The Ursinus College men's track and field team has made a steady climb up the Centennial Conference ranks in recent years.
From a last-place finish at the outdoor championships in 2017, the Bears ascended to seventh the following year and all the way up to third in 2019. After the cancelation of last year's outdoor meet, they're eager to show they're full-fledged contenders.
Johns Hopkins has captured each of the last six Centennial outdoor titles, but Ursinus plans to give the Blue Jays a stern challenge as the championships get underway this afternoon with the hammer throw competition.
Buoyed by a stable of star throwers and sprinters, the Bears have the makeup of a squad that could put points on the board in bunches.
Much of Ursinus' hopes rest on the prowess of its throwers, and the hammer squad will look to get off to a fast start on its home field this afternoon. The Bears could have as many as five place-winners, a group headlined by school record-holder Griffin McMann. The senior broke the program record early in the spring and has extended it twice, coming into today's competition as the favorite to claim gold. Nick Galbraith, the 2019 outdoor champion in the hammer, is seeded third.
George Psaradakis (5th), Isaiah Battle (6th), and Tim Holzapfel (8th) are all seeded in scoring range.
After Friday's hammer, the championships shift to Muhlenberg, where Scotty Wood Stadium will host a one-day smorgasbord.
The Bears figure to put up a big number in the javelin, where Evan Giannetti is the favorite and among the top-25 in Division III with a top mark of 55.39 meters. Riley Grourke is seeded second, Galbraith is fourth, and Christian Torres is seventh.
McMann is the favorite in the discus, where his season high of 46.56 meters is good for 31st in the country. The senior will bid to become the first discus champion in program history.
Torres is seeded third and will aim for a medal in the discus, while Battle is sixth; Galbraith (9th), Bonanny (10th), and Holzapfel (11th) are all projected just outside of scoring range.
McMann, who claimed bronze at the 2019 championships, is the No. 2 seed in the shot put; the 2020 indoor champion trails only Muhlenberg's Elek Ferency in the event this spring. Harrison Bonanny (7th), Galbraith (8th), and Psaradakis (9th) will all challenge for places.
The sprints are likely to be another fruitful set of events for Ursinus. Octavious Carter is ranked ninth in the 100-meter dash, but carries a pedigree of championship success with him as the bronze medalist from the 2019 outdoor meet.
Tyler Reilly, silver medalist at the most recent outdoor championships, is seeded 3rd in the 200-meter dash. Carter placed 8th in the event in 2019 and shares a top time with Max Gadsden this spring.
Reilly will also strive to defend his 400-meter dash title from the 2019 meet and comes in as the No. 2 seed behind only Hopkins' Mickey van Gieson. Tucker McGrath is seeded 5th and Dolan Cox 9th, while Payton Stanziani is also set to compete.
Carter and Reilly will join Tyree Williams-Jackson and Gadsden for the 4x100-meter relay, where everyone save Gadsden was part of the silver-winning quartet in 2019.
Reilly, Greaves, Slaboda, and Stanziani are the favorites to defend Ursinus' gold medal from the 2019 outdoor meet.
Daniel Maloney is a medal contender in the 110-meter hurdles, while Devon Greaves and Brandon Slaboda hope to earn a place in the 400-meter hurdles.
Zachary Crebbin finished sixth in both the high jump and long jump at the 2019 championships and enters this year's edition as a contender in the former, where his top mark of 1.93 meters ranks right behind Muhlenberg's Ben Arehart and Hopkins' Justin Canedy. Crebbin is seeded eighth in the long jump and will also factor in the triple jump.
Kenyon Sprankle and Muheer Mardirosyan will represent Ursinus in the pole vault.
The Bears have never had a steeplechase champion, but that could change on Sunday as Giles Daly challenges for gold. His top time (9:37.78) is a mere .04 seconds off the front-running pace set by Muhlenberg's Declan Walkush. Colin McCarty is seeded fourth and will aim to join Daly on the podium.
Marcos Maciel is ranked fifth in the 1500, while Josh Klingele is seeded 10th in the 800. Maciel will also run the 3000 meters alongside Kyle Berardi.
Berardi, Henry Wilt, and Jesse Wun are slated to take on the 10k.
McGrath, Klingele, Daly, and Wun are the Bears' first-choice 4x800 relay.