new for the Crusader men, who have won 10 outdoor MAC titles in Taylor’s first 20 seasons — including the last two and four of the past five — but have never won the conference indoor championship. With one of his biggest and most talented rosters in years with 43 athletes, Taylor believes an MAC “threepeat” isn’t out of the question although the 93-point spread indoors does concern him.
“We’re going to have to do the best job we’ve in a long time in order to overcome the deficit we put ourselves in during the indoor season. Ninety-three points is a lot of points and that leaves us less room for error then before,” said Taylor, who has coached 31 NCAA Division III All-Americans and six national champions in addition to all his team honors.
“We definitely have our work cut out for us. I think we will narrow the gap, but the question remains if we have enough guns to win it.”
The ultimate goal is a little different for Brandt, who hopes her team can rally to threaten the school record second-place finish and 125 points it tallied at MACs outdoors last season under Taylor. Brandt concedes that six-time defending MAC outdoor champ Moravian may have too much firepower to catch this season, but she does believe it can narrow the gap and possibly overtake Lebanon Valley for second.
“We had a meeting after the MAC indoor meet and we told the women that we thought they did very well. But we also told them that we have to ask ourselves what is our level of commitment. We’ve got to up our game if we’re going to catch LVC,” said Brandt, who also co-coached the Crusader cross country teams to successful seasons with her husband and distance coach Jim in their debuts last fall.
“There’s been sort of a different atmosphere through the team since that meeting. What I’ve come to expect now is a highly committed and motivated group of kids.”
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Taylor has three defending conference outdoor champions and two NCAA Division III national qualifiers among the 13 letterwinners who return from last season’s championship team.
Leading that group is junior Matt Fenstermacher (Watsontown/Warrior Run H.S.), who led the team at the MAC indoor meet this season, winning the long-jump (21-11½), finishing second in both the triple-jump (44-1 ¾) and 55-meter dash (:06.82), running the anchor leg on the second-place 800-meter relay team (1:34.99), and finishing sixth in the 200-meter dash (:24.75). Last season outdoors, Fenstermacher brought home gold in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 45-5 ¾, and finished third in the long jump (21-3 ¼). Fenstermacher had broken his own school record last outdoor season, going 21-10. He also was third in the 100-meter dash (11.17) and fifth in the 200 (22.74). He also anchored the fourth-place 400-meter relay (:43.27), joining current teammates in senior Nick Quaglia (Ashley/Bishop Hoban H.S.), and junior Jerry Evangelista (Sheppton/Hazleton Area H.S.) and sophomore John Green (Reading/Governor Mifflin H.S.).
Green recently rejoined the track and field team after earning his second letter on the men’s basketball team this winter. He is also a returning MAC outdoor champ, winning the long jump last season with a leap of 21-8. He also competed in the 100-meter dash but did not make the finals.
A steady MAC placewinning sprinter throughout his career, Quaglia was fourth last spring at MACs in the 100-meter dash (:11.31) and competed in the 200-meter dash but did not make the finals.
A repeat member of the MAC All-Academic Indoor Track and Field Team, Evangelista has just missed the MAC finals in the 100 and 200 during his career.
Sophomore Garrett Thompson (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East H.S.) has also returned to the track from the basketball court after taking last spring off. A sprinter at Division I Delaware, Thompson is projected on the 400-meter relay.
Joining Fenstermacher and Green to lead a strong jumping contingent is junior Adam Ressler (Robesonia/Conrad Weiser H.S.), who is a returning NCAA Division III national qualifier in the high jump. He tied the school record with his qualifying jump of 6-9 last season, and recently won the MAC indoor high jump, but only went 6-2. He was fourth at MACs outdoors last season (6-3 ½), also competing but not placing in the long and triple jumps.
Freshman Angel Alvarado (Selinsgrove/ Selinsgrove H.S.) should also provide additional jumping strength, placing third in the triple-jump (41-1 ½) and fifth in the long jump (20-3 ¾) at MACs indoors.
Senior Matt Menold (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway H.S.) rounds out the returning MAC champs as he broke the school modern record and qualified for nationals in the javelin for a second-straight year with a throw of 195-4 last year.
Fellow senior Frank Arenella (Bloomsburg/Central Columbia H.S.) was also sixth in the javelin at MACs last spring with a throw of 178-6. While he did not place in the shot put and discus, he won the MAC outdoor shot put title as a sophomore with a throw of 45-2.
