2009 Men’s Season Outlook

The 2009 Track and Field season will kick off the Cardinals on January 17th at the Marietta Indoor Open. The Cardinals enter this season with high expectations and targets on their backs, as they are the two time defending WVIAC Champions. While this year’s team returns several athletes from last year’s squad, they also lost a large number of points with the departure of a few key seniors. However, a very strong freshman recruiting class should fill those lost points. The youthful Cardinal squad will look to duplicate the last two seasons and win a third consecutive team title.

The 2009 squad will be lead by Senior speedster Andre Walcott (Trinidad & Tobago) who was a two event national qualifier in the 2008 season. Walcott leads a group of  young sprinters who will look to set the track on fire during the 2009 season. Along with Walcott the Cardinals will utilize the speed of Junior Jason Forrester who was also a national qualifier last season. Incoming freshmen sensations of Wes Eades (Brideport, WV) and Mike Little (Waldorf. MD) should make instant impacts on the Cardinals program. Both have the potential to be national qualifiers as freshmen and should fill the remaining spots on the Cardinals 4 x 100 meter relay. Other freshmen standouts expected to make instant impacts include sprints and jumps twins Brandon and Travis McKinley (Wheeling, WV).

In the field events the Cardinals will have several opportunities to score points with returning standouts Quinn Law (Morgantown, WV) and Cameron Lee (Hampshire, WV). Also expected to score for the Cardinals will be freshmen Craig Neiswanger (Beallsville, OH).  In the throws sophomores Steven Yurko (Warsaw, OH) and Daniel Smider (South Park, PA) will look to score well for the Cardinals.

The Cardinal mid-distance and distance runners will be lead by 2008 WVIAC freshman of the year and 5,000 meter champion Dustin Hall (St. Marys, WV). Seeking national qualifying marks and WVIAC titles will be Junior David Bowman (St. Clairsville, OH) and Sophomore Travis Hamrick (Fairmont, WV). Also looking to help the Cardinals to another WVIAC title will be Sophomore Chad Henson (Williamstown, WV) and Freshman standout, Stu Jones (Weirton, WV).