By: JERRY REILLY, Sports Information Director
FREDONIA, N.Y. – An influx of several newcomers has head coach
Tom Wilson excited about the future of the Fredonia State men's track and field team.
The Blue Devils return to competition Saturday at the Al Hall Freedom Games in Edinboro, Pa.
It will not be Wilson's first look at most of his newcomers in competition. Most of the distance runners ran cross country during the fall season. In addition, the Blue Devils have had one indoor meet already – the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational on Dec. 8.
Yet Saturday's meet inside the Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Dome on the Edinboro University campus is a beginning of sorts – the start of a series of indoor and outdoor meets through early May.
Wilson believes there are good things to come this season and beyond.
“We are bringing in almost 15 new faces,” he said, “all of which have had successful high school careers. … This team is very close to becoming a huge threat in the conference. With the new faces and key returners, this team can once again turn heads in the conference.”
Two of the returners are school-record holders. Both are seniors.
Webster Thomas (Windsor, Conn.) broke the 55-meter and 60-meter dash marks last indoor season.
Broncho Rollins (Ithaca) finished the outdoor season with a bang with a new pole vault record and a spot in the NCAA Division III field.
“He's in the best shape of his career,” assistant coach
Justin McQuality said of Thomas, “and will be looking to take that next step up to the national championships in the 60 meters and the 4-by-400 relay.”
As for Rollins, Wilson – a college pole vaulter himself – is optimistic, too. “He brings a very intense, competitive attitude to the program,” Wilson said. “He will be leading a group of very talented group into the season.”
The last meet of the cross country season has also fueled Wilson's optimism. Of the seven runners to complete at the NCAA Atlantic Regional, four were freshmen –
Jonmichael Knapp (Rochester),
Zakk Hess (Newark),
Alex Gonzalez (Dunkirk), and
Chris Shartrand (Niskayuna). The Blue Devils finished 10th in a field of 40 teams after not cracking the Top 10 regional rankings all fall.
Wilson expects each of the four freshmen to pick up where they left off.
Knapp and Hess have been training alongside sophomore Anthony “Nico” Piacentini (Webster) for middle distance events. Piacentini scored points as a freshman in the 400-meter hurdles and the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He will be called on to lead the relays this season.
Gonzalez and Shartrand join a stable of distance runners led by Peter Francia (Rochester). A transfer to Fredonia State from Alfred State, Francia was the Blue Devils' No. 1 runner in the fall. He made the All SUNYAC and the All Atlantic Regional teams before competing at the NCAA meet.
“Pete,” Wilson said, “will bring leadership and experience in the distance events. He will have an opportunity to shine in the conference in both the 3K and the 5K.”
Jack Bennett (LeRoy),
Steve Whittemore (Penfield), and
Cal Hayward (Victor) will also compete in distance events. Bennett, a junior, ran in the Atlantic Regional in the fall. Whittemore and Hayward are juniors.
Oschani Anglin (Rochester) has emerged as the top freshman in the sprint group. Anglin will also compete in the triple jump, as will senior
Andrew Charsky (Castleton) and sophomore
Alex Brennan (Wilson). McQuality said Charsky, the triple jump winner at the RIT meet, is capable of national-level jumps, while Brennan has emerged as a group leader capable of making a mark on the SUNYAC stage.
McQuality also expects big things from junior multi-event athlete
Spencer Lefort (Java Center). Last season, Lefort – an outstanding student who earned a 2011 SUNYAC Chancellor's Award – missed the NCAA qualifying standard in the heptathlon by less than 100 points. “I truly believe,” McQuality said, “if we can keep him healthy, he will be our most improved of our upper-echelon athletes.”
Max Radley (Batavia), a junior, is the top men's thrower. Julia (Hopson) Williamson, a former Blue Devil and 2009 national champion, coaches the group. Wilson said
Cody Dahleiden (East Aurora), a junior, will be looking to keep pace with Rollins in the pole vault.
Any discussion of the Blue Devils would not be complete without mention of
Nick Guarino. A May 2011 graduate, Guarino won five national titles – two indoors and three outdoors – during the past two seasons. His specialties were the mile, the 1,500 meters, and the 800 meters.
The 2012 indoor schedule includes five meets prior to the Feb. 26 SUNYAC championships at Geneva, N.Y., and the ECAC meet at the New York Armory. The outdoor season is also comprised of five meets prior to the SUNYAC meet at Oneonta State starting May 4.
The Blue Devils were fourth indoors and third outdoors last season.
