Men’s track looks to surprise at PAC’s
With spring in the air, the Waynesburg University men’s track team, looks to turn a couple of heads at the event that it has been waiting for – the arrival of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships.
For the rather youthful men’s squad, including upstart first-year sprinter Mark Minjock, it is a chance to go out and show what they can do on the conference’s biggest stage.
“It’s a good feeling to be competing here,” said Minjock. “I am determined to do the best I can to score points for the team.”
For some of the veterans on the team, it will be one of the last time they take to the track with their Jacket teammates.
“It has slowly been eating at me more and more as the season progressed,” said senior thrower Travis Schubert. “I’m sure it’s going to be an emotional day when I have to throw my last implement.”
This past week, the Jackets competed in the PAC South Quad Tournament, in which they took first place, beating out three of their PAC rivals: Bethany, Saint Vincent, and Washington & Jefferson. This event, along with a lot of hard work, has prepared the Jackets for the big event, according to Minjock and Schubert.
“I feel that the whole season has helped us prepare for this meet,” said Minjock. “We are all coming into place and have worked our way to get to the point we are at now.”
“Its always a good feeling to get a victory in anything you do,” said Schubert. “However, we went about it with more intensity at practice. We had a bunch of great performances [at Bethany] and we hope to take the momentum we have and get the same results in the PAC Championships.”
In the last few PAC Championships, the Yellow Jackets have come close to winning it all, but fell just short. In the last three seasons, they have come in third, second and fourth place, respectively. Seniors like Schubert are looking to finally get over the hump and bring home a first place trophy for Waynesburg University.
“I can say from being around the throwers that we seemed to be more disciplined and focused,” said Schubert. “The team, as a whole, has been putting in crazy amounts of work and practice, which is how you get the positive results we want in the end.”
The Jackets will look to its senior leaders to help guide them through the Outdoor Championships and achieve the goals that were set at the beginning of the season.
The PAC Championship tournament starts this Friday and runs through Saturday. It will feature all nine of the PAC teams competing for the top spot and all the glory.
Last season, Grove City was able to take the PAC Outdoor Championships; however, the Jackets had some standouts on the field. Then-junior hurdler Byrum Louco took home the PAC Track MVP, as well as the PAC Track and Field MVP. He placed first in the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles.
Also being recognized at last year’s PAC Outdoor Championships was then-junior jumper Jason Propst, who finished as an Honorable Mention All-PAC selection in the high jump.
This year’s crop of athletes is confident that they can get it done and follow it the footsteps of their successors.
“Our keys to success are us performing the way we have been performing all year long,” said Minjock. “We have the potential to do great things. We just need to fulfill our roles.”
“Quite honestly, we just got to do what we do best – perform,” added Schubert. “We have everything it takes to win. We have a strong team overall, and we just have to go out and perform our best and we will come out on top.”
As head coach Jason Falvo always says, “you are either all in or all out,” and this year’s team is definitely buying in to this team’s success.
“Our team is locked and loaded,” said Minjock. “We are going to make a surprise at the PAC Championships.”