2007 season preview

January 2, 2007

NORTON, MA- The goal for most sports teams is to win each time they step foot into an athletic arena, but not so for the Wheaton College men's track and field squad, as the Lyons aren't focusing their efforts on winning a regular season meet or even on scoring a certain number of points during a competition. Instead, Wheaton's five-member coaching staff is gearing everything toward the two national championship meets this winter and spring.

"In this sport we have to define what we want to be," said 13th-year head coach Paul Souza. "We can only go to the well so many times. If we try to win each meet, by the end we'll peter out and won't have anything left. What we have to do is get our athletes prepared for good performances at the end of the year with the hopes of getting as many to nationals as possible. We want to put ourselves in position to win a national championship."

Coming off a season that saw Wheaton tie for 22nd at the NCAA indoor meet and fourth at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship, Souza firmly believes this year's 23-member squad, which includes 19 athletes with freshman or sophomore standing, has the potential to be one of the top teams in the nation.

"This is the best men's team we've had," stated Souza. "That's saying something because we've had some great teams and individuals in the past, but this year there is more depth and more talent than ever before. They have an opportunity to really step up into the upper echelon as one of the top four or five teams in the nation."

That type of finish hasn't happened since the 2002 season, when the Lyons completed a banner year with a fourth-place showing at NCAAs during the indoor season and fifth-place standing at outdoors. In 2001, Wheaton took fifth at the indoor championship and seventh during the outdoor competition.

Souza, alongside top assistant Marc Mangiacotti, who is returning for his third season with the Lyons, joins head cross country coach Paul Carr and newcomers Steve Carr and Kathrine Wallace '05 on the coaching staff. Paul Carr is in his eighth season as the school's distance coach, while Steve Carr assumes the role of working with the throwers and vaulters. Wallace, who was an All-America jumper and sprinter at Wheaton, will assist Souza in the jumps.

As the beginning of the season approaches, Souza and his assistants realize this team will only go as far as the development of the young talent takes it. "There's some handholding going on right now, and that's going to continue for a while," added Souza. "Eventually, as we watch the product and as it starts to get better, the athletes start to learn things. At some point, the coaching staff needs to step away and the athletes need to become more self-sufficient. If we do our jobs correctly, they should know what to do, what to expect, and how to handle adversity or things that come up through the course of the competition."

Aside from three seniors and one junior, 10 sophomores and nine freshmen comprise the Wheaton roster. Devoid of captains, the Lyons' senior class consists of Matt Peirce (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional), Thomas Simmons (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) and Mark Tabah (Rolling Hills, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula), while the lone junior is Pat Benson (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan). Benson, who earned all-conference honors in the fall for cross country, and Peirce will handle the distance events, while Simmons and Tabah will concentrate on short sprints and vaults, respectively.

Wheaton's extremely talented sophomore class features three All-Americans from a year ago, as Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington), Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) and Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) return after running the fastest indoor 4x400-meter relay time in the nation during a March meet. Their time of 3:13.31 also set a school record. Individually, Cunha landed All-America honors in the indoor 400M dash in addition to breaking program standards in the outdoor 110- and 400-meter hurdles, while Wright set school marks in each the indoor 55- and 200-meter dashes.

Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield), Kyle Greenidge (Dorchester, MA/Newton North), Scott Hafferkamp (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack), Philip Kiley (Medfield, MA/Medfield), Dan Libon (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro), Donnel Matheson (Brooklyn, NY/Poly Prep Country Day School) and Albi Skenderi (Glendale, NY/Grover Cleveland) complete the sophomore class. Kiley, Matheson and Skenderi are the sprinters of the group, while Greenidge is a long and triple jumper. Dundon is a middle distance runner, and Hafferkamp and Libon will once again assume distance duties.

Souza is anxiously awaiting the season to unfold for this year's first-year class, as the Class of 2010 enters the program with high expectations. Merzudin Ibric (Revere, MA/Phillips Academy), who is originally from Bosnia, is making a strong case to join Cunha, Martinez and Wright on the 4x400-meter relay team. Other sprinters in the mix include All-America high school hurdler Howard Powell (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls), Dana Strom (Salem, MA/Salem), Stephen Wakely (Woodstock, CT/Woodstock Academy) and Calvin Webb (Towson, MD/Towson).

Mark Cimino (Danbury, CT/Danbury), who ran a faster 55-meter time than Wright in high school, will handle short-sprint duties, Benjamin Chont (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley) will have a focus on middle distance, and Andrew Brunhofer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) and Miles Souza (Norton, MA/Saint Sebastian's School) will run the distance events. Souza, who joins his father for the first time on the track, hasn't competed in track due to his school not sponsoring the sport.

Paul Souza summed up the team's youth movement this way: "We can't over-expect with the younger athletes," said Souza. "The point is to get them the college experience. Do I think we'll win the national championship? I don't think so, but if the athletes develop the way I hope they're going to, we can be the favorite to contend for a championship down the road. The talent is there, now we've got to see how the talent develops and how our athletes compete in high-pressure situations."

Wheaton's indoor season begins on January 7 at the Dartmouth College Relays and will conclude at the NCAA Championship on March 9-10 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. In the spring, the NEWMAC Championship is to be held at the United States Coast Guard Academy on April 28, followed by the national championship meet at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh on May 24-26.

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
16-Jan Fri Sorlien Invitational 12:00pm
23-24-Jan Fri-Sat Terrier Classic 11:00am