2012-2013 Indoor Track & Field Preview:

Schedule:

Introduction:

One year ago, with a multitude of youth, the women’s and men’s indoor track and field teams finished third and fifth respectively. A year of experience later and with the Conference meet in a new location due to Conference realignment, both teams look towards bringing home the Conference Championships. “The goal every year is to contend and win the Conference title,” said Coach Bobb, “we believe we have assembled teams on both sides, who have the talent to reach this goal.” David Bobb is entering his fifteenth year at the helm of his alma mater’s track and field program since graduating in 1997. Joining him for his fifteenth season is assistant coach Shannon Flowers, a stalwart of the staff since Bobb started. Matt Gittermann will be heading up the mid-distance and distance events for his fifth year while the throws with be supervised by second year coach Peter Koumlelis. Rounding out the staff will be returners Nick Burnett (3rd Year – Pole Vault/Multi’s), Brian Pendleton (2nd Year – Jumps), Thomas Thompson (2nd Year – Jumps), and Kadine Johnson (2nd Year – Throws).

Sprints/Hurdles:

Mercedes Jackson – So.

In her first season, Mercedes Jackson re-wrote the record books during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, taking home multiple Conference titles and Newcomer of the Year awards in the process. With expectations higher in her second season, Jackson spent the summer on campus working out and appears to be far ahead of last year. “We’ve tried to instill in our athletes that it takes a lot of hard work to be successful,” revealed Coach Bobb, “but it takes even more work and effort to maintain that success.” With Conference success probable, a larger stage for success might be in the works as Coach Bobb said, “that the Conference meet remains the number one priority, however, there is a definitive goal for her to reach the National meet.”

Joining her will be a plethora of young talent with depth in every single event. With Jackson in the shorter events (60m and 200m dashes) will be fellow sophomore Ebonique Jones. As a freshman, Jones had a great year, scoring in the long jump, 60 meter and 200 meter dashes at the Indoor Conference Meet and scoring in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes, while running a leg on the Conference Champion 4×100 meter relay at the Outdoor Conference meet. In the lone hurdle event during the indoor season, senior Chowan Brightful returns after a breakout season that saw her finish fifth indoors in the 60 meter hurdles and fourth outdoors in the 100 meter hurdles. As the fastest returner in the Conference, she could contend for a Conference title.

Kirsten Jones – Jr.

The 200 meter dash could be a big event for the Retrievers, with not only Jones and Jackson returning scorers, but with a strong core group of long sprinters adding more depth and impact. Junior Kirsten Jones, a multi-time scorer in the 200 meter and 400 meter dashes in both the indoor and outdoor Conference returns. Sophomore Briana Young was one of only two Conference runners to score in both the 200 meters and 400 meters in last year Championships, and she followed that up with a sixth place finish in the 200 meters at the Outdoor Championships. Sophomores Kalane Abbey and Blossom Metevier will add even more depth to these events and should factor into the scoring. Additionally, look for freshman D’Nique Philips to make an immediate impact.

Moving up to the 500 meter dash one finds junior Deborah Adelola and sophomore Paulette Fogle in the conversation for Conference points. They finished sixth and eighth respectively last year with some of the fastest times in school history and both will be looking to move further up the ranks. Combined with Kirsten Jones, Abbey, Young, and Metervier, you have a deep group of talent that should contend for the Conference 4×400 meter title.

“Our hopes are not to only score a lot of points with our depth, but also to score high and monopolize as many points as possible on the women’s side,” said Coach Bobb.

Trae Proctor – Sr.

Leading the men will be senior Trae Proctor, the two-time defending Conference Champion in the 60 meter hurdles. Proctor blew out the field last year in the finals and crept ever so close to being the first Retriever to dip under eight seconds in the event. The leading returner in the short sprints is senior Sean Cooper, who placed fifth in the 60 meter and sixth in the 200 meter dashes respectively. The IC4A qualifier continued his success in the outdoor campaign scoring in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes.

Joining him this year will be senior Denny Long who red-shirted indoor and outdoor track after making an initial splash at the Bison Opener last season. His time from that meet alone would have put him in contention for top three at the Conference meet. Additionally, transfer Jenove Blanfort (Virginia Union) could add a potent punch to the addition of Long when he joins the team in January. Together they could contend for the Conference title in the short sprints. To fill out the depth, returners Kyle Baker and Pat Balderson will be looked upon to get into the scoring fray in the shorter sprints, while newcomers will be relied upon to fill the void left by graduate Josh Hewitson in the longer sprints.

Mid Distance/Distance:

Cody Mezebish – Jr.

