The Men and Women's Track and Field Teams will open up their season at the Dickinson Holiday Meet next weekend.
With the largest team ever (78 combined, 45 men and 33 women) both Men and Women are looking to improve over last year's finish and make big strides in the conference standings. Hopkins' regular season schedule is packed with competitive meets to prepare them for the Centennial Conference Championships, which will be held on February 28th and 29th.
Last year, the men finished in sixth place while the women were eighth.
"This team has the heart and character to make the big leap we have been hoping for," said Van Allen. "Although we're still a very young team, our entire sprint corps is comprised of almost all freshman and sophomores, I think we will be ready to peak and surprise a lot of teams this year."
On the women's side, there are some standouts that will carry the team. Defending Conference Champion sophomore Ilolochika Emuh will look to defend her title in the 55-meter hurdles as well as qualify for NCAA championships. Emuh will play a big role at conferences, both in her hurdles race as well as in the relays. Last year, Emuh was less than a tenth of a second from qualifying for NCAAs.
Sophomore teammate Joanna Cohen will also look to score big at the Centennial Championships. Cohen finished fourth in the long jump and eighth in the 55-meter dash in 2003. Cohen and Emuh will be helped by senior Megan Clarke, sophomore Nancy Yu and freshman Kacey White to form the relay team.
"Sophomore Hannah Bracken is looking to score in the 400-meter as well as be one of our stronger legs in the 4x400 meter [relay]," said Van Allen.
Sophomore Katie Finnigan, a transfer from the University of Oregon, should fill a void in the triple and high jumps.
In the field events, Hopkins should field one of the best teams in the conference. Junior co-captain Andrea King should easily win the shot put event in the conference. King will have help in the event from a pair of promising freshmen: Nana Forson and Asha Cooke. Carr has also been a consistent scorer in the pole vault and Van Allen is hopeful he will see her break the 10-foot milestone by season's end.
On the distance side, Hopkins' strength will be in its relays, the 4x800 meter and distance medley relay both look to be in the top four in the conference. Coming off a strong cross country season, senior Aline Bernard looks to score in the 5k and 10k races while senior Anna Stirgwolt will compete in the steeplechase as well as the 3k. Both hope to earn points in the conference.
The Centennial Conference is one of the strongest Women's Track and Field conferences in the nation, especially on the distance side, but with "our versatile team we should be able to cover all of the events well," said Van Allen.
On the men's side senior Alex Gochal, sophomore Shane Olaley and freshmen Scott Hoffmann and Brian Giglio are ready to pull off something that's never been done in this conference: beat Haverford in the 4x800 meter. The Fords are a leading contender in the Centennial Conference. The men also have hopes of breaking the conference meet record in their relay event.
Sophomores Tai Kobayashi and Nick Culbertson and freshman Matt Smith all could contend for the conference title in the high jump. Kobayashi looks to improve upon his 8th place finish in the hurdles last year, as well as play a key role on the 4x400 meter relay team.
Sophomores Aaron Landgraf and Sean Morgan, in addition to freshman James Tang and Tim Pruiett, plan to mark their mark in the sprints. Pruiett, in addition to placing well in the hurdles, should be able to place in the triple jump. Fellow jumpers senior Ben Stopper and junior Mike Shumski plan to contend in the long jump and triple jump respectively. The pole vaulters, made up of freshman John Criezis, junior Pete Dixon and sophomore Ted Esborn, are all looking for big improvements this year.
Van Allen is in his fifth year as head coach. He has been a member of the Hopkins coaching staff since January 1999. During his first three years at Hopkins, Van Allen coached 6 individuals to NCAA qualifying standards.
