|
For Immediate Release
January 13, 2006
PRAIRIE WOLVES COMBAT LOSSES WITH TEAM DEPTH
Even with four student-athletes studying abroad
for the spring semester and two more currently serving in the military,
the Nebraska Wesleyan track and field teams will again be more than
100 strong in 2006.
The NWU men, who have finished no lower than fourth
at the NCAA Division III Championships since 2002, may actually
be deeper in the sprints than last year, despite the graduation
of 15-time All-American and five-time National Champion Bret Blake.
Jeff Aldrich |
Seniors Jeff Aldrich, Tim Beckmann and Matt Turman
join junior Gordie Coffin as returning outdoor national champions
in the 4x100-meter relay. Aldrich was a member of the winning team
in both 2003 and 2005, while Beckmann, who missed the last two seasons
due to National Guard service in Iraq, belonged to the winning team
in 2003.
Ben Thayer, a senior who also hurdles during the
outdoor season, is back, as are sophomores Jason Peters and Chris
Wolf. In addition, first-year athletes Dan Bittner, who was the
2004 Class D state champ in the 100-meter dash, and Matt Glasnapp,
who won the 100 crown in Class B each of the last two years, should
also make an impact, according to Head Coach Dr. Ted Bulling. Click
here to see the 2006 men’s roster.
“Our sprints will be a strength, from the
55 indoors to the 400 outdoors,” Bulling said.
For the women, seniors Mary Kersenbrock and Erin
Powell, junior Ashley Styskal and first-year runner Jaci Dick will
anchor the sprint corps. Both Kersenbrock and Styskal have All-America
awards to their credit in the 4x100 indoors, while Powell also has
multiple All-America honors and Great Plains Athletic Conference
(GPAC) titles in the horizontal jumps.
Erin Powell |
“She is one of the best, if not the top athlete
in the GPAC,” Bulling said of Powell, who was conference Athlete
of the Year outdoors in both 2004 and 2005. She also shared top
honors at the indoor league meet in 2004.
However, Bulling will be without his top sprinter
in sophomore Katie Dobesh, who suffered a torn ACL in December,
after winning both the 55 and 100 conference crowns as a first-year
performer in 2005. Click
here to see the 2006 women’s
roster.
In the sprint hurdles, senior All-American Amy Vanderkolk
and sophomore Holly Andrews will be among the favorites at the conference
level and will strive to be repeat qualifiers for nationals again
in 2006. The men are balanced and improving, with several athletes
within .10 seconds of each other at the intra-squad meet in the
55-meter hurdles.
Senior Blake Henning and sophomore Evan Knight lead
the middle-distance runners. Both earned All-America honors in the
800 and contributed to the indoor distance medley relay that won
the NCAA indoor crown in 2005.
Senior Aaron Dye was also on the winning DMR and
made All-America in the 1,500 individually in 2005. Meanwhile, twin
brother Craig Dye placed nationally in the steeplechase and was
an All-American in cross country last season. Chris Dunker, Guy
McLaughlin, Jeremy Sokol, Greg Timblin and Cody Waite are among
the other men to watch in the distance races.
The women’s distance crew is a young, but
talented bunch. Junior Ashley Sabin, sophomore Amber Brandenburger
and first-year runners Bridget Baldwin and Mercy Dinwiddie should
give NWU the opportunity for a top-three finish as a team at the
conference level.
Reigning GPAC cross country champion Brittany Hubbard,
however, will be studying abroad in Australia for the spring semester.
“It won’t be easy being without our
top sprinter (Dobesh) and our top distance runner (Hubbard), but
our returners will have to step up,” Bulling said.
In the field events, Jennifer Nunnenkamp and Rachel
Seidel will lead the women’s throwers, while senior Mira Brown
will team with a crop of newcomers in the pole vault. Vaulters Hannah
Rankin, who won the Class A state title in 2005, and Ashley Lovegrove
both have the ability to break NWU’s first-year records.
The men will feel the loss of All-American Ryan
Tietjen in the throws, where junior Chris Krueger is the team’s
top returner. In the jumps and vaults, NWU has three GPAC champions
from 2005 returning, including: Jed Droge (indoor long jump), Austin
Novotny (outdoor high jump) and Derek Zulkoski (outdoor pole vault).
Men’s teams in the league will again be chasing
NWU, which has won 15 of the last 17 indoor conference titles and
17 outdoor league crowns in a row.
“In track and field, we don’t play defense,
so all we can do is control how good we are,” Bulling said.
“We expect to be among the top few men’s teams in the
country, but more than winning, our goals are to have everyone in
our entire program improve and reach his or her potential.”
To see the women’s
and men’s
2006 schedule, click
here.
|