Freshman, Matt Shaffer (Brookville/Brookville H.S.) is the team shot put leader this season as he broke the school’s freshman record in the shot at 44-2 while placing third at MACs indoors.
Elsewhere on the field, senior Adam Saylor (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly H.S.) was recently second in the pole vault at MACs indoors, clearing 13-6, while freshman teammate Frank Dumbreski (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional H.S.) was fourth at 12-6. Saylor was fourth outdoors last season, also clearing 13-6.
Senior Charles Barley (Temple Hills, Md./Suitland H.S.) is also a past MAC outdoor champion, winning the 110-meter high hurdles as both a freshman (:15.51) and sophomore (:15.19) before finishing third last season (:15.60). He could be chasing a teammate this season as freshman Trever Fike (Millerstown/Greenwood H.S.) was second in the 55-meter hurdles (:08.15) at the MAC indoor meet, with Barley fifth (:08.39).
Juniors Joe Palmieri (New Wales/LaSalle College H.S.) and Jamie Yoder (Turbotville/Warrior Run H.S.) round out the past MAC placewinners and anchor the middle distance events. Palmieri finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run (4:08.94) and sixth in the 800-meter run (2:02.30) at MACs outdoors last season, while Yoder ran on the 1,600-meter relay team which finished second (3:22.36) and was fourth in the 800 (2:00.50).
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Sophomore Janee Shaner (Hughesville/Hughesville H.S.) became the first women’s national champion in school history last year as she won the javelin at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a toss of 137-7. Her qualifying throw of 138-8 was her best throw last season, and she won MACs with a throw of 137-0.
Junior Melissa Ruozzi (Braintree, Mass./Braintree H.S.) also can score in the throwing events as she was fourth at MACs in the discus last spring with a throw of 107-4. She also competed in the shot put but did not place.
Junior Karyn Kern (Brodheadsville/Pleasant Valley H.S.) was the big story at MACs last spring as she repeated as champion in the triple jump with a leap of 34-9 1/2, and also took the long jump at 16-1 1/2. A three-time MAC Commonwealth League basketball All-Star, Kern competed in just three outdoor meets last season because of a pulled quadricep muscle.
A two-time field hockey league All-Star, senior tri-captain Kim Aurand (Lewistown/Lewistown H.S.) also was second in the triple (34-0) and fourth in the long jump (15-5) outdoors last spring. She was fourth in the triple (32-4 ¾) and sixth in the long (14-7 ½) recently indoors, and also ran the second leg on both the the winning 1,600-meter relay team (4:22.47) and second-place 800-meter relay (1:54.62) teams.
Fellow senior Amanda Baker (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East H.S.) was also second in the high jump outdoors last year at 5-1, and recently fourth indoors at 5-0.
Junior Jen Becker (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury H.S.) led the women sprinters indoors, winning the 400-meter dash (1:03.54), and running the third leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay team and second leg on the 800-meter relay. Last spring at MACs, Becker 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). She also set a school record in the 400-meter dash last spring with a time of 1:00.41.
Senior tri-captain Tonya Wolfe (Turbotville/Warrior Run H.S.) ran the anchor leg on the recent winning 1,600-meter relay, and the third leg on the 800 relay. She also was third indoors in the 400-meter dash (1:04.53). Also a member of the mile relay outdoors last spring, Wolfe runs the 200 and 400 individually and is a three-time member of the MAC All-Academic Indoor Track and Field Team.
Sophomore Emily Dugan (Athens/Athens H.S.) ran the lead-off leg on both of Susquehanna’s indoor sprint relays, and also was second in the 55-meter hurdles (:09.59) and fifth in the 200-meter dash (:29.17). Also a member of the mile relay outdoors, Dugan was fourth in 400-meter hurdles (1:07.97) and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (:16.92) outdoors last spring.
In the distance events, junior tri-captain Sarah Costello (Palmyra/Palmyra H.S.) is the leader. While she didn’t place in the 3,000 indoors, she was third in the 10,000-meter run at MACs last spring with a school record time of 41:43.06, and fifth in the 5,000-meter run (19:56.83). She set new school records in both the 3,000 (11:22.09) and 5,000 (19:51.99) last spring.
Expect senior Angela Happel (Tuckerton, N.J./Pinelands Regional H.S.) and freshman Kim Owen (Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin H.S.) to also bolster the distance events after leading Brandt’s cross country team last fall.
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