<oor track team opens its season this afternoon with the Carleton Singular, contested at the Rec Center. The Knights are heavy favorites in every event.
The squad returns a number of sensational performers from last year, and adds to the mix an extremely talented group of first-years.
Evan Franco ’10 passed up a lucrative pro contract to return for his senior season. Franco finished third in last year’s MIAC indoor championships pole vault with a jump of 4.43 meters, over 14 1⁄2 feet. He and Joe Camarda ’13 make up this year’s vault team.
Michael Sanders ’10 returns to the track after a highly-publicized first collegiate cross country season in the fall. Sanders enjoyed an outstanding year on the grass, but is surely excited to return to his preferred Mondo surface. The Iowa native ran 1:59.32 to place 7th in the 800-meter event at the conference meet a year ago. Rumors have circulated that Sanders may be contemplating a move up to the 1000-meter distance, though the senior captain insists he “will not run the [expletive] fifteen” during outdoor track.
He is joined by the only captain without an All-MIAC citation Chris Marshall ‘10, as well as Kian Flynn ’12, who is from Otis, Oregon.
The distance runners will miss the devastating finishing kick of Colin Sinclair ’11 this term, as he is studying rocks in New Zealand with Ben Parks ’11 and others.
Bobby Davis ’13 will make his collegiate track debut at 1000 meters this afternoon, and will race the mile next weekend. He and Josh Campbell ’12 both ran in the Knights top seven in cross-country.
The sprinters will dearly miss Nick Cesarek ’09, who succumbed to graduation last spring. Expect this group to reload quickly, however, after an impressive showing at last week’s sprint/jump quadrathalon 300-meter race, where Sanders, James Morrissey ’12 and Jordan Butler ’13 all broke 40 seconds.
Also joining the sprinters this year is Julian Childs-Walker ’13, the younger brother of four-time All-American Simone Childs-Walker.
The hurdlers suffered arguably the greatest graduation loss of the team, with mega-star Tom Ballinger receiving his diploma in Physics. However, Ty Martin ’11, Dylan Bothun ’11 and Kyle Burkhart ’10 return from last year’s MIAC championships.
Carleton now has two throwers, as Aaron “Moustache” Maurer ’11 is joined by Satchel Kaplan-Allen ’13.
The Knights also have a strong multi-event group in 2010. Jameson Siegert ’11 is not only funny but also really good at jumping. He looks to have a strong year in the shot put event after lifting lots of heavy cases over winter break.
Dylan Cheever ’13 ran cross country and can somehow also jump 6’5”. This rare combination prompted former decathlete Ricks to have Cheever “play with some stuff.” Cheever would totally own the 1000-meter race at the conference pentathlon.
The Knights will be in action next Saturday at St. Olaf in their first official meet of the season. The MIAC Championships will be held at the Carleton Rec Center 9th weekend.
