Tina Valerius
The Wittenberg men's and women's indoor track and field teams
open up the 2005 season with a meet at Marietta College on
Saturday. It will be the first competition for a team now missing
many of its top performers from recent years but still with high
expectations.
The men's team is coping with the graduation losses of Skip Ivery,
one of just three NCAA track champions in Wittenberg history, and
Tim Gaal, a three-time national qualifier and a two-time North
Coast Athletic Conference Field Events Athlete of the Year, among
several other personnel departures. The women's team is without
graduated Geri Woessner, an all-conference performer in three
sports during her Wittenberg career and the school and NCAC
record-holder in the heptathlon, and middle distance specialist
Kelly Zilli, who holds several school records and reached the NCAA
Division III Outdoor Championships in the 800 meters a year
ago.
All that said, the cupboard, as always, is hardly bare. With about
a dozen returning letterwinners among both the men and women, both
teams have high hopes they will once again be in the mix for the
conference championships - indoor in early March and outdoor in
early May.
The Tiger men are led in 2005 by senior Joe Rumschlag
(Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian), an all-conference
performer in each of his first three seasons in the Red & White
and also a standout wide receiver for the football team last fall.
Already the owner of several school records, Rumschlag will be a
factor in the decathlon, sprints and jumping events, and he is
aiming for his first berth in the NCAA Division III meet.
In the sprints, Rumschlag will have plenty of quality company,
starting with a pair of returners in sophomore Gregg Carter
(Wellsville, Ohio/Wellsville) and junior David
Bazzel (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe). Among the most
prominent newcomers are senior LaMarr Lewis (Trotwood,
Ohio/Madison), who has battled injuries in his career but
appears healthy and ready to go in 2005, and freshman Sean
Gouch (Columbus, Ohio/Mifflin).
In the hurdles, junior Tom Smith (Hudson,
Ohio/Hudson) is the lone accomplished returnee. Among the
athletes expected to excel in this discipline are senior
Greer Illingworth (Irvine, Calif./University) and
freshman Bobby Mansour (Mantua,
Ohio/Crestwood).
In the jumps, Rumschlag, Carter and sophomore Tim Lovett
(Jeffersonville, Ohio/Miami Trace) are the holdovers. They
will be joined by freshmen Aaron Robinson (Monroeville,
Ohio/Monroeville), David Emrath (Lloyd, Ky./Elsmere) and
D.J. Hlovchiec (Loveland, Ohio/Moeller), all of
whom excelled in high school and have established marks that should
translate well to the next level. In addition, junior Chad
Kresser (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) will be involved in a
variety of events for the Tigers and is expected to be a factor in
the conference decathlon chase.
The throwing events will feature sophomore Andy Karcher
(Oceola, Ohio/Bucyrus Wynford), junior Thomas
Dillingham (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) and sophomore
Glenn Taylor (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg).
Karcher and Dillingham both lettered a year ago.
Finally, a strong group of freshmen are making the transition from
cross country to track in 2005, and hopes are high that their
dedication will pay off in the form of strong finishes. Leading the
way is Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North), the
team's top cross country finisher all fall. He is joined by fellow
first-year students David Wallingford (Bellevue,
Ohio/Bellevue), Shawn Hils (Hiram,
Ohio/Crestwood), Mike Wismer (Avon,
Ohio/Avon), Darren Stough (Frazeyburg, Ohio/River
View) and Jon Dewald (Mansfield,
Ohio/Senior), while junior Bill Childers (Lebanon,
Ohio/Lebanon) is also in the mix this year.
On the women's side, the returning athletes aren't quite as
accomplished, but there is plenty of potential, starting with
senior Tina Valerius (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre
Dame) and sophomore Jessica McClish (Shelby,
Ohio/Shelby), both of whom compete in sprints, hurdles and
jumping events, and junior Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall,
Mich./Reeths-Puffer), who hopes to pick up where Zilli
left off in the middle distance events.
Freshmen Nicole Bailey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country
Day) and Chastity Sandridge (Euclid,
Ohio/Euclid) come in with high expectations in the sprints
and hurdles. Bailey and freshman Michelle Kyle (Ashland,
Ohio/Ashland) are expected to also make an impact in
jumps.
In the throwing events, sophomore Lisa Nicholls (North
Bend, Ore./North Bend) earned All-NCAC honors a year ago
and hopes to improve upon her marks this year. Junior
Michele Gardner (Bellevue, Ohio/Norwalk St. Paul),
who lettered as a freshman, and first-year students Allison
Walker (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and
Jennifer Graff (Middletown, Ohio/Madison) also
will be counted on for production in 2005.
Rounding things out, the Tigers have a mix of experience and youth
in the middle distance and distance events. Finklestein will be
joined by sophomores Sarah Yehle (West Lafayette, Ind./West
Lafayette) and Meredith Deitsch (Edgerton,
Ohio/Edgerton) and freshmen Alissa Goble
(Sunfield, Mich./Lakewood) and Mary Beth Lintz
(Englewood, Ohio/Northmont). Lintz led the Tigers in all
but one cross country event during the fall, and Goble was close on
her heels.
Next: 1/22 at Marietta