Jan. 15, 2003

Last season began a new era for track and field at Wake Forest. The program was combined under one coaching staff and the results proved its worth. The 2002 Demon Deacons produced a two-time All-American, 12 NCAA qualifiers, 21 All-ACC selections and nine ACC Champions. This season, led by fourth-year head coach Annie Schweitzer Bennett and associate head coach Gary Sievers, as well as assistants John Williams (Throws), Jill Snyder (Distance), Tom Fish (Sprints) and Mike Bennett (Multi-Events), the fully-stocked Deacs are returning all but three of those performers and have some young talent who are ready to fill in those holes.

With so much individual success that occurred in 2002, Wake Forest plans to build on each athlete's specialties and expand on the team's overall performances.

"My overall expectations for the season are to increase and expand on our individual success that occurred last year," explains coach Bennett. "We had 12 NCAA qualifiers and 21 All-ACC members which in return will lead to higher team finishes at the ACC Championships and more individuals and relay teams at the NCAA Championships. Both teams (men and women) are made up of more underclassmen than upperclassmen. It is really exciting to see their progress both physically and mentally."

Sievers states, "We definitely want to defend all of our titles and get the DMR (distance medley relay) back to the National Championships along with some individual performers. Beyond that, we want to score a higher number of points at the conference meets this year, while qualifying a high number of athletes for the Regional and National Championships."

Even though the indoor and outdoor seasons are back-to-back, each has a different focus. For indoors, the athletes and coaches focus on the strategy of competing in the facilities because the track and equipment are smaller, while outdoors focuses on qualifying athletes for the ACC and NCAA Championships.

"I really like the indoor season because in my eyes it is a very different season than outdoor. Strategy is very important in indoors due to the use of small tracks. Also, how the athletes use the banks and the different surfaces on the track is important, which does not come into play during the outdoor season, " said coach Bennett. "In addition to our normal events indoors, we also have a goal to qualify a Distance Medley Relay team to the National Championships each year. This year we have a new procedure for qualifying for the outdoor national championships, a regional championship. I like the new qualifying system because it gives all our athletes an opportunity to run in the first round of the NCAA Championships. This system works well for cross country. We see the highly motivated athletes rise to the occasion."

The two sides of track and field are returning strong classes, despite their youthfulness. The men will be led by All-ACC selections Mike Altieri, Michael Eskind, Paul Singleton, Nathan Sisco, Alan Susi as well as Garick Hill, who is back after suffering injuries that sidelined him last season. The women are just as deep, with two-time All-American Nikeya Green and All-ACC members Carol Merritt, Jackie Muscente, Shauna Danos and Jamie Grayzer, as well as Anne Bersagel and Jill Kovalcik. Both squads will be extremely competitive in distance, multi-events, jumps and throws.

"Our strengths on both the men's and women's side is the 800m to the 10,000m, plus the multi-events, the long jump and the throwing events," states Bennett. "In addition, on the women's side we have a strong 200m-400m runner and on the men's team there are two strong triple jumpers returning. Both teams are young and we are seeing athletes step up and taking on leadership responsibilities."

Bennett believes that in order to have success as a team, you need not only talented and hard-working athletes, but also a supportive coaching staff.

"An exciting part of our program is the coaches who make up the staff," states Bennett. "Each has an extreme passion for what we do but most importantly a great record of getting the most out of our athletes. Something I am most proud of is that each coach had at least one ACC Champion. We are a strong force."

Both squads are setting their goals high in 2003 and are aiming for conference and national titles. With the new qualifying system set to take place this year, the Demon Deacons will participate in a variety of events in order to qualify as many people as possible for the NCAA Championships. Wake Forest will also be competing on some of the same tracks used for the championships on order to expose the athletes to those surroundings.

"The schedule is always difficult to set. We will participate two different times at Virginia Tech due to the excellent facility. We will also go to North Carolina so we can give our athletes experience on the surface they will compete on for ACC titles," said Bennett. "We will also take a group of athletes to Penn State. It is also a great facility and it gives many of our athletes' families a chance to come up and watch their children compete. Outdoors, we will start at home and then we will divide the team up and go to many place around the country. We will send some athletes to California, Texas and Oregon."

"The schedule will definitely play a very significant part in our plan this year. There is a new qualifying system in place with a regional qualifying meet this year," explains Sievers. "So we will have to change our training program and approach differently than in the past. With everything coming down to the regional meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships we will have to make sure that this meet is the one that we are at our peak performance level."

Following the success of last year and this year's fall cross country season will be a challenge for the Demon Deacons, but the squads are running at full speed towards a national championship.

Distance

With its first ACC Cross Country title captured this fall, the women's distance program is surrounded by excitement and high expectations. All-American Anne Bersagel will be at the head of the distance pack this spring along with All-ACC selection Risa Rutland and underclassmen Danielle Coon, Erin Franklin and Jill Miller. The men's cross country team finished sixth at the ACC Championships and eighth at NCAA regionals, but a group of talented and improved runners, along with All-Regional selection Mike Altieri and the return of Nathan Sisco will give many squads a run for the money this season.

"Both teams are young and we forsee the men capturing the momentum the women have started," stated coach Bennett. "The goal is to have individuals qualify for the national meet in every event from the 800m to the 10,000m."

