Men's, Women's Track and Field tabbed as favorites in NCAC Outdoor Pre-Championship Coaches Poll

| 2024 NCAC Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll Release | 2024 NCAC Outdoor Championships Website | 2024 NCAC Outdoor Championships Host Site |

SPRINGFIELD — The Wittenberg men's and women's track and field teams were selected as the favorites heading into the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships based on balloting by the league's head coaches.

The Tiger men received eight first-place votes and 80 points. Wabash was second with one first-place vote and 73 points, and Oberlin was third with 60 points.

The Tiger women were voted as co-favorites, sharing the top spot in the poll with DePauw. Both teams received four first-place votes and 60 points. Ohio Wesleyan was third with 48 points.

Entering the week, the women's team is ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region in the USTFCCCA Rating Index, while the men are No. 11 in the region.

Under the direction of head coach Paris Hilliard, both Wittenberg squads are primed for success at this year's NCAC Outdoor Championships, which begin with the multi events on April 27-28 at Oberlin. The remaining events will be held May 3-4 at Denison.

The Tiger women are seeking their second consecutive NCAC outdoor championship after winning for the first time in program history in 2023, while the men are in search of their fifth overall outdoor title and first since 2002. Both the men's and women's teams won the 2024 NCAC indoor championship.

The Wittenberg women enter the championship meet with 19 student-athletes owning at least one top-eight performance in the NCAC. The reigning Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Year, junior Meghan Frazier (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance), will lead Wittenberg in the sprint events as she claims the top time in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, events she won a season ago. In the 100, Frazier (12.25) is joined by senior Haleigh Willison (Crooksville, Ohio/Crooksvile) (12.46) and junior Zora Shakhan (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) (12.50) to rank first, third and fourth, respectively. In the 200, Frazier leads the pack with a speedy time of 25.36 seconds while Willison, who placed second last year, is No. 3 in the league (25.53) and freshman Jenna Delp (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) is No. 8 (26.28). Additionally, Frazier owns the conference's second-fastest 400-meter dash (57.33), while sophomores Tymeerah De'Armond (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield), the 2023 400-meter champion and 2023 Newcomer of the Year, and Abbey Danne (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut), enter the meet with the fourth- (58.48) and sixth-best (59.81) times. Danne also hopes to score points in the 800-meter run, entering the 2024 meet with the No. 8 time (2:21.91).
 
In the distance events, sophomore Emma Hawk (Marion, Ohio/River Valley) will lead the Tigers as she ranks second in the 10,000- and sixth in the 5,000-meter runs with times of 36:58.51 and 17:54.86, respectively. In the hurdles, junior Reese Neumeyer (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) (15.68) and freshman Haley Troy (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (15.94) own the No. 5 and No. 7 100 times, while Neumeyer holds the No. 5 seed in the 400 (1:07.98).
 
Juniors Taylor Weiss (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) and Julissa Williams (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain), freshman Hallie Haines (Hillsboro, Ohio/Fairfield), and sophomore Ziciah Gibson (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) own four of the league's top eight times in the high jump. Weiss, who placed third last year, and Williams, the 2023 NCAC runner-up, look to make the 2024 podium as they enter the meet with the first- (1.70m) and second- (1.67m) best conference marks. The junior duo is joined in the top eight by Haines (1.50m) and Gibson (1.45m) at No. 6 and No. 8. Gibson will also represent the Tigers in the javelin as she claims the league's fourth-farthest throw this year (33.62m). Three Tigers have marks inside the NCAC's long jump top eight, including Delp at No. 1 (5.45m), Williams at No.3 (5.17m), and freshman Michaela Stroder (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) at No. 8 (4.93m). In the pole vault, sophomore Tiffany Hix (Prospect, Ohio/Elgin) owns the league's top seed with a height of 3.60 meters, while freshman Story Laing (Granville, Ohio/Granville) sits in fifth (3.17m). Hix (11.34m), along with freshman G'Niyah Brown (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne) (10.85m), Weiss (10.68m) and Neumeyer (10.24m) look to score major points in the triple jump as they rank second, third, fifth and eighth in the league standings, respectively.
 
