Ursinsus
The Bears are led by Andrew Mackin, a scorer in the 800m both indoors and out last year. Mackin (1:55.09/4:03) has consistently improved each year at the U and now finds himself a serious threat for a top three finish in the 800m. His improving times in cross country suggest he may also be able to move up to the 15/mile and have increased success as well. Behind Mackin, Ursinsus will look to get contribution from Vinny Flood and Nolan Davis (sub 2 last year) and potentially throw a competitive relay on the track. The strength of this team has usually been the sprints and jumps, but the distance team is starting to make some headway in a loaded conference.
McDaniel
McDaniel is a small team, often overshadowed by the powerhouses within the Centennial Conference. They have had some bad luck (running sub 8:10 in the 4x8 and still ending up second to last in a loaded year), but they have continued to fight and improve. Chris Jones ran 1:56 last year at the Conference Championships outdoors to grab some key points from the Green Terror (excellent team name) and he is back this year to help lead the team. His running mate will be Peter Merkel who has been consistently strong in both Cross Country and Track. He has range from about 2 flat in the 800m all the way up around 27 flat for an 8k.
Muhlenberg
The Mules had a strong showing in Cross Country, overcoming the loss of their 1,2, 5 and 7 from the 2013 Regional squad to finish in almost an identical team position at 15th in the loaded Mideast Region. For indoor track season they trade Jaryd Flank, their national qualifier and head-band wearing stud who wrestles in the winter, for Stephen Sroka and his wide variety of snap chats who is returning from a semester abroad. Sroka ran just north of 4 minutes in the 1500m last year despite various injuries and was a scorer last indoors in the mile (I mean none of the good teams seemed to want 8th, so we took it).
Sroka and his push-ups will be important for the Mules, who find themselves scraping the bottom of the barrel for relay help. Sroka is joined by Josh Elkan (PRs of 4:06/1:59/2:10) who is another strong mid-distance runner with potential to sneak a few points if the conference insists on ignoring spots 7-10 in the individual events once again. It’s questionable whether Elkan will be able to continue to drop time now that his pre-race music routine has been dramatically altered due to graduation, but his 2:08 at Kutztown should give him the confidence he needs.
After these two, the boys in Red and Gray will struggle to fill in the pieces on relays capable of getting them to their usual 6th-7th place finish. Although it didn’t feel like a big loss at the time to lose Jarrett Felix (successfully choked at 9 conference meets in 4 years), Charlie Kline (successfully raced at 9 track meets in 4 years), and Bobby McGetrick (successfully dramatically fell down at 9 meets in 4 years), at least they were bodies to throw on the track. Add in the losses of Muhlenberg’s 4:20 recruits Kieran Newcomb, Alex Weiner and Alex Fox (1400m time), and Berg could be a spot of trouble this year. I mean seriously, Luke Munyan might be on a 4x8.
However, there is hope for the squad. The Mules are led by former Penn Relays Champion Steve Finley who has excelled in his coaching debut. His resume as an elite athlete (he lived with Nick Symmonds, he knows Robby Andrews, he hosted Chris Derrick, I think he steepled fast once before getting injured?) speaks for itself. And he has some strong pieces to work with. Kenny Wohl is coming off a really clutch regional performance and has a 2:01 split to his name (but actually, there is a video and everything). We’ll see if he gets involved in the relays or if the Coaching is still upset with him after two years ago (his 5k two years ago cut things too close with the Millrose Games so the Lafayette-Rider meet had to be shut down). Forrest Bender-Kentwell has run 2:02 in a Mule singlet and his knowledge of PA running alone should get him down another few seconds (wait it doesn’t work like that? Well then what the heck have I been doing with the last 9 years of my life … I’m cancelling LXV). Also be on the lookout for Brandon Tauber. He’s a high jumper at heart, but he always shows up at the conference meet. Throw him on a relay and good things will happen.
On the longer distance side, Luke Munyan leads the Mules after an excellent Cross Country season. After solid performances at 5k last year, he’s could continue the momentum this indoors and drop into the low 15s. What Luke lacks in speed, he makes up for by being short. His confidence is unmatched and his Rick Ross impression is coming along nicely. His catchphrase skills, however, are still highly questionable. The long distance squad will also feature Zach Lifman (PRs of 4:58/:30/not quite as fast as Craig) in a prominent role. He will be chasing the difficult conference standards in the 3k and 5k this season and should gain confidence from his breakthrough cross country season where he overcame the stiff competition and finally made the Mule’s regional team. “Liffman”’s natural lack of foot-speed is overcome by his grit and tenacity. He has decided to dedicate this season to friendfish.
Lastly just want to give a special shout out to my old 400m teammates! Keenan and Jon, I know you guys are reading out there and just wanted to say I miss you guys. I’ll always remember the good times we had together and I’m positive you guys know my last name. Just like Jesse Deffler.
