Review: OAC titles, national ranking and All-Americans highlight Men's Track & Field seasons
By: Joe Clarkson
ADA — The Polar Bear men's track & field team continued a winning tradition through the 2011 indoor and outdoor seasons. For the fourth year in a row, ONU has earned at least one OAC championship, as it brought home the indoor title this season.
Additionally, the program notched five All-American honors at both the indoor and outdoor national championships.
ONU finished the indoor season with a 42-6 overall record, with top 3 finishes in each of its meets. Top finishes of note include a first-place finish at home in the Polar Bear Invitational and a 3rd of 19 finish at the All-Ohio Meet at Kenyon.
Highlighting the Polar Bear Invitational was a school record performance by senior Evan Heyman in the 200-meter dash. He finished in 22.38.
At the Division III All–Ohio Championships later in the season, the Polar Bears took third with 68.5 points, while senior Ryan Flemingearned one of his two NCAA provisional marks of the season in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.48.
The Polar Bears collected their sixth indoor conference title at the 2011 OAC Indoor Track & Field Championship after scoring 160 points, and brought home six conference titles and 12 All-OAC honorees.
Additionally, head coach Jason Maus and assistant coach Michael Scott were named the men's coaching staff of the year.
Juniors Dan Smith, Jacob Schwab and Cory Bailey each collected individual titles.
Smith won the 1,000-meter run, won and set a new school record in the 3,000, earned All-OAC in the 1-mile run and was named the Most Outstanding distance athlete.
Schwab not only took the title in the 400 dash, but also recorded an NCAA provisional mark in the race and Bailey won the 800-meter run.
Bailey also teamed up with seniors Travis Isenberg and Garrett Brown, and sophomore Ben Ankrom to capture the Distance Medley Relay title.
Other All-Conference performers included Fleming, Heyman, McKee, senior Shane Huntley and freshman Francisque Pierre-Jerome.
At the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Schwab earned All-American accolades for his eighth place finish in the 400-meter dash in 49.86.
Much of the momentum the Polar Bears had in the indoor season carried to the outdoor season, as the team finished 29-8 overall record. The team was also recognized by the USTFCCCA midway through the season and ranked No. 18 best program in the country.
Northern kicked off the outdoor season by finishing second of 12 teams at Cincinnati's Early Bird Invitational and was first of seven of the NCAA Division II, III and NAIA schools that competed.
At the All-American Invite at Adrian College (Mich.), Fleming met an NCAA provisional mark in the 100-meter dash. The senior finished in 10.58
At the 2011 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, the Polar Bears finished third with 123 points.
Smith, Schwab and Bailey again won individual titles.
Smith won the 3,000 and was named the Jim Wuske Co-Men's Distance Athlete of the Meet. Schwab won the 400-meter dash and Bailey brought home a win in the 800 run.
McKee, Ankrom, Bailey and Smith teamed up to capture the 4x800 relay title with a time of 7:41.04.
Brown finished second in 400-meter hurdles and earned an NCAA provisional mark with a time 54.17.
Other All-Conference performers included Fleming, Ankrom, Pierre-Jerome and Heyman.
Four track athletes represented ONU at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Ohio Wesleyan. Fleming competed in the 100-meter dash and joined Pierre-Jerome, Heyman and Schwab in the 4x100 relay.
The quartet earned All-American status with an eighth-place finish in the finals in 42.16