Sophomore Aidan Orth (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) heads into the 2024 NCAC Championships owning three top-six distances in the throwing events. She hopes to podium in the shot put as she is the No. 2 seed (11.89m), while sophomore Emma Doerman (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) ranks No. 7 in the event (11.62m). Additionally, Orth ranks fifth (37.49m) and sixth (41.87m) in the discus and hammer throw, respectively.

The Wittenberg men are led by a mix of veterans returning to the 2024 NCAC Championships as well as a group of talented underclassmen.
 
In the sprints, four athletes are ranked among the conference's best, including freshman Caiden Allen (Ontario, Ohio/Plymouth), sophomore Grayson Ring (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe), junior Cameron Elliott (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) and senior Zeke Bennett (Hilliard, Ohio/Bradley). In the 400-meter dash, Elliott and Bennett, who finished second a year ago, sit atop the league standings with the No. 1 (48.06) and No. 2 (48.10) fastest times, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott also owns the seventh-best time in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.18. Ring and Allen also hope to score points for Wittenberg, as Ring enters the championship with a mark of 22.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash while Allen owns a 10.82 second 100-meter dash time, both of which rank sixth-best in the league this season.
 
In the distance events, junior Conor Kolka (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) looks to score major points for the Tigers as he owns the conference's top time in the 1,500-meter run (3:58.36), 5,000-meter run (14:45.04) and 10,000 meter-run (29:42.25). Kolka, who was the 5,000-meter champion a season ago, is joined by freshman Lukas Rieben (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) among the NCAC's fastest in the event as he claims the league's No. 6 spot (15:13.17). Sophomores Lucas Eisele (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton) and Evan Haemmerle (Avon, Ohio/Avon) join Kolka in the 10,000-meter run with top-five NCAC times, as Eisele ranks No. 3 (31:48.98) and Haemmerle enters the meet at No. 5 (32.51.36). Additionally, freshman Owen Bier (Elyria, Ohio/Midview) looks to make the podium in his debut outdoor season as he enters the meet with the No. 2 time in the 400 hurdles (55.52), while senior Peter Caine (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) enters with the sixth fastest-mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:59.28).
 
In the field events, Wittenberg owns three of the conference's top eight marks in both the discus and the javelin. In the discus, a trio of freshmen, including Jayden McKinster (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) (49.38 meters), Troy Crosby (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) (42.16m), and Zeth Cowin (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) (41.92m) rank first, seventh and eighth, respectively. Cowin hopes to also score points for the Tigers in the hammer throw with a seventh-seeded mark of 44.44 meters. McKinster and freshman Max Martindale (Mason, Ohio/Lakota West) sit inside the NCAC's top eight in the shot put, as McKinster holds the league's No. 6 seed (14.35m) while Martindale ranks No. 8 (14.09m). In the javelin, junior Dominic Cork (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) (47.52m), senior JJ Weisenberger (Collins, Ohio/Western Reserve) (47.03m) and junior Justin Norris (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown Christian) (46.20m) own the league's fifth-, sixth- and seventh-best marks. Weisenberger will also look to earn All-NCAC honors in the long jump, as he owns the third-best leap this season (6.83m). In the high jump, Norris and Ring, who placed third last year, head into the meet ranked No. 1 (2.00m) and No. 3 (1.95m) in league standings. Sophomore Jeremy Watson (Sugar Grove, Ohio/Berne Union), the 2023 pole vault runner-up, hopes to improve on his finish from last season as he is currently ranked second in the conference (4.68m). Within the NCAC standings, Watson is joined by freshman Kane Cissell (LaGrange, Ky./Oldham County), who is tied for sixth in the pole vault (4.10m). Cissell leads Wittenberg in the triple jump with a leap of 13.15 meters to sit in seventh.

2024 NCAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll

2024 NCAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll