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Experience, Mixed With Youth Drives Red Hawks
WOMEN
With only seven seniors among the 42 squad members, the Ripon College track and field teams should be on solid ground for the next several years. Leading the women’s team for 2007 will be seniors Latasha Carter, Jolene Rueden, Jill Jones, and Cassy Gerard. Each has already established themselves among the best all-time in their events.
Carter holds the indoor school record in the 55 and is a part of three school record holding relay teams (indoor 4x200, outdoor 4x100, and outdoor 4x400). Rueden, an established sprinter in her own right, is also a member of the same three relay teams. Jones is a very good hurdler and triple jumper, while also competing for a spot on the relay teams. Gerard is a pole vaulter who has had a great deal of success over her first three years in the track program.
“As a group, these four have contributed as much as any group of seniors we’ve had. We have had some outstanding four year track and field athletes in our women’s program, so that is saying a lot about these four. I look for them to lead us to unprecedented success in 2007,” said Head Coach Robert Duley.
The women’s team appears to have the event balance and depth to have an outstanding year. The sprints are led by Carter, Rueden, Jones, Stephanie Hummitzsch, and Rebecca LaClair, while the middle-distance and distance runners are led by juniors Amanda Beers, Brittany Dick, and Rebecca Duley. They will be joined in the distance events by sophomore Erin Beggs and freshmen Jessica Davey and Angie Hein.
This core of distance runners led the Red Hawk cross country program to unprecedented success during the 2006 campaign. Led by NCAA National Qualifier Dick, the women won the Wisconsin Private College Championships and were second in the MWC championships. Dick is also the defending conference champion in the steeple chase. The hurdles will be solid as well with the return of Jill Jones, Gerard, and first-year hurdler Trisha Jones. The jumps will be led by the Jones’ sisters, and freshman Amy Krueger, while the vaulting duties will be handled by Gerard, Rebecca LaClair, and Stephanie Beers.
Another area of strength for the women will be the throws. Led by veterans, juniors Jen Marcell and Shannon Henderson, sophomore Claire Schultz, and freshmen Stephanie Beers, Misty Brum, Caitlin Butterbaugh, and Cami Miller, the Red Hawks expect to get a lot of points in the throwing events.
“We have some holes to fill, but we’re very close to being a complete team,” Duley said. “We have a lot of outstanding track and field athletes on this team and they could rival the 2005 team as one of the best in school history.”
MEN
The men have three returning seniors this season, including Aaron Kammer, Cas Moelling, and Mike Treder. Kammer and Treder have been solid contributors to the distance program. The Red Hawk distance program has arguably been the best in the state over the past five years, as evidenced by the 2002 and 2005 Wisconsin Private College Championships. Moelling has ten of the top fifteen indoor and outdoor vaults in school history. With a good season, the indoor and outdoor vault records could fall in 2007.
The men are not as balanced as the women, but they possess several strong event areas, including the distance events. Led by Kammer and Treder, as well as juniors Jim Hein, Bryan Schneider and Harrison Smith and first year runners Brian Fatla, Abdel Morched, Andy Peck, Nick Revello, and Paul Williams, the Red Hawks have both quantity and quality. Hein, Schneider, and Smith are all First Team All-Conference runners in cross country. Hein holds the school record in the steeple chase and is on the indoor DMR that set the school record in ’07. That team, which also returns Treder, won the MWC championship.
Leading the men sprinters and hurdlers will be junior Nick Veasley, sophomores Brian Felix, Kris Hanson, and Bobby Wood, and freshman Jeremy Custer. Wood, who is recovering from ACL surgery, is the defending MWC champion in the 55 hurdles.
The men are not deep in the jumps but have one of the best in the MWC in Demba Camara. Camara excels in the long and triple jumps and could be the Hawks next national qualifier in the jumps. Camara will be joined in the jumping events by Veasley, Williams, and Wood. The pole vault will be in the hands of Moelling and Joe Reese.
The men’s throws, traditionally a strong point of the men’s team, appear to be much stronger than a year ago. Leading the charge are veterans, Mitch Winn, Reese, and first-year throwers Trevor Wirth and Brad Bogenschutz. While the women will rely on balance and depth for their success, the men will need to rely on several big point scorers.
“This is a team that has three or four outstanding athletes that can be national qualifiers,” Duley said. “The success of the team will depend on the development of a strong supporting cast. Both the men and women have such a strong work ethic, so I won’t be surprised by anything we accomplish.”
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