One of the newest additions here at Seton Hill University (SHU) is the track and field team.
Led by head coach Tim Creamer, the men have a roster composed of freshmen, cross country runners and football players.
By Ken Burt,
Contributor
One of the newest additions here at Seton Hill University (SHU) is the track and field team.
Led by head coach Tim Creamer, the men have a roster composed of freshmen, cross country runners and football players.
The women also have their share of freshmen, as well as cross country runners and volleyball players.
Creamer said that almost all of the athletes that came from other sports will continue to be dual sport participants.
Executive athletic director and head football coach Chris Snyder discussed how he felt about some of his men running track.
He said that he has no problem with them playing both track and football, because he believes that it will help them to stay in shape, and that they will help contribute to the young track program.
The SHU men’s and women’s track and field teams are off and running in their indoor season, having competed in the Spartan Relays at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Mount Union Open in Mount Union, Ohio.
At this time, the men’s team is unattached, while the women’s events count towards points for the team.
Creamer said that the best events for the women are sprints and mid-distance.
Some of the top performers thus far for the women’s program are senior Nortia Bailey, and freshmen Katy Barker, Andra Sanders and Stephanie Weekley.
On the men’s side, sophomores Matt Wiegand and Mike Poiarkoff, and freshmen Ezra Ancrum and Jess Bradley are becoming vital members for the track team. Sprint events are the best for the men’s team.
For both the men and the women, Creamer said, �The goal is to get better during practice and at meets, and to build a solid foundation for years to come.�
�Everyone’s excited to be a part of the track team, they are excited for the opportunity and they want to win as a first year program,� Creamer said.
Creamer keeps the team unified, even though track is an individual sport for the most part.
�If you�re individuals do well, then the team does well…They want to win,� Creamer said.
Following this season, the main focus will be recruiting. Creamer said that they would like to bring in about 25 women and 10-15 men for next year.
Creamer said that he would like to have four or five people at each event to help them place in each event, and eventually compete for the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) championship.
While the WVIAC has many strong teams, the conference championship has only been won by either West Virginia Wesleyan College or Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU) for the past 13 seasons.
So far the Griffins have 12 commitments for track and field for the women and five for the men. The pipeline for the Griffins� recruiting is Northeastern Ohio, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), and Philadelphia.
�This area is very strong right now for track and field, there’s no reason to look elsewhere�, said Creamer.
Currently, the Griffins have been using Greensburg Central Catholic’s facilities, as well as the McKenna Center to train.
Snyder said that there are no immediate plans to put a track on the campus of SHU anytime soon, but plans will be reevaluated after 2010.
The Griffins have two more indoor meets before heading to Florida for spring break to train.
Then, the outdoor season will begin on March 17, when the Griffins head to WJU.
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