Harper men pursue 4th straight championship
Under the direction of longtime track and field coach Renee Zellner, the Harper College men's team is seeking the program's fourth straight NJCAA national championship this season.
And the Hawks welcome back several key members from last year's squad, including All-American Anthony Bavaro (1,600-meter relay, from Elk Grove) and national qualifier Chris Hoffman (Hoffman Estates).
Nate Stadeker, meanwhile, is looking for his third NJCAA championship. He was part of last year's track team and recently completed a season with the Harper wrestling team, which also won a national title.
High school teammates Travis Pruitt and Trak Myer (both from Freeport) are also back, and Isiah Holcombe (Hoffman Estates) will make the transition from basketball to track. All of them were national point-getters last season.
But Zellner will not rely solely on her sophomores.
Freshmen Zaire Harris, Khalid Mayes and Nick Smith (Elgin) will looked apon to make a contribution for the Hawks, and Garrett Dorsey (Wauconda) will be looked on to score points in the 400.
Lake Zurich graduate Mark Nieman will compete in two events, the pole vault and the decathlon. Also looking to compete in the decathlon is freshman Xzavier Kimbrough, who was part of the football team last fall. Jarrett Austin and Mark Niemann hope to score in several events this season as well.
Another pair of two-sports athletes return this season after not competing in track and field in last spring: Tom Busse (Schaumburg) and cross country All-American Jesus Escareno (Rolling Meadows) will be looked upon to compete in the distance events. Escareno's best event appears to be the steeplechase.
"This team is very well-rounded, with exceptional talent and depth," said Zellner.
Tom Johnson (Lake Zurich), Josh Coonich, Marco Enriquez (Lake Zurich) and Ryan Loftus (Elk Grove) all look to make a contribution on relay teams this season.
Women's team: Having multisport athletes on your roster is not always a good thing.
Just ask Harper track and field coach Renee Zellner.
As the freshman-laden Harper women's track and field team enters the season, the Hawks are already dealing with injuries to key contributors - injuries suffered playing basketball for the Hawks.
The veteran coach Renee Zellner has lost the services of a pair of sophomores - Victoria Mikszta (Hoffman Estates) and Betsy Bailey (Palatine) - to season-ending knee injuries.
Bailey, who won the national shot put championship last spring, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in February and will be redshirted this season. Mikszta, the national high jump champion who also ran cross country for the Hawks last fall, also tore her meniscus.
"We have lost a lot of points," Zellner said of the injuries to Mikszta and Bailey.
Also unable to compete due to injury is Palatine graduate Emma Maslanka.
It's not all bad news for the women's team, though. De'Larissa Morris (Streamwood) will be counted on to compete in multiple events. She has qualified for the national meet in the long jump, shot put and high jump. Zellner also said Morris is "good in sprints and the throws."
The Hawks have a trio of national qualifiers in the 5,000 meters: Sophomores Chelsea McPherson (Palatine), Elisse Rene Lorenc and freshman Janet Franco (Schaumburg).
Barrington graduate Robin Bingham is the Hawks' top competitor in discus, and she will also throw javelin and run sprints and relays for the Hawks.
Karaline Bansik (Elk Grove) is the Hawks' top jumper, qualifying in the pole vault and high jump, and she will also run the 800 meters.
Lindsey Weinberg (Palatine) has also qualified for nationals in the pole vault, and Anne Craigen from Conant has qualified in the shot put.