2005 Men's Track & Field Outlook

2005 Men’s Track and Field Outlook

The University of Southern Indiana men’s track and field team heads into 2005 with a focus on the indoor season.

Head Coach Mike Hillyard will have senior Doug Schwartz for the indoor season only and will red-shirt juniors Jesse Davis and Will Siemers during the outdoor season to even out their eligibility for the 2006 season as both are seniors in outdoor track.

After a successful outdoor season last spring, Davis and Schwartz will lead the Screaming Eagles during the indoor campaign. The two competed at the NCAA II Outdoor Championships in 2004 and are looking for their first trips to the NCAA II Indoor Championships in 2005.

Davis, who already has competed in 2005, posting a time of one minute, 56.45 seconds in the 800 meters at the Hoosier Open, will be a contender for league championships and NCAA II qualifying times in the 800 meters and the mile. He also will run either the 800 or 1,200-meter leg of USI’s distance medley relay (DMR) team.

Schwartz will anchor the DMR this season and will be in the hunt for league titles and NCAA II qualifying times in the mile and 5,000 meters. He posted provisional qualifying times in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters during the outdoor season last spring and finished first in the 5,000 meters at the GLVC Outdoor Championships.

Siemers was third in the 5,000 meters at the GLVC Indoor Championships last season and is expected to compete for a conference title in the same event this year.

With Davis and Schwartz in hand, Hillyard will look to junior Jake England to run either the 800 or 1,200-meter leg of USI’s DMR. England, USI’s most improved runner over the winter break, also will compete in the mile where he will be looking for his first NCAA II provisional qualifying time.

Hillyard expects freshman Justin Thomas to be among the top 5,000-meter/10,000-meter runners in the GLVC and will look to sophomore Rob Garwood, junior Zach Toothman, and senior David Tyler to provide depth to USI’s distance squads.

Garwood and Toothman may be red-shirted during the outdoor season to even out their eligibility. Garwood is a junior in outdoor track, while Toothman is a senior in outdoor track.

To complete USI’s DMR, which will compete for a league title and a spot in the NCAA II Indoor Championships, Hillyard will have plenty of options to choose from as the Eagles will have its deepest sprint squad in school history.

The sprint squad is anchored by senior Tom Cunningham and junior Tim Bill. Cunningham posted USI’s fastest time in the 400 meters a year ago, while Bill posted USI’s fastest 200-meter time last spring. Both competed on USI’s DMR last season, with Cunningham running the 400-meter leg on the school record-setting team at the Tiger Invitational and Bill running the 400-meter leg on the team that finished second at the GLVC Indoor Championships.

Sophomore Bryan Croce was USI’s top performer in the 100 meters and finished fourth in the finals of the 100 meters at the GLVC Outdoor Championships.

Junior Brad Orndorff returns to run hurdles for the Eagles after red-shirting in 2004. Orndorff finished fourth at the GLVC Outdoor Championships in the 110-meter hurdles as a sophomore in 2003.

USI’s fielders will be led by sophomore shot-putter Luke Keller, who should be a scorer for the Eagles at the GLVC Championships. Keller holds the school record in the shot put and finished eighth at the league outdoor championships last spring.

Sophomore Marcus Clark, who is a freshman in outdoor track and field, figures to be among top high jumpers in the GLVC. He finished sixth at the GLVC Indoor Championships as freshman last season, recording a school-record jump of six feet, 0.5 inches. He has a personal-best jump of six feet, six inches.

Hillyard will look to freshman Scott Forbey to score for the Eagles in the pole vault and added depth to the high jump. Forbey has personal-bests in the pole vault and high jump of 15 feet, nine inches and six feet, four inches, respectively.

USI will open the indoor season January 22 at the Rose-Hulman Quad. The Eagles, who will compete in six meets during the regular season, will compete at the GLVC Indoor Championships February 26 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The NCAA II Indoor Championships are March 11-12 in Boston, Massachusetts.

USI will open its outdoor season March 26 at the Spring Classic in Carbondale, Illinois. That will be the first of eight regular-season meets for the Eagles.

The GLVC Outdoor Championships are slated for May 6-7 in Romeoville, Illinois, with the NCAA II Outdoor Championships scheduled for May 26-28 in Abilene, Texas.

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