AL STRAIN STAFF WRITER
After bringing home two IIAC titles last year, the Wartburg indoor track and field teams look to carry last year’s success into this year.
Last year saw head coach Marcus Newsom’s women’s squad bring home a national runner-up trophy, while the men brought home 12th-place honors.
Newsom said the key component to the team’s success this year will be team unity.
“The big thing for us is our closeness. We had success not just because of great performances but because we had a sincere relationship with each other,” Newsom said.
This year’s team will bring a lot of experience as last years season saw success in both individual events and the relays.
At last year’s national meet, the Knights brought home runner-up honors in the 4x400-meter relay and fifth-place honors in the distance medley. Kelsey Steffens, Jenny Kordik, Hannah Baker and Christine Marchik return in the 4x400-meter relay; and Kordik, Emily VanOosbree, Amanda and Jennifer Kuiken return for the distance medley.
“A strength of this family has always been how close-knit everyone is on the team,” Baker said.
Baker looks to continue her success from last season where she finished third at the national meet in the 400-meter dash. She also brought home conference titles in the 400-meter dash and long jump.
The women’s team will also look to the distance events, as the Kuiken’s will return, along with Anna Kraayenbrink.
Kraayenbrink brought home fifth place honors from nationals last year in the 5,000-meter run and first place finishes in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs from the conference meet.
The Kuiken duo brought home second and third places in the 800-meter run and the mile and were also part of the conference championship distance medley team. Jennifer also brought home sixth-place honors in the mile from the national meet.
Another strong IIAC performer was Akeya Aimable who finished in third place in the 55-meter dash and was part of the conference championship 4x200-meter relay. She was also a member of the runner-up 4x400-meter relay team at the conference meet.
With so many athletes returning, the women have high hopes for this season’s success.
“We definitely have an expectation of sweeping the conference. In addition to that we are going above and beyond this year in focusing on the national meet,” Baker said. “We want to bring home a first-place trophy. That is our ultimate team goal.”
This year, the men will look to Brian Chenoweth among other runners who came home All-Americans from last year’s national meet.
Chenoweth brought home seventh-place honors in the 5,000-meter run. He also brought home a conference championship in the 5,000 and was runner-up in the 3,000-meter run.
John Koehler, Damoan Lottt and John Kuckelman will return to the team after top finishes at last years IIAC championships. Koehler brought home runner-up honors in the 400-meter dash.
Lott and Kuckelman will head up the field events as Lott brought home a second-place finish in the triple jump and Kuckleman finished in third in the weight throw.
Derek Peth will help the Knights as he was part of a distance medley that placed fourth at the national meet and brought home a conference championship last year. Peth also finished in fourth place at the IIAC championship meet.
Jon Stover brought home a fourth place finish for the Knights in the 5,000-meter run.
“We have a good nucleus of young men,” Newsom said.
The men are coming off of a 12th-place national finish, in which they were the second-highest IIAC team in the standings. Loras finished in a tie for eighth place, just one point ahead of the Knights.
“The men are coming off a fifth-place team finish at the national [outdoor] meet, the best in Wartburg’s history. Now that they have experienced that they are bound to want to get back there,” Newsom said.