Middle Distance

Three-time All-American school record-holder Nikeya Green along with four-time ACC Champion Nathan Sisco dominate the field in the middle distance event and are expecting to have repeat showings in 2003. Joining the champions will be Shauna Danos, Jackie Muscente, Theresa Fath and Anna Sherman, who is coming off a breakthrough cross country season, for the women, while Eddie Acosta, Kevin Jones and newcomers Mike Brown and Westin Galloway will compete for the men's side.

Last year's women's Distance Medley Relay (Green, Fath, Muscente and Danos) earned All-ACC status, finishing third at the conference championships. All four runners return for the Demon Deacons and should have consistent performances this spring.

The 2002 men's Distance Medley Relay won the ACC Championship and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Returning for this year from that squad will be Sisco and Paul Singleton, who will be joined by Altieri and Galloway.

When asked about the men's distance squad, Sievers states, "I have very high expectations for the team. We return some very high quality runners who have been All-ACC in the past. Nathan Sisco returns to defend his indoor mile and DMR titles while also dropping his school record in the 1,500. Garick Hill, who red-shirted last year due to injuries, returns to increase his All-ACC totals. Garick was the ACC 10K champion in 2001, while earning ACC honors in the 5K both indoors and outdoors. Paul Singleton, a major player in the school and conference DMR record holder, will try to improve upon his second place finish in the 800 in 2001 as well as running the 800 leg on the DMR once again. Mike Altieri, just off a tremendous cross country season will replace multi All-ACC performer Chris Estwanik on the DMR while also running the 1,500 where he is an All-ACC performer. Behind them we have a group off young runners who we have high expectations for also. Brandon Bartholomew, Chris Elder, Andrew Ice, Kevin Jones, Sean Stevens, Brian Smith, and Brad Wharton provide us a lot of depth from the 1,500 on up. Eddie Acosta returns from injury to bolster the 5/10K group, while newcomers Westin Galloway and Mike Brown are two talented 800 runners who we look to have very promising careers here."

Throws

Hoping to reach new distances this season for Wake Forest are seniors Alan Susi and Tom Tymann and sophomore Jen Leesman. Susi earned All-ACC honors in the javelin throw with a third place at the ACC Championships, while Tymann improved his personal record last season in shot put by almost three feet at ACC Championships with seventh place throw of 52-0.25, the second-best mark in school history. As a freshman, Leesman shattered the school record in the hammer throw and captured a 10th place finish at the ACC Championships.

"I am expecting Tom Tymann to surprise a lot of people in the conference this year. He has had a great fall and is going to have a very solid senior year," explains throws coach Williams. "Jen Leesman has made some good improvements this fall as well. She should be ready for breakthrough in the ACC. We are expecting her to score at the conference meet. Lindsay Neuberger should make a huge impact in the ACC. Our goal is for her to make it to the NCAA Championships as a freshman. That is a very high expectation for a freshman, but she is ready to accept that challenge. On the men's side, Adam Gabrault, Josh Carter and Mike Hauck are all very solid freshmen. They could all step up and score points in the ACC during their first season of competition."

Sprints

All-American Carol Merritt will lead the way in 2003 as the returning ACC Champion in the 400m. Merritt will be joined by Detra Chambers and Geneva Long, who show great promise for the upcoming season.

The men return several experienced athletes in Fabian Davis and Patrick Ladapo, who will be accompanied by Mike Brown and Eric Seely.

"My expectations for this year are very high," said coach Fish. "We return the women's conference champ in the 400m and runner up in the 200m, so we would hope to repeat these performances. It will be very tough as the ACC is one of the toughest conferences in the nation, but we have been practicing very hard and we have accomplished many things this fall. On the women's side we have some high caliber athletes who can compete for conference championships. On the men's side we are a little deeper for conference scoring, so we look to score well at the ACC meets. "We should be strong in a number of events and a good showing at our conference meet, which is what we are looking for right now."

Adds Fish, "Our goals right now are to be extremely competitive in the ACC. We have returning champions and have individuals who scored high in numerous events, so we want to continue to improve on that. We feel that we have people on the team right now who have the ability to be All-Conference, and we have been working very hard to reach those goals."

Jumps

After solid performances last season, the Demon Deacon jumpers are soaring to new heights in 2003. Returning for the men squad this year are Fabian Davis, Luke Orman and Jesse Richert. School record-holder Jill Kovalcik (pole vault), as well as Cassandra Richards and Elizabeth Washam, will be competing for the Deacs this spring.

"Luke Orman is a junior and school record holder in the Long Jump. He was a finalist last year in the indoor conference and we look for him to improve on his place there," explains coach Fish. "He is also compete in High Jumps for us and sprint for us as well. Senior Fabian Davis will Triple Jump, High Jump, Long Jump and sprint for us this year. He was fourth in the conference last year in the Triple Jump and had many solid meets for us in many different areas. He is a tremendous athlete who will help us in many areas of our team this year."

Multi-Events

In the multi-events the Demon Deacon women will be led by Jamie Grayzer and the men by Michael Eskind. These versatile athletes put forth solid performances last year and look to continue the efforts into this season. Eskind earned conference honors in the decathlon with a third place finish, while Grayzer was the ACC Champion in the heptathlon.