Central Michigan University Athletics
Men's Track Begins Indoor Season With Chippewa Open
1/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Jan. 6, 2004
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THIS WEEK - The Central Michigan University men's track and field team will compete as a team for the first time since it won the Mid-American Conference outdoor championship last season on Friday, January 9, at the Chippewa Open.
The non-scoring event will begin with field events at 5 p.m., and track events will start at 6 p.m. The meet will feature competition from Northwood, Lake Superior State and Cornerstone as well as numerous unattached competitors.
GETTING A FEEL - "We are trying to find out where we are in this first meet," said head coach Jim Knapp. "Everything we do is geared toward the conference meet and this weekend is about seeing where we are and where we need to be."
COACHING STAFF - Head coach Jim Knapp is entering his 19th season at the helm of the Chippewa track and field program. His efforts in 2003 were the best of his career as he led CMU to a second-place finish in the MAC indoor championship and a conference title in the outdoor season. He was named MAC "Coach of the Year" in both of the seasons.
Assistant coach Craig Fuller will begin his 15th season as an assistant at CMU. He is in charge of the distance runners and is head cross country coach. His cross country teams have won back-to-back MAC titles and have finished in the top 20 nationally in the last two years. Fuller has been named MAC "Coach of the Year" three times, including the last two seasons.
SEASON OUTLOOK - After winning its first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship during 2003 outdoor season, the Central Michigan University men's track team is not resting on its laurels, though.
In fact, it has even loftier goals for 2004.
"Our focus right now is winning the indoor because we've never won one before," said Knapp. "We'll probably be the favorites this year but it won't be easy.
"We have most of our athletes back and if we win it again, we'll do it the same way we did it last year with depth and balance."
Two things stick out to Knapp when he remembers last spring's title which was held at CMU's Bennett Track.
"One is the way we won it with so many guys scoring and winning only two individual championships," Knapp said. "And, the second is that we had 92 former CMU track athletes come back to lend their support to the team. That just made it extra special."
CMU won the crown with 158 points while perennial power Eastern Michigan was second with 137.25 and Kent State was third at 116.5.
Among the many returnees from that "team" triumph are Mike Sidlauskas (Sparta/Jr.) and Steve Wolf (Sterling Heights/Sr.). Sidlauskas won the discus with a throw of 169-2 and was fourth in the hammer throw (187-10) while Wolf was CMU's MVP with seconds in the high jump (7-1), long jump (24-5) and triple jump (47-9). He accounted for 24 points.
