Wabash & Wittenberg Selected 2023 Indoor Track & Field Favorites

CLEVELAND, OH – The 2023 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25, at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. The Wittenberg women are seeking their second NCAC crown, while the Wabash Little Giants are in search of their fourth-straight and ninth overall title. Both squads have been selected as the favorites heading into this year's meet based on pre-championship balloting by the league coaches.
 
In the men's poll, defending champion Wabash collected six of the possible eight first-place votes cast for 61 total points. Wittenberg was tabbed second, receiving one first-place vote and 56 points overall and Denison claimed third with 51 points after garnering the final first-place vote. Oberlin placed fourth tallying 39 points, Wooster (30) was tabbed fifth, and DePauw (26) was selected sixth, while Ohio Wesleyan (14) and Kenyon (11) rounded out the eight-team field.
 
Under the direction of 15-year head coach Clyde Morgan, the Little Giants will be led by several veterans and a contingent of talented underclassmen that are primed to land atop the team standings. On the track, Wabash has a good balance of runners between the sprint and distance events. Freshman Will Newby (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan HS) is the owner of the fastest conference time in both the 60-meter dash (6.92) and the 200-meter dash (22.64), while junior Nathan France (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) has a top-10 time in the 400-meter dash as he sits with the no. 7 time in the league (51.86). Freshman Haiden Diemer-McKinney (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) has recorded the top time among conference athletes in the 800-meter run (1:53.27), while sophomore Will Neubauer (South Bend, IN/John Adams) holds the fourth quickest NCAC time in the same event (1:54.99). Sophomore Brayden Curnutt (Kokomo, IN/Western) owns the fastest conference mark in the mile at 4:21.96, along with the second-best time in the 3,000-meter run (8:47.96) and third-quickest time in the 5,000-meter run (15:25.48). Freshman Josh Massaquoi (El Paso, TX/Franklin HS) (8.49) and junior Takeshi Greiner (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) (8.78) have the third- and fifth-best times in the 60-meter hurdles, respectively. The Little Giants also have the third quickest 4x400 relay (3:26.19).
 
In field events, the Wabash owns three of the conference's top-six tosses in the shot put, as freshman Quinn Sholar (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) has the second-best throw at 52' 4.75" (15.97m), senior Brandon English (Portage, IN/Portage) has the fourth-best toss at 48' 0" (14.63m) and senior Reis Thomas (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) sits with the no. 6 mark at 45' 8" (13.92m). Freshman Nate Joven (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard HS) has the third-best height in the pole vault at 13' 3.5" (4.05m). Sholar (53' 5"; 16.28m) and senior Connor Wakefield (Avon, IN/Avon) (49' 11.25"; 15.22m) hold the fourth- and fifth-best marks in the weight throw. Freshman Mike Holsclaw (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) is tied for the fifth-best mark in the high jump at 6' 2.75" (1.90m), while classmate Sly Williams (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard High School) has the fifth-furthest long jump at 21' 7.5" (6.59m) and Wabash's best mark in the triple jump at 38' 0.75" (11.60m). Sophomore Jake Oostman (Crown Point, IN/Crown Point) has the best performance in the heptathlon so far this season after compiling 3,942 points.
 
Wittenberg topped the pre-championship poll on the women's side by earning all seven first-place votes for 49 total points, while Denison finished second overall with 38 points. Oberlin, the defending champion, was predicted to finish third with 34 points, while DePauw (30) was selected fourth, Wooster was tabbed fifth (21) and Ohio Wesleyan (17) and Kenyon (7) rounded out the seven-team field.
 
