BENNINGTON, Vt. – After a long stretch of preseason training which included a lot of time spent indoors, the Southern Vermont College outdoor track & field team is set to begin its third year as an NCAA-accredited squad this Saturday.
SVC third-year head coach Kathleen Newton '04 has high expectations for her team—a group that returns nine athletes from previous years while welcoming 10 new Mountaineers to her crew.
"I'm looking for the returners to improve their times, throws and jumps," said Newton. "I also expect the new additions to have a positive experience and create a supportive team. Many of the newcomers participated in track & field in high school; that experience is helpful. I'm planning to have them all build on that and become stronger, focused collegiate athletes."
The Mountaineers are coming off a 2016 campaign which saw the young program make tremendous strides with a pair of athletes making it to postseason championship meets.
"Last season's success has helped the program grow and develop this year—both in the increase of the roster size and also the variety of athletes and the events they cover. Having athletes qualify for ECAC's and DIII New England Regional's last spring has raised the bar for this year's team. Those who qualified last year want to repeat, and the newcomers' goals are to also be a part of that success."
One of those SVC athletes who made postseason championships and returns this year is junior runner Marc Brandmeyer (Bennington, Vt.). He first qualified for DIII New England's in the 3000 meter steeplechase and finished fifth in that meet with the now-Southern Vermont record time of 9:29.82. Brandmeyer then placed sixth overall after winning his heat with a 9:30.68 at the ECAC DIII Outdoor Championship in mid-May.
Joining Brandmeyer at the DIII New England's was now-sophomore Isaiah Backels (Derry, N.H.) who qualified for the championship in the pole vault. Unfortunately, while dealing with an injury, he was unable to post an official mark at the postseason meet, but he still had a stellar year as SVC's first athlete to participate in the discipline and set the school record at 4.40 meters.
Additional returners for Newton are seniors Shelby Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) and Aden Fischer (Arlington, Vt.)—a pair athletes who have participated in cross country and track & field through each of their three years while at Southern Vermont. Whitman, a captain for the Mountaineers, holds the SVC record for the 400 meter dash (1:05.10), the 800 meter run (2:30.13), and the 1500 meter run (5:12.58). Fischer made great improvements last year in his events, and he currently sits at third on the Southern Vermont record chart for the 800 meter run (2:09.27) and fourth for the 400 meter dash (56.82).
When SVC started its NCAA program for the spring of 2015, Newton had 13 athletes on the roster. Among those, only two participated in a field event with them both being long jumpers. This year, there are 19 Mountaineers with seven of those being expected to partake on the field side of things.
"The larger roster size this season is a plus in moving the program in the right direction," noted Newton. "We also have many of the events covered now between sprints, mid-distance, long distance, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, and discus. Having athletes in all these events is great for the team and our program."
The Mountaineers head to the BSU Bears Invitational on Saturday to open up the regular season—that meet hosted by Bridgewater State University being scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
– #LetsGoSVC –