The Ursinus College men's track and field team found itself in a tight race to finish as high as second place until the last events at the Centennial Conference indoor championship.
As the scene shifts to the outdoor meet, the Bears hope to take the next step and join the conference's elite.
Ursinus brings a squad loaded with medal contenders to the CC outdoor championship, which gets underway Friday at Muhlenberg and continues throughout the weekend. The Bears finished seventh last season, but with a talented group of veterans and newcomers, they are taking aim at a return to the top three for the first time since 2013.
A primer of the championship, broken down by each day's events:
Friday
Junior Brody Johnson will represent the Bears in the decathlon, already playing with house money due to just six entrants.
Freshman Gary Nagle makes his outdoor championship debut in the pole vault.
Fellow rookie Nick Galbraith was the winner of the inaugural weight throw competition at the CC indoor championship, and he comes in seeded fourth for the outdoor edition with a season-best of 120-3. Sophomore George Psaradakis (115-8) is also projected to finish in scoring range.
The Bears have a chance to grab some points in the 10000 meters, where senior Andrew Voyack (34:28.50) and junior Daniel Powell (34:29.97) are slotted eighth and ninth, respectively.
Saturday
After Johnson finishes up the decathlon, Ursinus gets a prime scoring opportunity in the long jump. Junior Austin Bittenbender comes in ranked fourth in the conference (22-5), and freshman Zach Crebbin is seventh (21-2).
Sophomore Griffin McMann enters as a medal contender in the discus, seeded third with a top mark of 137-1.
Ursinus could have two medalists in the 400-meter dash, where freshman Tyler Reilly is the top seed at 49.20 and fellow rookie Bradley Duncan-Taylor (50.57) is fourth. The Bears have had four outdoor champions in the event, most recently Patrick Mekongo in 2015.
The 100-meter dash could be similarly fruitful for the Bears, with freshman Octavious Carter (third, 11.17) and Bittenbender (fifth, 11.32) each among the top five seeded entrants.
Crebbin's best event is the high jump and the freshman is seeded accordingly, projected third at 6-2.75.
Junior Andre Kelly is 13th in the 800 (2:00.73).
Freshman Brandon Slaboda hopes to score in the 400-meter hurdles as the seventh seed (1:02.55).
After competing in the 100 prelims, Reilly will come back for the 200 as the second seed (22.44) behind Alexander Mollick of Johns Hopkins. Carter is sixth at 22.81 seconds.
The day concludes with the 4x800-meter relay.
Sunday
McMann, ideally already with a discus medal under his belt, will contend for another in the shot put. Last year's seventh-place finisher is third with a mark of 47-8.5, while Galbraith occupies the seventh slot with a 40-6.
Carter, Reilly, freshman Tyree Williams-Jackson, and Bittenbender turned in the conference's second-best time in the 4x100-meter relay (42.93), trailing only Johns Hopkins and hoping to become the first Ursunus champion in the sprint relay since 2015.
The Bears boasted four of the top seven place winners in the javelin a year ago, and are eyeing a repeat performance with some added firepower at the top. Junior Mike Felix is the favorite at 188-9, almost three feet clear of second-seeded Luca Cerbin of Swarthmore; Felix hopes to become the first Ursinus javelin champion since Greg Zara claimed back-to-back golds in 2008 and 2009. Bittenbender, who was seventh a year ago, is seeded sixth (168-11), while sophomore Evan Giannetti is seventh (164-9).
Following the finals of the 100, 200, 400, 800, and hurdles, junior James McDaid will try to make a run up the standings in the 5000 meters, where he is seeded 14th (15:15.82).
The championship wraps up with the 4x400-meter relay, where the Bears are seeded third (3:25.04).