7/31/2019 Alumni Newsletter - Sept/Oct 2012

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2012 SCHEDULE

Saturday, September 1st

Richmond Spider Open

Pole Green Park

Saturday, September 15th

Navy Invitational

Naval Academy Golf Course

Friday, September 21st

Towson Invitational

Oregon Ridge Park

Saturday, September 29th

George Mason Invitational

Oatlands Plantations

Saturday, October 13th

Blue and Gold Invite

Frightlands, DE

Saturday, October 27th

America East Conference

University of New Hampshire

Saturday, November 10th

NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional

Penn State Golf Course

Follow UMBC XC/TF on our social media sites for meetpreviews, pictures, videos, and live results:

www.facebook.com/umbcxctf

www.umbcxctf.wordpress.com

@umbcxctf

Mens Cross Country Outlook:

Two years ago, we had a great year, and even though we brought back almost

everyone from that team, we underachieved last year. I think some of the returners

felt that it was a given that they were going to get back to that same level, and life

doesnt work out that way, revealed Coach Gittermann. This year everyone seems to

be on the same page, and with some of the best and deepest leadership I have had

since I been here, I believe that this will be the group that sets the tone for the

program from this point forward.

The mens cross country team returns eight runners who have competed at the

America East Conference Championships, led by last years Co-Most Valuable Runners,

senior Todd Cowing and junior Brandan McGee. Cowing is the lone senior on both the

mens and womens rosters, and has competed at the Conference Championships in

each of his first three seasons, making a big jump from years prior to last year. In

addition to a strong performance at the Conference meet, he continued his junior

campaign by setting some of the fastest track times in UMBCs history, including the

second fastest 10,000 meter run in the spring. McGee, took it to the next level in the

spring, winning the Conference championship in the steeple (breaking the school

record) and finishing fourth in the 5,000 meters. With the progress they both made

last year in the second half of the year, my expectation and their goal, is to break into

the Conference top ten at this years meet, said Gittermann. To make an

improvement over last year, we are going to need a lot of the returners to step up to

the plate, and make an impact, said Gittermann. Sophomore Eric Schuler posted the

third fastest returning time in cross country last fall while junior Tommy Eldridge built

upon a strong fall campaign to put up the fifth fastest 10,000 meters in school historyduring outdoor track. Mid-distance runner Jake Albino dropped minutes from his best

8,000 meter times from the year before and even half that improvement this year

would make an impact at the Conference level. Juniors Andrew Smith and Vinny

DiSalvo, who were both on the Conference team as freshmen, should rebound this

year with a great improvement over the past two years. Finally sophomore James

Beacham should make the big jump from year one to year two after representing the

team last year in Albany.

The mens team brings in eight freshmen to build up the depth of the team and fill

some holes from the year before. We have a couple kids on the roster who should be

top five or top seven runners for us from the first meet and only progress from there,

said Gittermann. Even though a couple of them are more mid-distance focused, all

have advanced to the state cross country meet individually and performed well at

those meets. Freshmen year is usually a rough year for all male newcomers with the

move up from 5,000 meter courses at the high school level to the 8,000 meter and10,000 meter courses at the collegiate level.

Coach Gittermann breaks down their chances: This year the Conference is wide open,

and when it gets like this, it doesnt usually matter how much talent you have, but how

good of a race you have as team that determines your place. We definitively need to

have our top two guys in the top ten or contending for it, otherwise you can not hope

for better than fifth. After them, we need four or five of our guys to bridge that gap

and get into the lower twenty five minutes range. In order to do that we need

returners to step up and a couple freshmen to make an immediate impact.

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Womens Cross Country Outlook:

While the womens team is much larger than previous years, there are only seven

seasons of collegiate cross country experience on the roster. The top returner for the

Retrievers is junior Cody Mezebish who was the second woman across the line after

departed senior Keri Wilson. Cody really exceeded our expectations as an 800 meter

runner who showed the range to make an impact during cross country, said

Gittermann. Since she has less cross country experience than our incoming freshmen,

we can expect to still see large jumps in improvement. Fellow junior Kirsten

McGovern should make an big impact for the Retrievers as well after a stellar indoor

and outdoor campaign. Kirsten really stepped it up during the track season and with

that momentum should make for around a two minute improvement from last years

conference meet to this years conference meet. McGovern set UMBC Top Ten All

Time Performances in the indoor 3,000 meters and outdoor 10,000 meters, including

an eighth place finish in the latter at the Conference meet despite falling.

The remaining returners are three sophomores who made contributions throughout

last year. Our three sophomore women have shown similar abilities in cross country,

and with another year of training under their belt, we should see a lot of improvement

and more consistency from the group, said Gittermann. Alyse Gibson was the third

Retriever across the line at last years cross country meet. Julie Gessler was right

behind her and recorded the eighth fastest 10,000 meters in school history during the

outdoor season. Mary Katherine Kulp made a strong contribution during the indoor

season, recording top ten all time performances in the 800 meter and 1,000 meter

runs.

The bulk of the team is represented in the ten new additions to the cross country

program. Of those ten girls, about half are what you would refer to as traditional

cross country runners, while the other half are closer to 800 meter runners. But with

no real change in distance from high school, unlike the men, those 800 meter runners

can still make a solid contribution, said Gittermann. Overall there are nine freshmen

in this group, while sophomore Sarah Daly, who is a top ten all time 800 meter

performer, joins the cross country team.

Coach Gittermann on their chances: We really have no standout number one runner,

so the success of this team is based on getting a bunch of women across the line in a

tight group. With another year of experience we can expect them all to improve

greatly, and as the year progresses, we will be looking to see the gap between number

one and number ten diminish. If we can get that gap down to under thirty seconds,

that is how we are going to make a big jump.

