Gator Men Look to Keep Tradition

Mar 1, 2007

MEADVILLE, Pa. – After a record-setting performance last year in terms of both total number of points and margin of victory, the Allegheny College Gators look to etch their name in the indoor track and field record books with their fifth consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Track and Field Title.

The squad has won the four most recent indoor championships, and has captured six total indoor crowns, tied with Ohio Wesleyan for the highest total. A season ago the Gators led from wire-to-wire, scoring 213 total points, shattering the old record of 180 points by 33, winning the meet by a total of 109 points, breaking that record by 18 points.

“Last year it was glaringly obvious that we were going to have a very good meet, and that we were going to win,” said head track and field coach Bill Ross. “This year it is not that way. With the injuries that we have had, and how other schools have improved their teams, it is going to be a tightly contested event.”

The pressure of repeating and keeping the history does not faze Ross, winner of the last four NCAC Coach of the Year honors in indoor track. “I told the team that our big motto this year is carrying on tradition. I told them that tradition doesn’t necessarily mean winning the conference championship. The tradition is more being in the top three, battling for the championship. There are other traditions, like having at least one person doing the 5k, mile, 3k triple – that is a tradition that we are trying to uphold, along the shot put tradition, having won more shot put titles than any other school. Those types of traditions are what we are trying to hold on to. If we can do those, and do them well, then hopefully we will win. That is more of our focus than keeping a streak alive.”

Despite having the 2006 NCAC Distance Athlete of the Meet Ryan Place (Meshoppen, Pa./Elk Lake) and Matt Hoy (Moon Twp., Pa./Moon) runner-up in the mile run a season ago out with injury, it will be the distance group that will lead the team. Following a third place finish at the NCAA Division III National Cross Country Championships in November, the squad has carried its momentum into the indoor track season, having two competitors in the 800, three in the mile, five in the 3,000 and four more in the 5,000 at this years’ championship.

Senior Ben Mourer (Chicora, Pa./Karns City) and junior Chris Corkins (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) look to continue the aforementioned tradition of the distance triple. Mourer and Corkins are ranked second and third in the 3,000, the former with a time of 8:48.88 and the latter in a time of 8:51.00. Corkins and senior Marco Dozzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) are ranked first and second heading into the 5,000, Corkins in a time of 15:00.04 and Dozzi 15:08.14, the latter of which is nearly 20 seconds ahead of the third place competitor. Teammate Mourer is not far behind, having run a 15:36.87, sixth fastest time in the field. Corkins and Mourer look to finish their triple in the mile, where Corkins is ranked sixth with a time of 4:26.75 and Mourer eighth in a time of 4:29.89.

Garret Piispanen (Fruita, Colo./Fruita Monument) has nearly met the NCAA Division III qualifying time in the 800-meter run, but stands in fourth place heading into the championships, having run a time of 1:56.13 at the Kent State Tune-up on February 13.

Also in an aforementioned event, the shot put looks to be another strong point for the Gators, with Frank Tupta (University Heights, Ohio/Hawken) leading the conference by nearly two and a half feet, while teammates Pat Confer (Bradford, Pa./Bradford) and Devin Cruea (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) each have a season-best throw of 45-1.5, good for a tie of sixth place.

Freshman Josh Brannan (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) is the top competitor heading into the championships in the 200 with a school-record time of 22.76, while sitting in fifth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.71.

Sophomore Joe McMahon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) looks to become the second Gator, and first since Mike Erb accomplished the feat in 1998, to win the league triple jump title. His NCAA Division III provisional qualifying leap of 46-7.75 is ranked in the top ten in the country, and leads the conference by over two feet. He is also ranked second in the league in the long jump with a leap of 21-4.75. Teammate Matt Yurky (Homer City, Pa./Homer Center) is ranked fourth in the triple jump, over a foot ahead of the fifth ranked competitor.

Teammates Erich Wittmer (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and Peter Sotherland (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Central) are seeded in a tie for fifth in the pole vault, each clearing a height of 13-6 during separate meets during the season.

The competition begins on Friday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m. with the men’s triple jump and shot put, and will conclude with the preliminaries in the 200-meter dash. The meet begins again on Saturday in the morning with the high jump and pole vault starting at 10:30 a.m., concluding with the 4x400-meter relay, tentatively set to begin at 5:35 p.m.

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