Gettysburg
Haverford, Hopkins and Dickinson dominate most of the headlines for the Centennial Conference. Swarthmore is the hot new team that people are talking about on a regional (and now national) level. Franklin and Marshall is becoming a historic 4x800m school. Etrain went to Muhlenberg. Lost in all that scuffle has been the Bullets of Gettysburg who have produced some incredible marks in the past five years. They had the conference meet 4x8 (7:43ish) record behind an excellent, national caliber athlete in Clay Reynolds, they surprised in the medal race last indoors in the DMR and they were at about 7:55 in the 4x8 last spring (and somehow that got you 6th). They return Jeff Horvath and Ben Taber, the top two finishers from the slow heat at conferences in the 1500m, at 4:02. Matt Brown also comes back, one of the top finishers in the 800m last indoors. Ryan Rausch also appeared to be back and healthy during cross which is a huge addition to their track team. Rausch was the surprise bronze medalist indoors for 800m in 2013 (I blame this moment for my horrible 2013 season). If he can stay healthy, Gettysburg is looking at 4 sub 2 minute 800m runners with excellent 1500m strength.
Franklin & Marshall
The Diplomats have made it clear that their goal is to dominate the 4x800m. They have sent out a loaded squad for the relay the past three indoor championships (might have been three golds if not for a little home track sketchiness last year) as well as last outdoors when they broke Gettysburg’s meet record (7:40.46). The members of that relay are all returning and it seems like F&M is in line for another pair of golds behind the Olengenski twins and Derek Pawlush. That trio (many say they could pass as triplets) are all 1:55-1:53 types at least. They return a couple more sub 2 types in Leo Generali and Phillip Johnson (a finalist last outdoors in the 800m running 1:58). Bryan Andrews has been strong in cross and is a nice long distance piece on a team dominated by the mid-distance. He may able to make some noise in the 5k/10k during his final year at school. However, the focus of this team will always be the 800m and these guys are very good at that event.
Swarthmore
Swarthmore seems to have made a team pact in recent years (and it’s when the 4x4 comes up let’s put down the books and cheer): “We know we can’t beat Haverford or Hopkins in the team standings, so let’s just screw the team standings and load up the relays!” Swarthmore has had guys with real scoring potential in the mile/800m in recent years, but has instead stacked the relays in hopes of grabbing school records and top hardware (I can’t completely blame them for this strategy, I mean what else are you supposed to do in this loaded conference?). After this tactic disappointed indoors, Swat threw down a 7:42 outdoors for second, their big breakthrough as a squad. This year all signs indicate they will continue to leave talented runners like Paul Green, Erick White and Jonas Oppenheimer off the individual entry lists in hopes of the elusive gold in the relays. Green is really talented, running in the mid 3:50s last year for 1500m and Jonas Oppenheimer has been below the 4 minute barrier for almost his entire career. He’s heard the doubters (wherever they are) and he’s determined to prove them wrong. They have their own horde of sub 4 1500m types that have 1:53-1:55 speed and that makes them incredibly dangerous in any relay race. Also it’s worth noting that Pete Carroll is an excellent coach who gets his guys to perform.
That wasn’t a really random sidebar about the Seahawks, that’s Swarthmore’s Coach’s name.
Dickinson
They graduate Ryan Steinbock. I’m still recovering. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t disbanded the team. Long live Bock.
Johns Hopkins
While Hopkins typical is just a bit behind Haverford/Dickinson on the distance side, their track team in general is the best in conference by far. It’s the biggest, deepest and loudest bunch and they win titles. I mean these guys have Stanford meets penciled into the budget. They recruit Footlocker Finalists. They have grad students competing. They are a killer team (not quite sure why they are in our conference, but still). Their best runner, Andrew Carey, is back once again to storm the conference. He focused on just the 800m last indoors (he won and broke the conference record) and then outdoors unleashed a furious 1500m-800m double gold. He then went on to win the NCAA championship at 800m. Carey (I think he may also be a grad student?) has sub 1:50 and maybe even sub 4 minutes in play for this final season. Look out.
Meanwhile, Hopkins has a ton of distance talent to work with in the longer events like the 3k and 5k this indoors including Austin Stecklair, Andrew Cerruzzi and Schaffer Ochstein. They have solid depth at the 800m (ran 7:48 last year without Carey), but it’s unclear how they will try and stack their relays. One thing that I appreciate about Hopkins is they aren’t afraid to load up the individual events when they see point opportunities. Unfortunately, the way other teams save up, this could leave these guys at a slight disadvantage from a relay perspective.
Haverford
The Goats are a legendary program with school records sub 14 minutes in the 5k and sub 4 minutes in the mile. They’ve had individuals who have just dominated conference meets like Tim Schoch, Jordan Schillit and most recently Chris Stadler. Stadler won the national championship in the 5k last year and has since graduated (which is the least of his concerns). The next in line to seize the throne for Haverford is Charlie Marquardt, who has already opened the year with a win at the Armory (in 4:12.14). Last year indoors, he won the mile and had a huge anchor leg on the winning 4x8. This year, he may be asked to do even more if Haverford wants to unseat Hopkins from the top spot on the track. Haverford will also have Dave Roza, a top 5000m runner (14:43 at indoor conferences last year), competing for gold in what has become a surprisingly wide open event with the graduation of Stadler, Bock, Henry Mynatt and others. Freshman Henry Woods has already opened up in 8:44 this indoor season and the Goats also have Sam Fujimori, Joel Christian and Jimmy Gorman who have provided scoring for these guys in the past in the longer distances. Mike Brier, Soren Rasmussen and Chris Gardner will look to help pack a punch in the relays and mid-distance events as well.
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