2015 Harper Hawks Men's Track and Field Preview

Daily Herald Article

PALATINE, Ill. – With the indoor season behind, the Harper College men’s track and field team will start its outdoor season on Saturday at the Augustana Invite in Rock Island, Illinois.

The Hawks took sixth place as team at the 2014 national meet but appear primed for bigger things this year with plenty of experience as well as a strong freshman group.

A very talented group of 11 sophomores return this year to the lead the team: Juan Barajas (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg), Zach Stella (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), John Majerus (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove), Connor Williams (/Wauconda), Sebastian Ramirez (Lima, Peru/Palatine), Jordy Arriaga (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling), John Walker (/Huntley), Jalen Griffin (/Larkin), Brad Walls (/Palatine), Junious Matlock (/Springfield), and Alex Brown (/Rolling Meadows).

Barajas won the individual national championship at the 2014 DIII Cross Country National Championships, helping the Hawks win their fourth straight national title. He was also an All-American in both the 5k and 10k at the national meet last spring and an All-American for another national championship winning cross country team in 2013. Stella is also a two-time All-American in cross country and took third in both the 1500m and 4x800m relay at nationals last spring. Majerus has also been on two championship cross country teams and was an All-American in cross country last fall, and Ramirez was a member of both championship squads as well.

Other members of the distance crew include freshmen Adam Brauer (Palatine, lll./Palatine), Emil Kozakiewicz (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), Omar Alhayek (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg), Neil Hanna (Palatine, Ill./Fremd), and T.J. Paton (Fairfield, Calif./Hersey)., all members of the 2014 cross country team. Manny Franco (/Cary-Grove) will be a middle distance runner for the Hawks in 2015.

Led by sophomores Walker, Griffin, and Brown, the sprint team should be strong once again. Walker was a part of last year’s 4x100m relay team that placed sixth at nationals. Griffin did not compete in 2014 but took fourth place in the 100m at nationals as a freshman in 2013. Joining them are newcomers Lamont Griffin (/Palatine), Matt Lisowski (/Rolling Meadows), Joseph Megyery (/Barrington), and Robert Trotter (/Bartlett). Griffin will also compete in the high jump, an event he has already qualified for nationals in.

Nick Dorsen (/Palatine) and Tyler Block (/Conant) will also compete in the jumps this season. Dorsen has already qualified for the national meet in the long jump while Block, who also played soccer for the Hawks, is showing promise in the triple jump.

Eric Theis (/Palatine) offers versatility to the team as he will be competing in the hurdles, relays, and javelin. Ricardo Ruano (/Palatine) will compete in the pole vault and hurdles.

In hopes of continuing the 15-year winning tradition for the throws, head coach Renee Zellner will look to sophomore national qualifier Brad Walls (/Palatine). Walls is focusing on improving all of his distances in the four throwing events, and joining him will be freshmen Laith Kanan (/Palatine) and Edward Phillips (/Schaumburg).

“This men’s team has won five NJCAA Div. III titles in the last eight years, and the goal this year is to add a sixth,” Zellner said.

Harper also welcomes two new members to the coaching staff, Brian Sullivan and Shannon Ennis. Sullivan is a former track and field standout at Monmouth College, where he was a multiple-time conference champion in several relay events and also a runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles. Ennis brings valuable experience to the table and will help the Hawk throwers this season.

Following the Augustana Invite, Harper competes at the Wheaton College Early Invite (April 2), the Chicagoland Outdoor Championships at College of DuPage (April 10), the Concordia University Invite (April 18), and the Illinois Benedictine Twilight (April 24).

The final tune-up before the national meet is the Carroll University Invite on May 2. The 2015 NJCAA DIII Men’s Outdoor T&F Championship will be hosted by Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y. May 7-9.