Mar. 12, 2008

By Zach Stipe

ADA — Six individual champions and two relays will be looking to defend their titles at the 2008 NCAA III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.

On the team side, Wisconsin-La Crosse will be looking to win its 14th NCAA Indoor National Championship.

The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the final USTFCCA rankings, were runner-up last season to Lincoln (Pa.) after winning six national indoor championships in a row from 2001-06. Two weeks ago, Wisconsin-La Crosse scored 137.5 points to edge perennial national powers Wisconsin-Whitewater (125) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (104.5) at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships. Wisconsin-La Crosse has 12 participants in 10 different events.

No. 5 Wisconsin-Whitewater has participants in five events, while No. 3 Wisconsin-Oshkosh will compete in four events.

North Central (Ill.), ranked No. 2 in the final USTFCCA rankings, handily won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships with 220 points and is sending nine participants to the meet.

Salem State (Mass.) senior Eddie Bynum III, Ohio Northern junior Jimmy O’Brien, Heidelberg senior Greg Tyson, Fisk (Tenn.) sophomore Kamar James, Wisconsin-La Cross junior Bobby Riley and Elizabethtown (Pa.) senior Kevin Clark all have a chance to repeat as national champions in individual events, while relays from Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wisconsin-Oshkosh each have a shot to repeat, as well. 

Bynum returns to defend his title in the 55-meter dash. At the 2007 championships, Bynum sprinted to a time of 6.33 to edge Amaan Siddeeq of SUNY-Cortland by .01 seconds and claim the title at Rose Holman, Ind. Bynum, a two-time All-American in the event, has the top qualifying time of 6.27, while Siddeeq is second with a 6.29.

O’Brien won the indoor and outdoor 800-meter national titles last season. He ran a time of 1:53.48 to claim the indoor title last season. Geoff Lambert of Wabash (Ind.), the 2007 runner-up, also returns. Hamilton (N.Y.) sophomore Peter Kosgei has the top qualifying times in the 800-meter run (1:52.42) and the 1-mile run (4:09.31).

Tyson is the two-time defending national champion in the long jump. In 2007 Tyson jumped 24-3 on his final jump to take the title and in 2006 he leaped 24-8.5. Moravian (Pa.) senior Beresford Brown has the top jump in the field at 23-11.

James is the defending champion in the triple jump, where he jumped 48-10 to win the title last season. He has the second best jump in the field behind Centre (Ky.) freshman Chrys Jones (50-6).

Clark is looking to defend his title in the pole vault. Last year Clark grabbed the title with a vault of 17-1.5. Clark has only vaulted 16-6.75 so far this season and will face stiff competition from reigning outdoor vault champ Peter Sprecher of Momouth (Ill.). Sprecher is tied with North Central (Ill.) senior Michael Bina for the top mark in the field at 17-1.5. Loras (Iowa) junior Kyle Calvert returns and is a two-time All-American in the indoor event.

Riley returns to defend his title in the shot put. He won the title with a toss of 57-3 last year and leads the field with a throw of 55-6.5. SUNY-Brockport senior Josh Dupuis was third in the shot put last season and sixth in 2006.

Wisconsin-La Crosse will be trying for its sixth consecutive 4x400-meter relay title. The Eagles return 400 individual qualifiers David Kolbe and John Doble off of last year’s team, which won with a time of 3:16.49. Wisconsin-La Crosse has run a time of 3:16.66 this season, second in the field behind Nebraska Wesleyan at 3:16.46. Jason Peters and 400 individual qualifier Chris Wolf are both two-time All-Americans in the event for Wesleyan.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh returns Nate Boehlke and Andrew McGuire from last season’s winning distance medley relay team, which won in 10:01.85. Williams (Mass.) turned in the top time in the country this season (9:56.57) and return three runners off of last season’s eighth-place finish.

In addition, Massachusetts-Dartmouth senior Jonathan Garcia looks to recapture the 55-meter hurdles title he won at the 2006 National Championships. Garcia has the top time in the country this season in the event at 7.37.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh junior All-American William Kaul’s time of 14:22.99 leads the list entrants in the 5,000-meter run, while Wesleyan’s Wolf has the top time in the 400-meter dash at 48.46.

Mississippi College senior Al Winsley is the top returnee to the high jump field after finishing third last season. Winsley has the nation-best jump of 7-2.5 this year. Augustana (Ill.) junior Ted McMillian is a two-time All-American in the event.

Monmouth (Ill.) senior Zach Wilson has the top performance in the weight throw with a toss of 62-3.25.

Field events begin at 12:30 p.m. with running events starting at 5 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, field events begin at 10 a.m. and running event finals start at 2:30 p.m.