The Tigers, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Paris Hilliard, are in prime position to capture the league title with several athletes entering the championship meet with a top-five performance in the NCAC in either a running or field event. Wittenberg owns four of the league's top-five times in the 60-meter dash, thanks to a quartet of sophomores, including Zora Shakhan (Pickerington, OH/Pickerington Central) who has the fastest time at 7.84, while Meghan Frazier (Alliance, OH/Alliance) (7.92), Lindsey Magoteaux (Sidney, OH/Lehman Catholic) (7.98) and Haleigh Willison (Crooksville, OH/Crooksville) (8.01) have the second, fourth and fifth best times respectively. The Tigers have also dominated the 200-meter dash this season, owning five of the NCAC's top-six times. Willison holds the fastest 200 at 26.56 seconds and is followed by first-year Tymeerah De'Armond (Springfield, OH/Springfield HS) (no. 2, 26.61), Frazier (no. 3, 26.64), Shakhan (no. 5, 27.00) and Magoteaux (no. 6, 27.32).
 
In the 400-meter dash, De'Armond owns the league's best time (1:00.41), while classmate Delaney Tackett has the NCAC's third-fastest time (1:01.46). First-year Ella Webster (Van Buren, OH/Van Buren HS) has the league's quickest mile run at 5:08.97, while junior Sydney Khosla (Centerville, OH/Centerville) and sophomore Kiki Krohmer (Kenton, OH/Kenton) have recorded the NCAC's no. 2 (5:12.09) and no. 5 (5:24.32) times in the event. Webster also owns the fifth-best 800-meter run time (2:24.95). Wittenberg has seen great success in the 3,000-meter run, claiming seven of the conference's top-10 times. Webster has the second-best time in the 3,000 (10:35.00) followed by Khosla in fourth (10:40.82), while sophomore Megan Keys (Dublin, OH/Dublin Jerome) (0:45.35), senior Emma Scritchfield (Newark, OH/Northridge HS) (10:47.42), Krohmer (10:49.64), and freshman Emma Hawk (Marion, OH/River Valley HSl) (10:49.93) hold the sixth through ninth quickest times in the event. Scritchfield also owns the league's sixth-best time in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 18:48.38. Sophomore Reese Neumeyer (Whitehouse, OH/Anthony Wayne) is ranked 11th in the 60-meter hurdles (10.34). The Tigers have recorded the top NCAC times in the 4x200 (1:44.91) and 4x400 (4:09.42) relays.
 
In the field events, sophomore Taylor Weiss (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) has produced the top mark in the high jump at 5' 4.5" (1.64m) and the fifth-best distance in the triple jump at 35' 1" (10.69m). First-year Tiffany Hix (Prospect, OH/Elgin HS) has the fourth-best height in the pole vault at 10' 6" (3.20m) and sophomore Julissa Williams (Lorain, OH) owns the no. 6 mark in the long jump at 16' 4.5" (4.99m). Two Tigers own top-five marks in the shot put, as rookies Aidan Orth and Emma Doerman (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) sit at no. 2 (40' 3.5"; 12.28m) and no. 4 (37' 8.75"; 11.50m) in the league. Orth has also recorded the NCAC's 10th-best heave in the weight throw at 44' 1.5" (13.45m). First-year Ziciah Gibson (Cambridge, OH/Cambridge HS) (2,427) and sophomore Lainee Valentine (Marion, OH/River Valley) (2,328) have earned the most points in the pentathlon so far this season.                                       
 
The first scoring events of the 2023 meet, the heptathlon and the pentathlon, will take place this coming Saturday and Sunday, February 18-19 at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
 
2023 NCAC Indoor Track & Field 
Pre-Championship Coaches Polls
WOMEN MEN
Rank School (1st place votes) Points Rank School (1st place votes) Points
1. Wittenberg (7)   49 1.  Wabash (6) 61
2. Denison 38 2.  Wittenberg (1) 56
3. Oberlin 34 3.  Denison (1) 51
4. DePauw 30 4.  Oberlin 39
5. Wooster 21 5.  Wooster 30
6. Ohio Wesleyan 17 6.  DePauw 26
7. Kenyon 7 7.  Ohio Wesleyan 14
8.  Kenyon 11

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