Friday, March 30, 2001
Cincinnati boys track preview
Middletown ready to make a run at state
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cleveland and Dayton teams have dominated the boys state track meets the past 30 years with La Salle and Forest Park the only Cincinnati-area teams to win championships. But Middletown, third-place finisher last year, appears to have enough talent to make a run at the state championship June 1-2 at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
Based on the return of eight veterans and outstanding depth, coach Floyd Horton's Middies were voted No. 1 in The Enquirer's Division I preseason poll.
St. Xavier received three first-place votes and 111 points to take the No. 2 spot followed by La Salle (110 points), Moeller (93) and Sycamore (71).
“They're (Middletown) the real deal,” said La Salle coach Frank Russo, who's Lancers won the 1994 Division I state championship. “A lot of people think they have the talent to pull it off.”
1. Middletown: If the Middies have a weakness, it's hard to find.
In every running and field event, Horton has one or more quality athletes competing for starting positions.
Middletown will be strong in the relays. The Middies won the 1,600 meter relay state championship and were runnersup in the 400 relay.
“We may be the most well-rounded team in the school's history,” Horton said. “Our depth comes from more kids running and quality athletes.”
Scott See and Matt Meiser head an impressive list of 14 distance runners who will compete in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter races. Darrell Hunter, Quincy Edwards and Tyran Thompson will be the top sprinters.
Nasir Ahmad was impressive during the indoor season and will run the 400 meters along with returning starter Dennis Gates.
Derek Thompson (high jump), Thomas Paige (shot put), Hunter and Thompson (long jump), and Matt Beatty and Casey York (pole vault) give Middletown depth in the field events.
2. St. Xavier: Before Mike Dehring starts talking about a state championship, the Bombers third-year coach has set sight on the Greater Catholic League South championship.
If an early-season impressive victory over La Salle and Moeller in the GCL relays is an indication of what to expect, look for St. Xavier to challenge Middletown for the No. 1 spot.
The Bombers' strongest events will be the distance races with Tim and Andy Weitmarschen, Tim King and Ryan Busse, all members of the state champion cross country team, the top performers.
Scoring in the field events won't be a problem with Tommy Mathews (high jump), Joe Crea (pole vault), Pat Ross (discus), Matt Ziegler (long jump) and Nick Nardini (discus) all veterans.
In past seasons, the sprints and hurdles were a weakness but not this year. Look for Mike Gilcrest (hurdles), Matt Mezinskis (sprints), Ian Fehring and Matt Ziegler to perform well.
“We qualified to the regional in 16 events (school record),” Dehring said. “We also won our first state track championship (3,200 relay) and we want to build on this success.”
3. La Salle: Optimism is at an all-time high with Russo confident the Lancers can win a 10th-consecutive GCL South championship and finish No. 1 in the poll for the ninth consecutive year.
If La Salle pulls it off, the Lancers will do it in the distance races and field events and possibly in the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles behind Matt Knueven.
Alan Bader, the defending Division I state cross country champion, heads a list of distance runners that includes veteran Patrick Rischmann.
Scott Hudepohl (long jump), Matt Jackson (shot put) and Dan Albrinck (pole vault) will score well in the field events.
“There's five or six teams who have the talent to finish No. 1 in the poll,” Russo said. “Princeton is back and one of those teams.”
4. Moeller: An experienced team loaded with depth, the Crusaders will be strong in most events except high jump, shot put and discus.
Coach Jerry Kombrinck will rely on Kevin Schwarz and Brad Nuemann in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races and Brian Ehlers in the middle distance events.
Sprinters Josh Woods and Eric Thatcher are proven winners with Brent Walter, who finished fourth inthe pole vault at last year's state meet.
“We hardly have any sophomores and we'll rely heavily on juniors,” Kombrinck said. “We have a balanced team with a lot of varsity experience.”
5. Sycamore: Since Hank Ray took over as coach five years ago, the program has improved and climbed into a contending position.
“The numbers are high but experience is low but the future looks bright,” Ray said. “We have a lot of young and inexperienced athletes. We finished second in the GMC last year and have a chance to win it all.”
Sprinter Tim Dickerson heads a list of quality sprinters with distance runner Tom Gallagher and middle distance runners Mark Mecum and Ryan Schweet also expected to score.
High jumper Chris Hunter and Nate Price (pole vault), are athletes to watch.
6. Elder: Senior leadership will be one of the many strengths of an Elder team that will be strong in most events.
Regional qualifier Kurtis Smith will anchor a solid group of distance runners that will includes Nick Westerman, Sean Ernst, Rob Bengel, Patrick Kendall, Nick Krummen and Tim Trainor.
Regional qualifiers Mike Schenke (long jump) and Gary McKiddy (pole vault) gives Elder strength in the field events while the Panthers also will be strong in the sprints with Jon Baer, Andy Firsich, Dave Kroner, Dominic Acito, Rob Bucher and Nick Franer.
7. Princeton: The Vikings are back and 33 year veteran coach Ken Meibers is smiling again.
“We're strong in the hurdles, vaults, sprints and jumps,” Meibers said. “Our weaknesses will be in the weights (shot put, discus) and distance (1600, 3200) events”
Meibers pointed to pole vaulters Chris Smith and John Russell, and sprinter Chris Daniels as the athletes to watch.
Others expected to score are Chris Holland (200, long jump), Darren Barnett (400), Hassan Thompson (800), Jay Miller (1,600), Eric Zimmerman (3,200), Brandon Wiley (long jump) and Cal Shaw (high jump).
8. Anderson: Coach Andy Wolf's Redskins will be more than competitive.
“We have good upperclassmen in Pat Hughes (1,600, 3,200), Sachin Shah (hurdles) and Michael Moreland (hurdles, long jump),” Wolf said. “We have a lot of young talent and our depth is untested.”
Wolf also expects pole vaulters Steve Falconieri and John Porter to score.
9. Colerain: The Cardinals will score well in the field events but might struggle in the distance races because of the graduation of Mason Ward and Chris Noelcke.
Scott Chapman (pole vault), Mike Crum (shot put, discus) and Maurice Johnson (long jump) should score well, but the pressure will be on untested distance runners Tom Kinne, Craig Eckstein and Chris Toelke.
10. Winton Woods: First-year coach Ron Wright inherited a Warriors team loaded with sprinters and hurdlers but lacking in the distance races.
Senior speedsters Ian Ruth, Carlos Tipton and Nate Jackson, will team with juniors Rayshawn Spencer, Louis White, Mike Turner and Robert Hite in the sprints and hurdles.
Kenwood Lattimore, Randy Henderson, Drew Jones, Jeff Huff and Spencer are expected to score in the field events while Mike Poster, Theophil Kroller and Doug Wright will run the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races.
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Cincinnati boys track preview
