2006 season preview

December 22, 2005

NORTON, MA- Youth will be king in 2006 for the Wheaton College men's track and field squad. Twenty-one athletes dot the Lyon roster, including 12 freshmen, and 12th-year head coach Paul Souza hopes the incoming class helps elevate Wheaton to among the top teams in not only the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), but all of Division III.

"We were really undermanned last year," said Souza. "Bringing in some new, fresh legs is really important. I think this is the most talented group we've ever brought in. They're young, and you don't know how they're going to respond in pressure situations, but you hope they're going to respond well."

Marc Mangiacotti, who has helped Souza recruit a good deal of Wheaton's new talent, returns for his second season as the program's top assistant. The coaching staff is rounded out by seventh-year assistants Al Bashian, Paul Carr and Jeff Robbins. As in seasons past, the Lyons will compete chiefly against Division I schools.

Compared to last year's men's squad, which completed the outdoor season with only 14 athletes, Wheaton's 21-man roster will afford the Blue and White enough depth to contend at the conference championship. In the past, the lack in numbers has hindered the Lyons' chances at conference meets. Despite winning six events in 2003, Wheaton placed fifth, and the 1999 Lyons took home nine victories but finished 36 points behind the team champion.

"For us to want to be the conference champions, we'd have to pick a totally different philosophy and just recruit numbers, and the quality of the athletes would go down," stated Souza, the 2002 United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA) National Coach of the Year and six-time USTCA Division III New England Coach of the Year. "But you can win a national championship with nine or 10 guys, if you have really good, high-quality athletes." Souza said Wheaton has the talent to compete with five-time defending NEWMAC champ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) but is in the midst of stocking for depth.

Rounding out the Blue and White roster are two sophomores, two juniors and five seniors, as captains Eric Richardson (East Walpole, MA/Bishop Feehan) and Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) lead the quintet from the Class of 2006. Sisodia, now serving his third term as captain, is the most decorated among the current Lyons. In 2004, Sisodia earned All-America indoor honors for the 400-meter dash and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team, and he has earned a spot on the NEWMAC All-Conference team each of the past three years thanks to top-two finishes in each the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays and the long jump.

"We brought in athletes who have run faster times than Ajay, but they only did it once," explained Souza. "He comes out in practice and routinely beats those guys because he's a more mature runner and understands how to run. He's gotten better each year, in terms of technique and learning the events and how they should be run."

Ryan English (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Regional), Ben Haber (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and Ross Kahill (South Portland, ME/South Portland) complete the senior class, while Matt Peirce (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and Mark Tabah (Rolling Hills, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula) are Wheaton's lone juniors, and Tabah is the Lyons' only vaulter. Sophomores Evan Bell (Newport, ME/Nokomis Regional) and Pat Benson (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) are the remaining returning members. Kahill and Benson helped Wheaton's distance medley relay team to a school mark during the Lyons' final indoor meet last season.

"We have a phenomenally talented freshman class," said Souza. "Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) could very well end up being the best runner in Division III in his event looking down the road." Souza also mentioned Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington), Kyle Greenidge (Dorchester, MA/Newton North) and Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) as possible standout first-year athletes.

Eight of Wheaton's freshmen are from Massachusetts, as Cunha, Greenidge, Scott Clark (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow), Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield), Philip Kiley (Medfield, MA/Medfield), Dan Libon (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro), Charlie Newton (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) and Shannon Smith (Boston, MA/Madison Park Technical Vocational) each call the Bay State home. Donnel Matheson (Brooklyn, NY/Poly Prep Country Day School) and Albi Skenderi (Glendale, NY/Grover Cleveland) provide additional talent to the Class of 2009.

Souza's philosophy regarding freshmen will apply to more athletes this year than in recent seasons. This year's total of 12 freshmen is comparable to the 15 who competed during the last three seasons combined.

"We don't put any heavy expectations on them freshman year, because we want them to learn the system and go through the work," said Souza. "But each year, the expectations get higher. By doing that, we raise the level of expectation of the team, the quality of the type of student-athletes we get and, as a result, we're always able to be competitive because we're dealing with a much higher-caliber athlete."

The Wheaton men open their indoor season on January 8 at the Dartmouth College Relays. This year's NCAA Division III Indoor Championship will be held on March 10-11 at Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. During the spring, the NEWMAC Championship takes place April 29 at MIT before the NCAA Outdoor Championship occurs May 25-27 at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.

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