By GUY PERRIN Freelancer
The Western Oregon men’s and women’s track teams will open the 2015 indoor track & field season on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Dempsey Indoor Arena in Seattle, Wash.
The indoor track & field facility is located on University of Washington’s campus, and will be the site of many of Western’s competitions this season.
The Wolves, led by head coach Mike Johnson, will have the difficult task this year of replacing the production and leadership of the teams departed seniors.
With the likes of Kody Rhodes, Brett Campbell, Madison McClung and Ryan Hansen having graduated, it will be up to the returning athletes to replace their production at competitions, as well as the invaluable leadership that they provided in practice every day.
“The Dempsey arena is one of the best places to compete in the nation,” said coach Johnson. “Unfortunately that means the entry standards are very high, and we need to be ready to compete with only about 12 days of preparation.”
The men’s team will rely heavily on junior distance runner, Josh Hanna, who will be looking to defend his conference title in the 800m run, as well as returning senior distance runner, Brady Beagley, who will be able to compete for one last time this winter in the mile and 3,000m runs.
Beagley will be looking to add a gold medal to his impressive career resume.
Jeff Howard, who placed in both the 60m and 200m sprints at last year’s conference meet, will be tasked with shouldering the load for the sprinters this year as he looks to earn a spot at the podium by the end of this season.
“This year’s budget restrictions will reduce the number of competitors we are able to take to each meet, and fewer of them will benefit from this experience,” said Coach Johnson.
The women will lean on returning juniors, Audrey Hellesto and Rebecca Laible, as they look to improve on last year’s 7th place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Hellesto, a sprinter, placed 3rd in the 400m sprint at last year’s conference meet by less than a second, and will look to take home the gold at the end of this season. Laible returns this year following a 3rd place finish in the triple jump last season, and she will also look to build on an impressive sophomore campaign and bring home a gold medal in February.
The women bring a deep group of distance runners that will look to surprise this year after a disappointing 2014 campaign. The team features a promising group of returners, including Bailey Beeson (7th in 800m), Stephanie Stuckey (11th in Mile, 12th in 3,000m) and Rachel Crawford (12th in Mile) as they look to be the strength of the team throughout the season.
