Season Preview: Returning All-Americans expected to lead Sea Gulls to championship
SALISBURY, Md. - The 2010 Salisbury University men's and women's track & field teams are both in prime position to push for their conference titles as they both are coming into this season with very strong groups of talented athletes. Both teams have a solid core of veteran leadership along with a lot of good incoming freshman talent. The men are looking to win their 12th overall and seventh consecutive CAC championship; the women, who have finished second in the conference for the past two seasons, are going after their first ever conference championship.
Sea Gull head coach Jim Jones said, "Our goal is to win the conference again. We have two very good teams." Jones feels that both teams have an advantage on their side this season as Salisbury will be hosting the CAC championships. The last time the Sea Gulls hosted the conference championships the men came in first and the women finished in second, just four points shy of first place. The Sea Gull men have never lost a conference championship that Salisbury has hosted. Additionally, the men's team also has momentum coming into the outdoor season with its recent win at the Mason-Dixon Indoor Championships on Feb. 20, the first indoor championship in Salisbury history. "Winning the indoor championship gives us a lot of momentum going into the spring," Jones said. With that momentum and the strength of each team, Jones believes that the men and the women should be able to bring the conference championships home to Salisbury. After the CAC championships, Jones has a lot of confidence that they will go on to the national championships to improve on last season's fourth place finish and possibly win there, as well.
The teams are returning several talented athletes that helped make them so successful last season. The men's team is returning all three of its All-American athletes from last year, along with seven of last year's All-CAC athletes and the reigning CAC Player of the Year. The women's team has a strong returning class, as well, with six All-CAC athletes from last year and the returning CAC Rookie of the Year.
DISTANCE
The men's team will be led by junior Chris Barnard (Olney, Md.), sophomore Steve Berstler (Chester, N.J.) and junior Matt Miller (Crofton, Md.). All three athletes ran for the cross country team under Coach Jones in the fall, where Barnard and Berstler both received first-team All-CAC honors. Berstler was also awarded the CAC Cross Country Rookie of the Year.
The women are returning two-time first-team All-CAC runner junior Masha Berge (Potomac, Md.) to lead them in the 2010 season. Berge will be joined by a trio of sophomores: Anna Steinman (Piscataway, N.J.), Becca Stinner (Darnestown, Md.) and Kristin Stromberg (Hampstead, Md.). Berge, Stinner and Stromberg were all honored as All-CAC athletes for the cross country team this past fall.
JUMPS
Senior Quentin Briscoe (Windsor Mill, Md.) and junior Brandon Lane (Hillsborough, N.J.) look to lead Salisbury as the team's strongest athletes in the jumps. Briscoe, a former CAC Rookie of the Year in 2007, is coming off of an indoor season in which he set the school record for the 60-meter hurdles. He is hoping to add to his collection of All-CAC honors as he was awarded first-team All CAC in 2007 and 2009 along with second-team All-CAC in 2008.
Lane was one of Salisbury's national championship qualifiers last season, and he is hoping to duplicate that success and help the Sea Gulls get back to the national championship this season. He has been honored as a first-team All-CAC athlete in each of his first two seasons.
The women's team is looking strong as it will be returning senior Lindsey Metzler (Cooksville, Md.) and sophomore Holly Defnet (Poolesville, Md.). Metzler was a second-team All-CAC athlete last season, and in the indoor season, she set the long jump and triple jump school records.
SPRINTS
The men's team is extremely strong coming into this season as the Sea Gulls return one of last season's two national champions and one of three All-Americans, senior Cory Beebe (Medina, Ohio), and the second of three All-Americans and national championship runner-up, senior Delannie Spriggs (Owings, Md.). Spriggs is a two-time All-American. Last season Beebe set two Salisbury University school records in the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles along with setting the 400-meter dash school record in the 2010 indoor season. Both runners, along with Briscoe and sophomore Paul Moore (Odenton, Md.), set the 4x400-meter relay school record last spring. This season, Beebe and Spriggs look to continue their success and help the Sea Gulls improve on last season's fourth-place national championship finish.
Sophomore Amanda Zyzak (Damascus, Md.), who set the school indoor records for the 55-meter dash and the 60-meter dash, will lead the Sea Gull women along with senior Lauren Foreman (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and two incoming freshmen in Claire Lawrence (Verona, N.J.) and Amy Taylor (Hagerstown, Md.). Jones is confident that the two freshmen will make an immediate impact this season. Last season, Lauren Foreman was honored with second-team All-CAC honors.
THROWS
The Sea Gulls are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the athletes that will be throwing for them this spring. For the men, 2009 national champion senior Brandon Fugett (Randallstown, Md.) is returning as one of last season's All-Americans and the reigning CAC Player of the Year. He holds the Salisbury University records for both the shot put and weight throw in indoor and shot put and discus in outdoor. He will be joined by sophomore Jay Drenner (Eldersburg, Md.) and freshman Matt McMurdo (Chalfont, Pa.) to continue the team's success and help the Gulls improve in the national championships. Coach Jones has big plans for McMurdo as he said that McMurdo will be one of the Sea Gull's National Qualifiers this spring. McMurdo's impact has already been felt as he, along with Fugett and freshman Dimitri Branford (Annapolis, Md.), led Salisbury to the Mason-Dixon Indoor Championship win.
The women are very strong in this area as well. Two-time second-team All-CAC athlete senior Janay Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) will lead a young but strong class of Sea Gull throwers. Salisbury is returning two sophomores in Rachel Holtzman (Columbia, Md.) and the reigning CAC Rookie of the Year Jennifer Houghton (Mt. Laurel, N.J.). The Sea Gulls have also added freshman Chelsea Tavik (Glen Burnie, Md.) who will have a big impact and has already broken the school indoor record for shot put.
SCHEDULE
The Sea Gulls' schedule has them hosting three meets, including the CAC championships and the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Championships. Salisbury opens its season with the Salisbury University Spring Classic at home on March 6. The Sea Gulls are then on the road for their next four meets, including a trip to North Carolina for the Wake Forest Invitational at Wake Forest University on March 19 and 20. They then return to Maryland on March 27 to University of Maryland for the Maryland Terrapin Invitational to round out their March schedule.
The Sea Gulls open April with the Penn Invitational at the University of Pennsylvania on April 3, and they will stay in Pennsylvania for the West Chester Invitational on April 9 and 10. Salisbury returns home on April 17 to host the CAC Conference Track & Field Championships. On April 22, the Sea Gulls travel to the University of Pennsylvania for a second time for the Penn Relays from April 22 to April 24. They will then close out April and open May by hosting the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Track & Field Championships on April 30 and May 1.
Salisbury's last two meets of the season before the national championships are the New Captain's Classic at Christopher Newport University on May 8 and the SWAT Last Chance Meet at Swarthmore College on May 10. The NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field national championships with take place from May 20 to May 22 at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.
SUMMARY
Coach Jones and his Sea Gulls are confident in what they can accomplish in the 2010 spring season. "This is one of the best groups of people I have worked with on and off the field," Jones said. "The results have already shown and they will continue." With many returning athletes and an abundance of incoming talent, the Gulls are deep at every position and are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the CAC. Hosting the conference tournament has brought good fortune to Salisbury in the past, and it should again this season to allow the men to bring home their 12th CAC title and the women to win their first all on their way to the national championships.
