Wabash Men; Ohio Wesleyan Women Selected As Favorites To Win 2012 NCAC Track & Field Titles

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The 28th annual North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held this weekend (May 4-5) at Frank B. Fuhrer Field at Robertson Athletic Complex on the campus of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The Wabash men will look to defend the North Coast title after capturing its first in school history last year, while the Ohio Wesleyan women look for their fourth league crown in a row and the fifth in the past six seasons. Both squads have been tabbed as the favorites this year on the pre-championship coaches' polls.

Wabash claimed the top spot in the men's poll by securing all nine first-place votes cast, and 90 total points. Ohio Wesleyan totaled 81 points to finish second and Allegheny (68) was predicted to finish third, followed by Oberlin (60) in fourth and DePauw (51) in fifth, while Wittenberg (50), Denison (41), Wooster (23) and Kenyon (22) rounded out places six through nine, respectively. The Little Giants, who are led by fourth-year head coach Clyde Morgan, will be led this weekend by senior Kevin McCarthy (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) and junior Jake Waterman (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville). McCarthy currently ranks second in the nation in the 1,500-meter run (3:47.20) and fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:05.36), while Waterman holds the fastest time posted by a Div. III student-athlete this season in the 800-meter run with a school-record clocking of 1:48.64 at the Polytan Invitational at Indiana University on April 22nd.

In the pre-championship women’s coaches’ poll, Ohio Wesleyan garnered all eight first-place votes cast, and 80 total points. Oberlin totaled 72 points to finish second. DePauw and Wooster finished in a tie for third with 54 points each, followed by Kenyon in fifth (52), Allegheny in sixth (44), Wittenberg in seventh (34) and Denison in eighth (26). The Battling Bishops, who are led by ninth-year head coach Kris Boey, will look for strong performances this weekend from junior Hannah Benzing (Findlay, OH/Liberty Benton) and the sophomore duo of Sarah Bechtel (Bellefontaine, OH/Bellefontaine) and Cara DeAngelis (Norton, OH/Ellet). Bechtel topped the program's benchmark at the 2012 Marv Frye Invitational in the pole vault with a leap of 12'01.50", while DeAngelis also set the school record in the 1,500-meter run at the Marv Frye Invitational with a time of 4:34.24. Additionally, Benzing currently ranks 15th in the nation this season in both the discus (143'00.00") and the hammer (166'04.00").

The first scoring events of the 2012 meet, the men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon, took place last past weekend at Ohio Wesleyan University. Ohio Wesleyan junior Clare Duffy (Concord, OH/Painesville Riverside) won the women’s Heptathlon title with 3,912 points, while DePauw freshman Jack Leibovitz (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence Central) won the men’s Decathlon title with 6,165 points.

TICKET PRICES: The prices for admission to the 2012 NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships are $5 for adults, $3 for children (18 and under), while NCAC students with a valid student ID are admitted for free. A two-day pass is also available for $10.