Bison Indoor Track Season Preview

SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's indoor track and field team is set to begin their first season as full members of NCAA Division II this weekend.
 
Bison men faired quite well the last two years, sweeping both the indoor and outdoor championships while competing in the National Christian College Athletic Association. The program has claimed seven national championships, including three indoor championships while competing in the NCCAA and the NAIA.
 
After a tough season one year ago that saw the Bison riddled with injuries, OBU looks to regroup for 2018. Some of the trials faced last season could have a positive impact on the team moving forward.
 
"On the guy's side, I don't think it's any secret that last year was probably the worst team we've had since the early 80's. It just was not very competitive. We had a lot of injuries, and things just didn't go well," said Bison head coach Ford Mastin. "However, those guys came together and forged two national championships. So enough of them contributed that we held off all challengers and won."
 
A computer ranking that uses past performances to estimate points at the national championship was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and picked OBU to finish 73^rd. The same ranking placed three Bison in the top-30 for their respective events.
 
Andrew Worley was picked 15^th and Hayden Ashley is 17^th by the USTFCCCA for the heptathlon. Worley posted a score of 4991 and Ashley notched a score of 4960 last season.
 
"Those two guys are rated pretty high, and they're having a really good workout situation because they push each other so much. Their best competition is sometimes in practice. Both of them need to improve enough to qualify, but I see it just by the natural maturity, just body maturity, there are things that they do that they couldn't have done last year, already," said Mastin.
 
Also making the list was junior Devontrae Young for the 200 meters. He posted a time of 21.65 last season, which placed him 20^th on the preseason list. Young is dealing with an injury that will keep him out of the first meet of the season, but the coaching staff expects him to make a full recovery prior to the team's second meet on Jan. 12.
 
"[Young] is a lot more flexible, his technique is better. I'm disappointed that he can't run because I think that he would have had a good time and a lot of people, they would take notice of him."
 
A breakout candidate for the Bison is thrower Saleem Fadel, who was a redshirt for OBU last season. Fadel, a native of Qatar, competes in the hammer throw and is also proficient in the shot put, but the coaches believe he can score points at the national meet in the weight throw.
 
"We're hoping [Fadel] will get up in the top four on the preseason list from his performance, and potentially go into the season and the national meet trying to win the national title in the 35-pound weight throw," added Mastin.
 
These individuals, along with incoming freshmen that are expected to contribute, will determine how well the men's team scores at the national meet.
 
"Now, you take those people that have paid the price and know how to win and we've added some really good freshmen to it," said Mastin. "That makes a really good nucleus of eight to ten athletes that will kind of use the same strategy as the women. We're hoping a mile relay will qualify and a distance medley will qualify."
 
Athletes that are expected to be in the mix for the mile relay include senior Clayton Honeycutt and freshmen Sayvon Milton and Shirvante Knauls. Dakota Kappelle and Brandon Crowley would also compete for one of the four available spots on the relay team.
 
"When a relay is your goal, you have a lot of people pulling together and sometimes you get more out of someone doing that," remarked Mastin. "There's competition that they push each other."
 
The Bison are also hoping to compete in the DMR, which features legs of 1200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters and 1600 meters for a total distance of 4000 meters. Jacob Janzen is expected to lead the group and run the 1600 meters distance. Others that are currently battling for a spot include Garrett Elmore, Nathan Crowson, and DeAngelo Robles for the 1200 meters distance. Freshman Dillon Phillips will push Carlos James in the 800 meters. James was runner-up at both the indoor and outdoor championships in the 800 meters last year.
 
Other key contributors for the Bison this season include a pair of sprinters, Thiago Dos Santos and Micah Brewer.
 
"We've been short on what we call 'short sprinters,' guys who do the 60 indoors and 200, and those two guys are pretty high quality. I look for them to push each other in practice and potentially one of them might make it in the 60 and one of them might make it in the 200," continued Mastin.
 
Another field athlete, Spencer Lashley, was crowned a national champion at the NCCAA national championship last year, and could qualify for the NCAA national championship in 2018.
 
"[Lashley] was a national champion last year and I think he'll be a potential qualifier. He'll need to improve about five inches over his best, but it's his junior year, he's more mature, and we look for that to happen," added Mastin.
 
Pittsburg State will host the 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship in Pittsburg, Kansas, on March 9-10. OBU will open the season at the Boo Rogers Combined / Crimson & Gold Invitational, hosted by Pittsburg State, on Dec. 9. The Bison will return to Pittsburg on Jan. 27 for the Pittsburg State Invitational and finally on Feb. 9-10 for the Gorilla Classic. The choice to run there often was a conscious decision by the coaching staff.
 
"It's not only intentional but there is always good competition there, it is a great facility. It's a 300-meter track which allows you to run faster and also it helps our budget, it's only three and a half hours away," explained Mastin.
 
Other indoor meets for the Bison will include several Division I schools. OBU will compete at Wichita State, Nebraska and the University of Oklahoma.   
 
"The athletes will have to qualify individually for those meets, but I look for a large number to make that scratch list and get to compete against Big 10 and Big 12 athletes and be competitive on that level," said Mastin. "We try to knock off some people that don't think we can win and you always get good performances when that happens."
 
Mastin hopes that having the national championship relatively close will bring a favorable crowd to Kansas to cheer on the Bison.
 
"One thing that's also a key is our national championship this year will allow, for those that do qualify, potentially a good fan club of friends and family to come up," said Mastin. "We're hoping that people mark that on their calendar and come root us on."