Feb. 4, 2004
Men's Track & Field: Penguins Look
to Defend Title in 2004 Season
It's been said that the only thing
harder than winning a championship
is defending it.
Coming off of a 17-point, underdog victory over Loyola at the
2003 Horizon League Indoor
Championship, the YSU men's track
squad will look to do just that and
win back-to-back league titles for
the first time in school history.
From that championship team of a season ago, the Penguins
will be without All-American Kurt
Michaelis and Eugene Harris, the
league champion in the 60-meter dash
and the 200, as both have used up
all of their eligibility.
However, Gorby said that his squad
still has the tools to repeat.
With the combination of championship experience from the
returnees and the incoming talent,
Gorby said the Penguins still have a
dominant sprint group and ton of
firepower up front in the distance
events. However, health is a
key issue as they lack the depth to
stack four or five runners in
distance events like they have in
previous years.
"We lost a lot with Kurt and Eugene and also Edwin Jackson
not coming back, but we have Scott
Weiser, Papis Joh and Derek Riker to
help fill the voids," Gorby said.
"We also have the experience now and
know what it takes to win. Our
main goal is to repeat and get back
to our dominance like we had in the
Mid-Con."
With the departure of Harris and Jackson, the Penguins will
turn to returnees Sherrod Holmes and
Ryan Strzalka and newcomers Papis
Joh and Scott Weiser to rack up
points in the sprinting events.
Holmes, the most valuable player of
the 2003 YSU football squad,
finished second to only Harris by
.01 seconds at last year's indoor
conference meet and added a
fifth-place finish in the 200.
Strzalka fell just shy of qualifying
in three events at the conference
meet last year and will be looked
upon to step up big in relay events.
Joh, a two-time state champion in
the 800, comes to YSU after spending
two seasons at the University of
Toledo while Weiser set the Beaver
Local High record in the 200 and
400.
The distance squad will be a very experienced group,
returning everyone except Michaelis
and Tony Orcena. Coming off of
strong cross country seasons, Jeremy
Riehm, Nick Buzek and Nick Kruse
each have a strong chance to finish
high in the conference this season.
Buzek finished third in the 5,000
and eighth in the 3,000 at the
conference meet last season while
Kruse placed sixth in the 3,000 and
Riehm finished 11th in the 5,000.
Nick Smith, the YSU record holder in the 3,000, redshirted
during cross country season and has
missed the first four meets of the
indoor season with a lingering foot
injury. Ryan Petrick, a former
state champion in the 800, is also
sidelined with a stress fracture.
"The distance runners always seem to step it up in crunch
time, but wee need to remain healthy
to have our best shot at a repeat,"
Gorby said. "We have some
front runners, but our depth is a
concern without Smith and Petrick."
Derek Riker, a 2003 Division II National Qualifier at the
University of Findaly in the pole
vault, will head the field events
for the Penguins.
Returning to head the throws group will be Jarrod Davis and
Joe Bruderly. Davis, the
school-record holder in the weight
throw, finished fourth in the
shot put and third in the weight
throw at the conference meet last
season before clinching a
third-place spot in the shot put in
the outdoor season. Bruderly
had an impressive outdoor campaign
and finished second in the shot put.
"The throwers are very dependable," Gorby said.
"They're consistent and always come
through." |