After an injury-plagued freshman season, junior Cody Mezebish broke out in her second year, with a surprising and near ECAC qualifying fifth place finish in the indoor 800 meters at the Conference meet. Her 2:14.95 represented the second fastest time in school history and a three second personal record at the time. During the outdoor season she lowered her time to 2:14.2 and this past fall she was the leading runner for much of the cross country season. “With the progress she made last year, coupled with the strong cross country season, there is no reason why she can’t contend for a top three position,” said Coach Matt Gittermann, “she is definitely going to lead a strong core of mid-distance runners for the women.” Joining her will be Sarah Daly who just missed out on making the finals of the 500 meters at last year’s Championships and moved up to the 800 meters during the outdoor season. This fall she was a constant varsity contributor for the cross country team. Returner Mary Katherine Kulp should add depth in the 800 meters through mile, while a slew of newcomers could make a huge impact on the mid-distance events. “I believe we now have the talent to contend for the 4×800 meter relay not only this year but for the near future.”

The longer events will feature Julie Gessler who had a strong end to her cross country team leading them across the line at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and freshman Nicole Dawson who was a consistent top three runner for the Retrievers in the fall. Sophomore Alyse Gibson and freshman Harmony Roche should add depth to the events.

Jake Albino – Jr.

In the mid-distance events for the men, Andrew Smith returns after two successful seasons running 800 meters, including a fourth place finish last year. In the mile, Jake Albino, who missed last year’s indoor season due to injury will lead the team in the mile, after a fourth place finish in the 1500 meters at the Outdoor Conference meet. “Both Andrew and Jake have the talent to contend for top three positions in the 800 meters and the mile,” said Gittermann, “and they should form the bookends on a formidable DMR (distance medley relay).” Look for freshman Andrew Kereszetes to make an immediate impact in either the 1,000 meter or 800 meter runs.

The distance events will be led by a crew of runners whose depth propelled the cross country team to a third place finish at the Cross Country Conference Championships. Leading the men will be the All Conference Cross Country Performer Brandan McGee whose seventh place finish led the men at the Conferences and set school marks for the 5,000 meters and 8,000 meters during the fall. The Conference Champion in the spring in the steepler, he is looking to extend that success indoors. The lone distance senior Todd Cowing will look to improve upon his 12th place finish in the 3,000 meters last year when he set a personal best 8:32. Returners Vinny DiSalvo, Tommy Eldridge, and Eric Schuler will add to depth along with freshmen Hassan Omar and a crew of impact freshmen.

Throws:

Amanda Deller – Sr.

Senior Amanda Deller is looking to become the second America East athlete to win four straight shot put titles during the indoor season and could possibly be the first athlete ever to win all shot put titles over a four year period. During the outdoor season she crept even closer to the fifty foot barrier despite a lingering injury. Additionally she swept all the throwing events indoor by not only taking home the weight throw title, but Field Performer of the Year Award as well. Depth will be hurt by the lost of perennial All Conference performer Chrissy Robinson, but junior Emma Mayne returns from injury and freshmen Jen Nelson and Nneoma Edokobi could step right in.

For the men, senior returner Cameron McDearmon should lead the way after sixth place finishes in the shot put and the weight throw at last year’s championships. With a school record toss of 61′-9.5″ during the regular season with the weight, that type of performance suggests that he can contend for a Conference title. Joining him will be transfer Yao Adator (Maryland), whose past performance in the shot put could make him a contender for the Conference title. Fellow transfer Thor Serafenas (Clemson) will add top three potential to both the shot and the weight when is eligible in January. Ray Stinsman returns and adds depth after just missing out on the scoring in the shot put and weight throw last year.

Cameron McDearmon – Sr.

“The talent is there to sweep all four throwing events across both genders,” said Coach Peter Koumlelis, “we just to put in the early season work so we can harvest those performances at the Conference meet.”

Jumps, Vaults, and Multi’s:

Senior Shioma Obemeata returns in hopes of obtaining the Conference title he was so close to getting last year in the triple jump finishing second in both the indoor and outdoor Championships. Additionally, Obemeata will be looking to extend beyond his specialty to include both the long and high jumps, events he could potentially score in. Also returning is junior Dosu Teyibo, whose improvements in the jumping events led to a sixth place finish in the triple jump and just outside the scoring in the long jump in Boston last year. Finally, multi-time IC4A qualfier junior Mo Drammeh will return in the high jump, having finished second last year in the event.

Chowan Brightful – Sr.

For the women, ECAC qualifier and school record holder Chowan Brightful will look to contend for a Conference title in the high jump after finishing third last season. Additionally, she could add depth to the long jump, an event that saw Ebonique Jones finish eighth last year but had regular season jumps that suggest she could be a factor in the top three. Newcomer Caitlyn Davis could provide depth in the high and triple jumps, but should make an impact in her best event, the pole vault.

The men’s heptathlon should continue to be a strong event for the Retrievers. Last year, sophomore Eric Ezenwanne finished fourth in his first year competing in the multi-events. With more practice under his belt in the events he was just introduced to last year, he could contend for the top spot in the Conference. Joining him will be junior John Rybak who was a spot outside of the scoring last year, though he did finish fifth in the open 60 meter hurdles. Add in freshmen Vincent Rentzch, who could potentially score not only in the heptathlon but also in the shot and triple jump.