Men's Track & Field Pre-Championship Webcast

Salisbury University has been the dominant team at the Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship every year since the meet was added to the CAC lineup in 2012.  The Sea Gulls have scored at least 150 points in the standings in each of the three years on the way to the title while three different teams have finished second, but none of them hit triple digits in the team standings. 

The Sea Gulls will try to extend the string of titles to four years Saturday at the 2015 Championship at Christopher Newport.

The meet has had an interesting membership dynamic, starting with seven teams in 2012, then dropping to five teams in 2013 and adding a team (CNU) last year.  This year, the CAC championship is back to seven teams with the addition of Penn State Harrisburg to the lineup.

Luke Campbell returns to lead the deep and talented Salisbury lineup.  Campbell is a four-time NCAA champion sprinter and hurdler who has thrilled the crowd on several occasions by bringing Sea Gull relay teams from large deficits to gold medals with his anchor leg performances.

The battle for second place in the team standings will be interesting, as host Christopher Newport tries to fend off challenges from Wesley and York.  In 2014, there was only a 19-point difference from second to fourth place, and those three teams figure to see challenges from Mary Washington, Frostburg State and Penn State Harrisburg.

Here is a brief look at each team heading into the 2015 championship:

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT enters the CAC Indoor Championships hoping to improve upon its second-place finish last year. Led by head coach Tyler Wingard, the Captains boast a pair of competitors who rank among the top-50 nationally in their respective events. Dominique Torres, who qualified for the indoor nationals last year, currently sits among the top-10 in the triple jump, while Daulton Teaford is in the top-30 in the 200. Additionally, the men's DMR team, paced by Teaford, Billy Rabil, Jeff Dover, and Zachary Campbell, set a new school and conference record in the event this winter with a time of 10:21.38.

FROSTBURG STATE heads into the CAC Championships led by seniors Devin Francillon (multi) and Chris Rickell (high jump) and junior JR Lowery (throws).  Francillon is ranked in several events, including 8th in the 400-meter dash (52.68), 9th in the 60m hurdles (8.97), 12th in the high jump (5ft. 8in./1.73m), 11th in the pole vault (11ft. 5.75in./3.50m) and 15th in the long jump (19ft. 9.75in./6.04m). Rickell is currently ranked 3rd in the high jump (6ft. 2.25in./1.89m). Lowery, a Second Team All-CAC honoree in both the shot put and weight throw last year, is ranked 2nd in the weight (51ft. 3.5in./15.63m) and 3rd in the shot (51ft. 5in./15.67m).

MARY WASHINGTON enters the CAC Championship with several top performers looking to push the Eagles to the top of the meet. Senior pole vaulter Nick Judy will look to better his CAC Indoor record and qualify for NCAAs, while a host of competitors such as Glenn Taylor in the sprints and runners Ben Sorensen and Ian Granger have also turned in top finishes this winter.

PENN STATE HARRISBURG is ready for this weekend's CAC Championships and one of the people to watch is Joseph Phifer, who holds the 4^th best CAC time in the 800 meters with a 1:59.59 as well as the 8^th best time in the 400 meter with a 51.92. Another Lion to watch is Josiah Owhe, who holds a top 20 spot in both the 60 meter dash and the long jump.

SALISBURY enters the conference championships with a  strong core of athletes, who are looking to tally the program’s fourth CAC indoor title in as many years.  Four-time national champion Luke Campbell leads the team, currently ranking first in the conference in three events.  His 200- and 400-meter dash times of 22.38 seconds and 49.41 seconds, along with a 8.05-second time in the 60-meter hurdles, all at the Vince Brown Invitational, lead the league.  Senior Thomas Burke and sophomore Zack White both have top-ranked finishes in two events.  Burke tallied a time of 1:55.19 in the 800-meter run and a 4:21.48 in the one-mile run to lead the conference.  White leads in two jumps with a 21’ 10.75” leap in the long jump and a 45’ 4.5” effort in the triple jump.  The Sea Gulls also hold the top spot in the high jump, as junior Xavier Stinson’s 6’ 6.75” height leads the CAC by more than two inches.  The throws offer another strength for the Gulls, as senior Ryan DiPascale ranks first in the shot put (52’ 7.5”) and senior Dylan Burkett ranks first in the weight throw (52’ 10”).

WESLEY once again will look to the sprints in hopes to improve from last year’s third place performance.  Sophomores Dajahn Lowery and Patrick Schlosser are the top two seeds in the 60m Dash after earning All-America honors in the 4x100m Relay last spring while Schlosser and freshman Vicco Bedell are among the leaders in the 400m Dash.  All-American hurdler Matt Bundy also returns in hopes to challenge for the crown in the 60m hurdles while freshman Urgy Eado is the Wolverines best hope to challenege in the middle-distance races.  In the field events, De’Vaughn Trader is second in the CAC in the long jump while Robert Wiggs jumped for the first time in two years last week and is now fully recovered.  Trader should also be a factor in the triple jump, as will freshman Brandon Hunter while James Okike is quickly improving in his first-ever track season in the high jump.  On the throws side, Ryan Shilling, Antwan Ellerbe and Isaiah Ingram could also generate some key points for the Wolverines.

YORK head coach Stephen LoBianco is looking for the Spartans to improve on their fourth place finish from last year. He will lean on a trio of pole vaulters to earn big points for York while sprinter Darnell Tillman has been fantastic so far in the indoor campaign. The pole vault trio of Drew Chowhan, Kevin Landis and Darris Rodrigues are all ranked in the top four of the CAC during the season. The Spartan distance crew of Michael Stetson, Ryan Aug, Grant Dell, and Andy MacGibbon give LoBianco the flexibly to score points in various distance events.