Senior Pat Springs will look to etch her name in the Charlotte record books in the jumping pit this season after having a sensational 2007-08 season. |
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Charlotte Looks to Build On Recent Success in 2008-09 season.
Nov. 26, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - Recent years have seen the Charlotte 49ers Track and Field team reach new heights by earning a combined 75% of all of the conference team titles since joining the Atlantic 10. The Niner men and women will look to continue to lead the way in the conference this season while also looking to establish themselves as a powerful force in the region and at the national level.
2008-09 Women's Preview
Field Events
In the field events for the 49er women, Pat Springs will be looked upon to be the top scorer after a sensational 2007-08 season. Springs will look to focus upon the long jump and may contribute to the 4x100 meter relay.
Springs will be looked upon to anchor down the women's jumps along with last year's top high and triple jumper Danielle Brown, senior Sara Fox, sophomore Savannah Slate, junior Rebecca Dellinger and local newcomers Mercedes Barnett from nearby West Charlotte High and Marisa Dickey from J.M. Robinson. Sprinter Chalonda Silver will also contribute in the horizontal jumps.
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In the pole vault, the Niners return a trio of vaulters who have half of the school's top eight all-time performances in the event. In the vaulting pit, sophomore Makenzie Mullinax returns to anchor the load for Charlotte following her team-best performance of 10'6" last year at the 49er Classic.
Mullinax will get plenty of help from senior Shannon Garzoni and junior Megan Boivin who form a trio of vaulters who have already left their mark on the 49er record books. Sophomores Anna Malone and Nicole Wilson also join the mix and look to help the Niners score big points in the pole vault.
Charlotte's throwing events have taken a huge turn in the right direction this season with the hiring of Kevin Fitzpatrick to a full-time post in charge of the throwing events.
Under Fitzpatrick's tutilege, the throwers will be looked upon to begin to take a big step forward during the 2008-09 campaign as they return a lot of youth to the event area.
In the throwing events, Charlotte doesn't have a single upperclassmen athlete and will be led by returner Lindsey Pate who set the school record last season in the discus.
Pate will be challenged very quickly as highly touted Canadian recruit Caitlin van Dodewaard joins the fray after being one of the top junior discus throwers from the country to our north.
Pate and van Dodewaard will be joined by returners Sharonda Bailey and Katie Roberts to go with newcomer Shana-Ann Caballes from Winston-Salem. Finally in the combined events, Coach Olesen believes the Niners could be as strong as ever with a group of four women who could compete very well at the conference level.
Kali Falvo and Fox will look to use their experience in mentoring a pair of sophomore transfer Barbara Below. Below comes to the Niners from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Dickey will also combine her jumping duties to take part in the heptathlon.
Sprints, Hurdles and Relays
A changing of the guard in the sprints, hurdles and relays program took place over the summer with long time mentor Tim Hall leaving the Charlotte program to head to Clemson.
New events coach Timothy Vaught brings with him a plethora of experience and a work ethic that is similar to that of Hall's which produced a variety of top notch athletes.
In recent years, the 49ers sprint team has been the poster child of the Niners program, and for good reason.
If the names Courtney Patterson and Shareese Woods don't ring a bell, this year Lamarra Currie will be the top gun in the sprints program.
Currie is the next in a laundry list of national caliber 49er sprinters and will look to make a tremendous mark on the 49er history books during her final year in the Queen City. Currie already finds herself in the school-record books in the 4x100 meter and 4x200 meter events and now has her sights set on the school individual records.
Charlotte will get a huge boost from the likes of reigning A-10 Women's Rookie of the Year Ebonie Cunningham, junior Olivia Brown and sophomores Kortnie Coleman and Yvonna Hines.
That group of four talented athletes is expected to put together a rock solid 4x400 meter relay team that should compete at the regional and national level.
Olesen notes that his group of 400 meter runners could score five runners at the conference meet, but can only enter three competitors in each event.
Chalonda Silver joins the Charlotte squad with high expectations after spending last two seasons at East Carolina.
Toree Roseboro will also look to make an impact in the sprints events and will be joined by talented newcomer Sirrell Butler.
In the hurdle events, Sunita Brathwaite returns to lead the way following a sophomore season which saw her break three school records during the indoor and outdoor seasons and was named the outdoor conference champion 100 meter hurdles.
Brathwaite will be aided by returners Tacara Morrisey, who was the 2008 Indoor 55m hurdle champion and Charlotte's top 400 meter intermediate hurdler from a season ago, Shanice Jones, along with another East Carolina transfer in Lanaire Lindo.
Newcomer Ashley Bethune comes to the Queen City as a state champion hurdler in the 55 meter event.
Jalila Guy, Koree Roseboro, Kristin Urquhart and Cecily Young will also look to boost an already sensational hurdling crew.
Finally, the 4x100 meter relay which helped put the 49ers on the national radar, will be looked upon to be exceptionally impressive yet again and is expected to make its third trip in a row to nationals.
Distance
Back to lead the way for the 49er women's distance unit is senior standout Aja Jackson. Jackson is the record holder in the 800 meter dash and was named the 2008 Atlantic 10 Indoor Performer of the Year.
Jackson will be pushed along by a very gifted group of sophomores, led by Amanda Goetschius and Keara Thomas.
Goetschius has been one of the top performers during the 2008 cross country campaign and the staff hopes that she will flirt with national championship qualifications this season.
Joining Jackson in the senior class is Liana Blue who was the top 3,000 and 10,000 meter runner last season and Charlotte native Erin Macauley.
