Dec. 10, 2004
MEN'S TRACK & FIELD OUTLOOK
Saint Joseph's track team has always been strong in the sprints, however the Hawks graduated a core of that talent last year, losing two key members of the school record holding 4x400m relay team, Nick Carras and Jerry Puryear. Coach Glavin will be looking to senior track co-captain Doug Rick and junior Andrew Thomas to step up and lead the sprinters by both talent and example.
Co-captain Rick had an impressive 2004 placing fourth in the indoor 500m at the ICAAAA Championships with a time of 1:02.05, which broke the previous school record (also broken that day by teammate Thomas). Rick also ran the fastest outdoor quarter in a relay leg at 46.7 two years ago and was a member of the school record breaking 4x400m relay team. Coach Glavin will no doubt be looking to Rick to help rebuild a strong sprint team.
Along with Rick, junior Andrew Thomas will be called upon to lend his talent to the sprint group. Thomas holds the school records in both the outdoor 400m (46.85) and indoor 500m (1:01.98). He also placed 2nd in the 500m at the indoor IC4A Championships and ran a 152.8 to win the conference title in the outdoor 800m, running both IC4A and NCAA qualifying times.
Glavin returns a strong core of mid-distance runners, lead by senior co-captain Brad Schmidt. Schmidt has consistently performed well in the 800m and 1500m. Glavin will look to Schmidt to be a top player at the Atlantic 10 Championships and a strong member of relay teams. Saint Joseph's also looks forward to the return of sophomore Matt Petrocci and juniors Rich Anderson and Mike DiDio to the mid-distance group. Coach Glavin will be counting on these runners to represent the Hawks in the 800m/1000m/1500m events and improve their performances from last season.
A talented group of returning distance runners will definitely be the Hawks strength this year. Senior co-captain Collin Martin will be looking to leave his mark in one of the most difficult events, the steeplechase. After running an impressive second place at the outdoor Atlantic 10's last year, Martin will be looking to compete for the title this year. Martin will also be out to defend his outdoor 5000m conference title, in which he posted both IC4A and NCAA qualifying times. Junior Andre Laboy will lend his talents to the 3000m/5000m/1000m events. The school record holder in the indoor 3000m, Laboy hopes to repeat his All-Conference honors and better his IC4A performances. Coach Glavin will also look to Junior Dave Masse and freshman Teddy Meyers to step up and be top performers at the conference championships.
A talented group of freshmen will also be joining the Hawks this year. Sprinters Bobby Staten and Quenton Boyer will lend a hand in the short sprints, while Rich Ryan will assist in the mid-distance and Will Rowland in the distance events.
Coach Glavin in confident his team will be in the hunt for top positions in the both the indoor and outdoor conference championships. With the leadership, talent and experience his team possesses, the Hawks are definitely going to be a tough contender in the Atlantic 10 this year.
