Although the Muhlenberg men’s and women’s track and field teams have been hampered by injuries all season long, the Mules haven’t lost their poise and ambitions to perform well at the upcoming Centennial Conference Championships at Gettysburg.
“Currently, we do have a lot of injuries and they take their toll on the depth of the team,” junior David Chorney said. “As long as everyone throws, jumps, and races to the best of the ability and maximizes their potential, we will have a great meet.”
Karchner is fourth on the CC performance list in the long jump. |
Along with several season-ending injuries, some of
the Mules have sustained minor problems, which might prevent them from revealing their full potential and participating in multiple events at the CC Championships.
“Despite the injuries, the kids’ enthusiasm has stayed with them,” said head coach Brad Hackett. “Our roster isn’t as large as it has been in past years and our athletes recognize this fact. Considering the injuries, where we finish it’s not relevant. We hope that the kids will be successful.”
The Mules are expected to place high and get a number of medals and points in typical outdoor events.
If sophomore Brendan Kirk shakes off a nagging injury, he has an excellent chance to defend his 400m hurdles crown. Less than two weeks ago, Kirk broke his own school record at the Greyhound Invitational, setting a standard of 55.16.
His time is the
Junior Lucy Brock ranks fifth among all CC athletes in the 100m hurdles prior to this weekend’s CC Championships. |
top CC performance for the 2008 season as the next entry is more than eight tenths of a second slower.
Senior Adam Carter (fourth, 57.97) and freshman
Matt Stein (sixth, 58:19) have also turned in respectable times, which bodes well for
Muhlenberg scoring a lot of points in the discipline.
Chorney is another hope for a gold medal as he will compete on three fronts – the steeplechase, the 4x800m relay and his primary 1500m. The Bristol, N.H., native might have ran the 3000m steeplechase only once in his career, but what a run it was. Chorney shattered the school record by over 16 seconds at the Greyhound Invitational, crossing the finish line in 9:33.39, the second-best time in the conference this campaign.
“I was very happy with my first steeplechase and I really like the event,” said Chorney, who also set school standard in the 3000m indoors and
was part of two record-breaking indoor
relay teams during the winter. “Since I have only run it once, I believe I can still run faster. The race will be very competitive but I am confident in my current shape and I think I have a chance of winning it. I feel much stronger then I did last year at this time.”
Junior Timothy Van Syckle’s aspirations for strong display in the 10,000m are backed up by his school-record time of 31:23.74 that he posted at the Bison Outdoor Classic. However, he has a strenuous task of competing against an army of four top-notch Haverford runners, two of which have met already the NCAA automatic mark.
Senior Michael Karchner is a strong contender in the decathlon as he will look to duplicate his title from his sophomore season.
On the women’s side, Muhlenberg’s chances for podium finishes are ascribed to defending champions sophomore Alex Faust in the pole vault and classmate Debra Crockett in the shot put.
Faust enters the championships with the best vault in the league – 11-0, while Crockett has the third-best mark in the discus (117-4) and the fourth-best shot put (39-0).
Sophomore Caitlin Heffern, who ranks third on the 2008 performance list in the javelin, will be looking to improve on her fourth-place finish from last year’s conference meet.
A year ago, both teams clinched second-place finishes, winning a total of seven gold medals.
“We are as ready as we can be as well as I could have hoped,” Coach Hackett said. “Our main objective is to place higher than we did at the indoor championships.”
The women’s squad took fifth spot and the men were sixth during the indoor CC meet in March.
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