Charlotte's junior class boasts the likes of Tricia Brown, Stephanie Snyder, Lana Soltan and Justine Thompson while the sophomore class is anchored down by Kelsey Conroy, Christina Hobbs, Lindsey Keller, Laura McCary, Nicole Quagliana and Jackie Ross.
With youth being the message, one would expect that an enormous amount of freshman would pepper the roster and that will be the case for Charlotte with three newcomers joining the fray.
The talented class of 2012 is led by Kristin Mitchell, Janet Barry and Emily Harris. Barry and Mitchell have made some tremendous progress during the cross country season and will be looked upon to help carry the load in the longer events during the lengthy track campaign.
2008-09 Men's Preview
Field Events
In the field events, the addition of Kevin Fitzpatrick to the mix will bode well for the throwing events, while the jumps will look to help out as the men's field events begin to see an ever increasing scoring role.
In terms of the horizontal jumps, Ryan Thompson will be looked upon for an increase in production as he just missed the regional qualification mark a season ago in the triple jump.
Another big time player in the jumping events will be Jake Wainright who returns after a solid freshman year which saw him lead the team in the high jump.
Depth will be a key for the Niners as they return all of their top performers from a year ago.
Tavaris Leak returns to the mix in the long jump after qualifying for the regional championships last season and is expected to improve on his tremendous efforts from last year.
Lee Evans and Andre Conley come back for their sophomore campaigns with Conley turning in the second-best triple jump of the year last season and Evans being the fourth-best triple jumper for the Niners last year.
Charlotte brings in a load of jumpers this season, with four talented jumpers joining the Charlotte family.
Big things are expected from Isaac McReynolds in the high jump with Steven Archer, Joshua Foster and Giovanni Simpson also looking to push the top guns for Charlotte in the jumping events.
Turning to the throws, a very young squad will look to have a bigger impact on the 49ers team with seven of the eight throwers being underclassmen.
Jason Roberts will look to lead the way for the throwing crew, with standout Jarryd Novotni redshirting due to student teaching priorities.
Roberts returns after being the Niners top shot put and discus thrower during the 2008 outdoor campaign.
Tim Altman, Alex Cruz, Stephen Jones and Mike Moore will look to bolster the sophomore class, with Altman and Moore being the top two javelin throwers on last year's 49er squad.
Charlotte's class of 2012 is loaded with talented with Jake Deaton being at the top of the list as he was best senior thrower in North Carolina last year. Deaton will look to get the ball rolling for the Niners and will be aided by Justin Dudley and Brian Hill.
In the pole vault, Charlotte returns the top performer from the 2008 season, Sam Hodapp.
Hodapp will be joined by Jonathan Phillips in the junior class, who was last year's second-best vaulter.
Macey Ruble is the lone sophomore for the 49ers while newcomer Cameron George looks to join the mix and help further improve an already improving pole vault squad.
Finally, four athletes will be utilized in the combined events with lone upperclassman Jackson Waller leading the charge.
Waller will get assistance from sophomore Daniel Potton and newcomers Ethan Kuster and Alex Rivera.
Sprints, Hurdles and Relays
By most accounts, the sprints, hurdles and relays unit should yet again be the biggest point getter for the Niners as they enter the 2008-09 season.
Darius Law will return for his sophomore campaign after a phenomenal freshman season which saw him earning Atlantic 10 Outdoor Rookie and Performer of the Year honors with his sights set on the school record in the 400 meter event.
Law will get help in the short sprinting events from Reggie Hill who was the top 100 meter outdoor performer for the Niners last year.
Rounding out the sophomore class are Handy Dawes, Anthony Johnson and Denzelle Lawson.
A pair of newcomers will add to the tremendous depth of the 49ers group as Demario House and Sam Jordan come to the Queen City with very high expectations.
In the hurdle events, seven athletes will look to continue the success of the hurdling program and continue to push it to the next level.
Dewayne Chandler, Derrick Eure and Korel Mack will lead the charge of hurdlers for the 49ers while newcomers Cyrus Mojtabai and Michael Simmerson joins veteran returners Brad Savage and James Savoy on a hurdles group that could score a ton of points at the conference level for the Niners. McReynolds and Simmerson could both compete at high levels for the hurdles team with both athletes coming off of All-State performances last year in high school.
Distance
Charlotte's men's distance team shows a very strong core of runners at the top who are expected to make another large impact on the track.
At the head of the group is senior Adu Dentamo, the 3,000 meter steeplechase school record holder.
Dentamo just missed the national championship meet last season, but is looking to have a breakout year after a tremendous finish to his outdoor season in 2008.
Following a short-term injury during the 2008 outdoor season, Chase Eckard also returns to the mix and looks to build on his already growing list of school records.
Also in his final year is Ryan Jank, who is expected to produce some major fireworks in the 5,000 meter run. Jank is currently the Charlotte record holder in the outdoor 3,000 meter run and the indoor 5,000 meter run.
Aaron Kauffman and Javan Lapp will hold down spots on the men's 4x800 meter relay squad that returns after breaking the indoor record at the Penn State National Open.
Fellow junior Matt Dobler will also look to join the mix of upperclassmen who are looking to provide an impact in the distance events.
Much like the women's squad, the men's team is also very loaded with talented underclassmen.
Dakota Lowery, the current 1,000m indoor record holder heads up the sophomore class that consists of Andrew Barone, Travis Brotherton, Alan Ford, Brenden Hoover and Jordan Rickard.
The Niners also add to the mix a strong pair of freshmen in Rob McCormick and Will Taylor.
Charlotte kicks off the regular season on December 5 when it travels to Appalachian State for the first indoor meet of the year.
