Cedarville College
Yellow Jackets
1998 Men's and Women's Track & Field
Women's Season Outlook
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| 1997 NCCAA Champions |
The Lady Jacket track and field squad expects a challenge as they seek their fifth straight National Christian College Athletic Association banner. The four-time defending champs don't possess the overwhelming depth they've enjoyed in recent years, and they won't be on their home track. The meet has been moved to Marion, Indiana where it will be hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University.
"We feel like we'll have a chance to win it," claimed head coach Paul Orchard. "Our team is smaller in terms of the number of athletes, but we still have some talented people. The meet will certainly be closer than it has been."
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| Becky Jordan (front left) |
Distance running is always a strength in Cedarville track and field and this year is no exception. Becky Jordan, a junior out of Carmel, IN, has already earned NAIA All-America honors this season in the 5,000 meter indoor event. Orchard says the three-time NAIA cross country All- American will focus on the 3,000; 5,000; and 10,000 meter runs and could meet the national outdoor meet qualifying standard in any or all of them.
Rachelle Elder, a senior from Gilman, WI, will also specialize in the same three events. She was an NCCAA All-American in the 3,000 last year and in the fall earned NCCAA All-America recognition in cross country.
Twenty-seven athletes are on the 1998 roster and at least one-quarter of them have earned All- America or All-America Scholar-Athlete accolades from either the NAIA or NCCAA. The only home meet comes on March 28 with the Cedarville Invitational.
1998 Men's Season Outlook
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| Dan Hudson |
The Cedarville College men's track and field program boasts the depth that the Lady Jackets lack this season. If there's strength in numbers then the Yellow Jackets have it with 38 athletes on the roster including nine seniors.
"This is the deepest men's team I've had in my five years at Cedarville," proclaimed head coach Paul Orchard. "Most events are covered very well. Our biggest strength will be in the distance events and the resurgence of our cross country program will help us score more points in those events."
The Jackets will get a boost from runners who helped the cross country team place 12th nationally at the NAIA Nationals and fourth overall in the NCCAA. Junior Ben Thompson (Caledonia, MI) and freshman Ed Letts (Rio Grande, NJ) both earned NCCAA All-America honors in cross country in 1997 while senior Eric Crawford (Columbus, OH) was an All- American two years ago.
Linton Ellis, a senior from Kingston, Jamaica, hopes to recover from a preseason leg injury that kept him on the sideline for the entire basketball season. He is the two-time defending NCCAA 100 meter dash champion. He anchored the NCCAA 100 meter relay championship squad in both 1995 and 1996 and also won the 200 meter title two years ago.
In the field, Jon McGinnis is a two-time NAIA All-American in the pole vault. The junior from Springfield, OH finished sixth outdoors in 1997 and was sixth in the most recent indoor meet. He was also an NCCAA All-American and was the Mid-Ohio Conference champion. Dan Hudson, a senior from Rudyard, MI, was an NCCAA All-American in the javelin.
