BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's indoor track & field team will compete for its fifth straight Landmark Conference Indoor Championship on Saturday, March 1 at the 2014 meet being hosted by Susquehanna University and starting at 11:00 a.m.
The Greyhounds have captured five of the first six Landmark Conference titles since the conference began in 2007-08. Third-year Head Coach Jesse Baumann has led Moravian to both the men's and women's indoor and outdoor championships in each of his first two years as well as four cross country titles since he took over the program.
"We've been peaking well at the right time of year," stated Baumann. "Our weight throwers, Ryan Karnopp, our sprinters, and Chris Ossont are just a few examples of athletes that have really stepped up in the last two meets, so we have high hopes for what we can do at this meet. Susquehanna appears to be our biggest challenge in the team competition at the moment. They're very well balanced in all the events, some of their throwers, high jumpers, and distance runners have really stepped up lately, so it should be a really close meet."
Senior All-American Kristopher Joint is a three-time defending Landmark indoor champ in the triple jump and also the reigning Landmark Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. He currently sits second in the nation this winter with a mark of 14.82 meters (48 feet, 7 ½ inches) that Joint has recorded at three different meets. He will also compete in the long jump as he holds the longest leap in the conference this season at 7.08 meters (23 feet, 2 ¾ inches).
Senior Yacine Zerdoum leads the Greyhounds' sprinters with the fastest 400 meters time at 50.32. He also had the third-best Landmark time in the 200 meters at 23.26 and third fastest in the 60 meters at 7.21.
Sophomore Albert Myers is second to Joint in the long jump at 6.97 meters (2 feet, 10 ½ inches), and he also has the second fastest qualifying time in the 60-meter dash in 7.09 seconds. Myers is also expected to run in the 200-meter dash and on the Greyhounds' 4x200-meter relay team.
Sophomores Tyler Dwyer and Gavin Bailey and freshmen Matt Barnett and Austin Gardener will also participate in the sprint events for Moravian and all are in the top 10 of their events on the performance lists.
Senior David Cariello has the fastest time in the Landmark in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.44 seconds, and he will also compete in the pole vault and the long jump. Carilello has the second-best height in the pole vault at 4.40 meters (14 feet, 5 ¼ inches) while he has the third best leap in the long jump at 6.71 meters (22 feet, ¼ inch).
Karnopp holds the best height in the pole vault at 4.88 meters (16 feet), which is currently tied for seventh in the nation. Ossont enters the meet with the second-best triple jump in the conference at 13.90 meters (45 feet, 1 ¼ inches) for the Hounds while freshman Kahron Walker has the top height of 1.98 meters (six feet, six inches) in the high jump.
Moravian will rely on juniors Dillon Farrell and Alec Duncan as well as freshman Cory Taggert in the distance races.
The Greyhounds have the top five student-athletes in the 35-pound weight throw with freshman Matt Jones holding the top mark of 14.50 meters (47 feet, seven inches). Seniors Timothy Lorah and Frank Yannotta, juniors Jeffrey Gallagher and Parker Munson and freshman Greg Cahill will also contribute in the throws for Moravian with Munson entering the meet with the top throw in the shot put at 14.61 meters (47 feet, 11 ¼ inches).
Saturday's meet is being hosted by Susquehanna for the seventh straight year, and live results can be found at http://tumeytiming.com/mm/Landmarkindoor/ and more information on the meet is available at http://gosusqu.com/sports/mtrack/2013-14/releases/Home_Meet_Information.