Rob Magin

5K Dawg ChaseSaturday

October 13th

8 AM Registration Opens9 AM Race Begins

Stadium Lot

The 4th annual trot around the Loop, named for the late mens track alumnus Rob Magin 92, kicks off Saturdays

Homecoming festivities. Enjoy the early morning air and get a closer look at different parts of the UMBC campus.

Free t-shirt to all paid entrants. A fun walk/run is scheduled prior to the start of the 5K.

Register on active.com: http://www.active.com/10k-race/catonsville-md/rob-magin-5k-dawg-chase-umbc-2012

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The Class of 2016:

UMBCs Head Track and Field coach David Bobbannounced the addition of fifteen women and ten men to UMBCs Cross Country and Track and Field

program. We are looking to take a huge step towards winning a Conference Championship, and we feel we added a group of young men and women

who have the talent to come in and score immediate points in the Conference, said Coach Bobb.

For the sprints, local standout, DNique Phillip from North East High School looks to make an immediate impact for the women in every sprint event

having just won the 100 meter, 200 meter, and 400 meter dashes at the Maryland State Meet as a senior. DNique will be a great compliment to last

years recruiting class, adding a lot range which gives us the versatility to maximize points at the Conference Championships, said Bobb. The mens

side added Niko Coaxum from Largo High School. Niko, should be able to step in the 400 meters and make the finals right away. Coaxum ran 48.91 to

finish second at the Maryland State Meet in the 400 meters.

The mid-distance and distance events added nine women and seven men to their ranks, and represents one of the largest recruiting classes on the

womens side in school history. We were looking to build up our womens program quickly, and we tried to fill as many needs as we could. For the

men we were looking to fill a couple holes in what was already a strong returning roster. Overall, Im excited to get working with these young men and

women as I feel as there is a lot of potential in each athlete that cou ld yield big rewards right away, said Head Cross Country coach Matt Gittermann.

The sheer numbers on the womens s ide will give us immediate depth and scoring potential, especially in the 800 meters and 10,000 meters. We now

will have the talent to put out a 4x800 meter relay team that could contend for the Conference Championship every year for the career of this

recruiting class. The mens class is headed by Andrew Kereszetes (Port Jefferson High School, NY) and Hassan Omar (Gov. Thomas Johnson High

School). Kereszetes comes to UMBC with personal best times of 1:52.0 in the 800 meters and 2:29.7 in the 1,000 meters, both of which would place

him in scoring contention. Omar recorded the fastest time in the 3200 meters in the state of Maryland last year en route to a state title in that event.

The women should be led by freshmen Angel Bucci (Upper Darby High School, PA), whose best 3200m time of 11:17 suggests an immediate impact for

the cross country team.

The field events added important pieces to the puzzle across a spectrum of events. The throwing events will show the addition of Vincent Rentzsch(Oranienburg, Germany), transfer Yao Adantor (University of Maryland), and Jennifer Nelson (Plainfield High School, CT), all of whom should be able to

come in and score right away. Assistant Track and Field coach Pete Koumlelis revealed that, Vincent is a National level javelin athlete from the

moment he arrives, though he has the talent to score in a multitude of events ranging from the triple jump to the heptathlon indoors. Yao and Jennifer

come to the program with personal best marks in the Shot Put that could give us major points at the Conference Championships. The addition of

transfer Alisha Beeman from Hartford, while not able to compete immediately due to NCAA transfer rules, should pay off big for the Retrievers as she

was the Conference runner-up in the high jump.

Womens Recruiting Class:

Name Class High School/College Hometown Event

Alisha Beeman Jr. University of Hartford Stratford, CT Jumps/Javelin

Vernetta Biggs Jr. Delaware State Univ. Accokeek, MD Hurdles/Jumps

Angel Bucci Fr. Upper Darby HS Upper Darby, PA Distance

Holly Cook Fr. John Carroll HS Bel Air, MD Distance

Caitlyn Davis Fr. River Hill HS Columbia, MD Pole Vault

Nicole Dawson Fr. Hammond HS Jessup, MD Distance

Lynne Deckel Fr. North Penn HS Lansdale, PA Mid-Distance

Nneoma Edokobi Fr. Richard Montgomery HS Rockville, MD Throws

Essence Fredericks Fr. Carver HS Baltimore, MD Mid-Distance

Margaret Glassman Fr. Loch Raven HS Baltimore, MD Mid-Distance

Deryca Johnson Fr. Glastonbury HS Glastonbury, CT Mid-Distance

Jennifer Nelson Fr. Plainfield HS Plainfield, CT Throws

Angelina Oputa Fr. Elizabeth Seton HS Bowie, MD Mid-Distance

DNique Phillip Fr. North East HS Elkton, MD Sprints

Harmony Roche Fr. Severn School Millersville, MD Distance

Mens Recruiting Class:Name Class High School/College Hometown Event

Yao Adantor Jr. University of Maryland Germantown, MD Throws

Pat Anske Fr. Century HS Sykesville, MD Distance

Niko Coaxum Fr. Largo HS Suitland, MD Sprints

Austin Hayslett Fr. Urbana HS Mount Airy, MD Distance

Zach Hopkins Fr. Winters Mill HS Westminster, MD Distance

Nick Johnson Fr. Sherwood HS Olney, MD Mid-Distance

Andrew Kereszetes Fr. Port Jefferson HS Port Jefferson, NY Mid-Distance

Hassan Omar Fr. Gov. Thomas Johnson HS Frederick, MD Distance

Ben Pickett Fr. John Carroll HS Abdingdon, MD Distance

Vincent Rentzsch Fr. Oranienburg, GER Javelin

Redatu Semeon Fr. Thomas Stone HS Bowie, MD Distance