BEREA, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University men's track and field team will look to race to the top of the Ohio Athletic Conference this season, with a balance of veteran leaders and ready young talent.
In her fourth season at the helm, head coach Jordan Hill '09 returns a roster of two seniors, five juniors and 10 sophomores from last year's team that finished ninth at the OAC Indoor Championships and OAC Outdoor Championships. Hill also welcomes 11 new faces to the squad for the upcoming campaign.
"I cannot wait to see what this season brings us. Our schedule is set up to be competitive and will give us the experience and opportunities needed to be ready for our post-season." Hill said. "The growth they have shown since fall training alone has been exponential and impressive. While we have a lot of fresh faces that I know will surprise the competition, I'm also confident in big time performances we'll see from returning faces. It's going to be exciting watching this team every week, playing off each other and using their strengths to do some great things together."
Leading the way on the track will be junior hurdler Shadaryll Clark II (Brook Park/Berea-Midpark). He comes back from last year after dominating hurdles with the OAC boasting with some of the most dominant hurdlers in the country. Clark made his mark in his first year as the top freshman at the conference meet when he placed sixth in the 55-meter hurdle finals. He will look to continue to climb the podium as he placed fourth last season at the OAC Outdoor Championships.
Sophomore Marcus Price (North Ridgeville) will highlight the group of sprinters, having career-best times in three events at the end of his freshmen season in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter dash. Junior LJ Tijerina (Archbold), sophomores Mason Birkbeck (Wadsworth), Desmond Manley (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Mary), and Eli Washburn (Berea/Berea-Midpark), and freshmen Wade Schmidt also bring added talent to the sprint group and will look to have a big impact on the team.
The young group of distance runners, coming off the cross-country season are led by junior Nick Dascani (Toledo/Springfield). As a junior, Dascani came on strong at the end of his cross-country season where he was able to finish 68th in the OAC Championships and 134th in the Great Lakes Regional Championships. Sophomore Carter Almady (Brunswick) helps lead the group as well after a strong ending to his season. Almady finished 14th at the Allegheny Classic.
Senior Academic All-OAC student-athlete Zach Riggins (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland), junior Lucas Simonetti (Pittsford, N.Y./Sutherland), and sophomores Matt Perry (Mentor), Gehrig Stanley (Twinsburg/Benedictine), and Jackson Tucker (Akron/Lake Center Christian School) will bring experience to the team as the distance crew seeks improvement in their times from last season.
Meanwhile, freshmen distance runners Joe Kelly (Lakewood), Connor Foody (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Robey Bolen (Mansfield/Ontario), and Alex Yarian (East Canton) are eager to hit the ground running and gain valuable experience from their older teammates.
Out in the field, junior jumper Luke Salmon (Sandusky/Perkins) will be his specialty while Clark will use his own wide range of talents to score in the long jump and triple jump as well as Washburn. Schmidt will also look to make an impact with the Yellow Jacket jumpers.
The throws squad is led by senior Jake Mantle (North Royalton) and sophomore Joe Barnes (West Plains, Mo.). Mantle made an impact in his first track season by leading the group as he finished eighth in the OAC Outdoor Championships. Barnes also made a splash in his collegiate debut last year, placing sixth in javelin throw. Sophomore John Haberman (Hamburg N.Y./Hamburg) looks to continue to improve for this year. Freshmen Thomas Hickman (Oxford / Talawanda) , Mason Kiesel (New London / South Central), Kaleu Tellas (Indianapolis, Ind. / International School of Indiana), Jackson Tupa (Medina), Brennan Beil (Canfield) and Colin Venturini (Evansville, Ind. / Mater Dei) will compete in their first season as Yellow Jackets and look for guidance from the returners.
The Yellow Jackets will begin their schedule on Sunday, January 22 at the Otterbein Invitational at the Clements Recreation Center. BW will host the Dr. Taraschke Team Challenge on Saturday, January 29 and the Mid-February Meet Sunday on Friday, February 11, both on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse.
The OAC Indoor Championships will be hosted by Mount Union, February 25-26 inside the Peterson Fieldhouse. The OAC Outdoor Championships will be hosted by the Yellow Jackets on May 5-6.