LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's track and field team was picked fourth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll.
The Bears earned 43 total points and even a first-place vote, the first in program history, in a survey of the league's head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their teams. Johns Hopkins was the unanimous favorite with 64 points, with Haverford (55) in second and Swarthmore (44) narrowly ahead of Ursinus in third. The Bears garnered one more point than fifth-place Dickinson.
Ursinus brings back a large contingent of major contributors from the squad that placed fifth and earned three gold medals at last year's indoor championship. Tyler Reilly, Bradley Duncan-Taylor, and Andre Kelly were all part of the first-place 4x200 and 4x400 relay units, giving the Bears a pair of winning relays at the indoor meet for the first time in school history.
Nick Galbraith became the first weight throw champion in conference history at the indoor meet a year ago and also claimed fifth place in the shot put, with Griffin McMann taking fourth.
Reilly put on a show at his championship debut, earning silver in the 200-meter dash in addition to his relay haul. Fellow sophomore Octavious Carter initially had the second-best time of that race, but was assessed a lane violation, and will be back to cement himself as one of the conference's top sprinters. Carter was also a member of the gold medal 4x200 relay.
Kelly took home the bronze in the 400-meter dash, where Duncan-Taylor (fifth) and Austin Bittenbender (sixth) also placed. Bittenbender also grabbed eighth place in the long jump.
Zach Crebbin will look to build off a promising championship debut in which he scored a bronze medal in the high jump.
James McDaid reset his own indoor program record to finish fourth in the mile at last season's indoor championship and should get plenty of distance support from a talented cross country group that includes Marcos Maciel, who was seconds behind McDaid as the Bears matched their best-ever finish by landing sixth at the CC championship during the fall.
The Bears kick off the new campaign Friday as they host the annual Bow Tie Invitational.