2004 preview

January 10, 2004

NORTON, MA- Hidden in the shadows of the national champion women's track and field program, the Wheaton College men's team has boasted quite an impressive track record over the last four seasons. The Lyons have placed among the top six teams in the nation in the indoor season three of the last four years, including bringing home hardware with a fourth-place standing in 2002, and have fared equally as well during the outdoor season, finishing among the top eight teams three times since 2000.

Entering the 2004 campaigns, Wheaton again has the opportunity to return to the national stage with high expectations. Head coach Paul Souza, who has built the Wheaton track and field program from the ground floor up and currently in his 10th year at the helm, will rely heavily on his upperclassmen to take the lead. "Our upperclassmen will need to provide the necessary leadership in order for us to be successful," said Souza. "We have the talent to be a player on the national level, but what we need to become is tougher. If we don't have the mental toughness, we'll be a blip on the screen."

With another solid recruiting class in place, the Lyons will look to their underclassmen for added depth. With only three seniors on the 20-member roster combined with a fleet of young and promising athletes that includes 11 freshmen and sophomores, Wheaton will have to rely on each individual doing what they're suppose to be doing in order to be successful in this sport.

Acknowledging that depth is a concern this season, Souza remains optimistic about this team's potential. "We fully understand the makeup of this team," stated the assistant coach for the 2004 United States World Indoor Track and Field team. "It's simply a matter of execution and going out each and every day and putting in the necessary work in order to put this team in position to win."

After a pair of outstanding performances at the national meets in 2002 in which the Lyons placed fourth and fifth, respectively in the indoor and outdoor championships, Wheaton found 2003 to be somewhat of a struggle, as the Lyons dropped out of the top eight programs at both meets. Souza firmly believes his team can return to national prominence, as he is placing a great deal of emphasis on this season when looking at the future of the program.

"This year is the defining moment of the program," added the 2002 United States Track Coaches Association's (USTCA) National Coach of the Year. "It is easy to win when things are going well, but the mark of a true champion is how well a team responds to the face of adversity." If history proves to be a strong indicator for the future, then the Lyons should be in control of their own destiny come championship time. History has been on Wheaton's side of late, as Souza has already witnessed several outstanding individual performances over a nine-year span on both the men's and women's teams, including over 50 national champions, 160 All-America athletes and 200 NCAA national meet qualifiers.

Souza is joined by assistant coaches Paul Carr, who is also the head men's and women's cross country coach at Wheaton, Al Bashian and Jeff Robbins, as the trio will provide their expertise to the team's distance runners, throwers and vaulters. Competing against several Division I programs once again this winter and spring, the Lyons are scheduled for meets at Harvard, Boston University, the Reggie Lewis Center and at the University of Pennsylvania for the prestigious Penn Relays. Sprints, jumps and distance should be the strengths of the program this season, led by senior captains Erik Benson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) and Terry Panetta (Hicksville, NY/St. Anthony's).

A three-time NCAA All-America athlete in the 400-meter dash, Benson currently holds school records in the indoor 200-and 400-meter dashes and is also a part of the record-holding indoor distance medley relay team. Panetta, who will look to qualify for the national competition in the 1,500-meter run, owns the Wheaton mark in the indoor 1,500M and is also a member of the distance medley relay team.

In addition to Benson and Panetta, other national players to watch include juniors Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy), Stan Pyle (South Portland, ME/South Portland) and Adam Walker (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), sophomore Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) and freshmen Ryan Fitzgerald (Newport, RI/Rogers), Jonathan Geffrard (Brooklyn, NY/Poly Prep CDS) and Thomas Simmons (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford).

Olson is a three-time national champion in the high jump, while Pyle, who became Wheaton's first male cross country NCAA All-America athlete in the fall, holds school records in the indoor and outdoor 5,000-meter run in addition to the indoor 3,000-meter run and distance medley relay team with Benson and Panetta. Walker and Sisodia, both of whom earned New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) honors in the outdoor 4x400-meter relay in 2003, will look to reach the national qualifying standard this season in the 400M and 4x400M events. One of four captains on the team, Sisodia will also compete in the 55-meter dash. The trio of first-year athletes features a New England shot put champion in Fitzgerald, an All-America sprinter in Geffrard and a state pole vault champion in Simmons.

Completing the returning core is senior Peter Cahalane (North Andover, MA/St. John's Prep), junior captain Patrick Freytag (Pittsford, NY/McQuaid Jesuit), juniors Jamaal Rawls-Payton (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) and Chris Wilbur (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) and sophomores Ryan English (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern), Ross Kahill (South Portland, ME/South Portland) and Eric Richardson (Walpole, MA/Bishop Feehan).

Rounding out the list of newcomers include sophomore Ben Haber (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) and first-year athletes John Dunn (Little Compton, RI), Matt Peirce (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) and Mark Tabah (Rolling Hills, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula).

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
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News Headlines.

Wheaton reorganizes track and field staff, Souza and Mangiacotti named co-head coaches (more)

Three Wheaton track and field athletes earn national academic honors, both men's and women's squads draw accolades from USTFCCCA (more)

Track teams finish competition at two-day NCAA Championship, Powell notches first indoor All-America showing in 55M hurdles (more)

Upcoming Schedule

11-Jan Sun Dartmouth Relays 9:00am
17-Jan Sat Sorlien Invitational 12:00pm
23-24-Jan Fri-Sat Terrier Classic 11:00am