Photo courtesy of Ohio Northern University.

The Moravian College men's indoor track & field team placed first out of six schools at the 2008 Landmark Conference Championships hosted by Susquehanna University. Moravian had a team score of 194 points with Susquehanna coming in second with 179 points. The Greyhounds also got 6th out of the 66 teams that scored and had one All-American at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships hosted by Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio. This year’s squad was under the direction of first year head coach Walt Wandall who was named the 2008 NCAA Division III Men’s National Indoor Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Wandall and his staff were also named the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year

On the first day of the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships, junior Ozzie Brown (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh HS) captured first place in the men's long jump and earned All-American honors for the second time in his career and first time in the long jump. Brown, pictured at right, became the ninth Moravian student-athlete to win a national championship and eighth in track & field. The next day Brown earned All-America honors for the second time this year and the third time in his career as he finished third in the 55-meter high hurdles in a time of 7.51 seconds.

At the 2008 ECAC Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, where Moravian finished second, freshman Eric Woodruff (Brodheadsville, PA/Pius X HS) earned second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.14 seconds, while senior Nathaniel Tussey (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown Area HS) took sixth in the 55-meter hurdles in an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 7.70 seconds. Also at the ECAC Championships junior Robert Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS) placed eighth in the 55-meer dash in 6.64 seconds while Moravian's 4x880-yard relay team of juniors Jeremiah Reinhart (Doylestown, PA/Pleasant Valley HS) and Jacob Tazik (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing HS), sophomore Steve Parisi (Kunkletown, PA/Pleasant Valley HS) and freshman Connor Skutches (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) placed eighth in a time of 8:07.38.

Brown captured first place the 200-meter dash in a school record time of 21.98 seconds at the ECAC Championships while junior Blair Maginnis (Asbury, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) earned a 14th place finish in the 35-pound weight throw with a toss of 15.07 meters (49 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and sophomore Michael Blenk (Inwood, NY/Lawrence HS) got 21st in the long jump with a leap of 6.12 meters (20 feet, one inch). Senior Allan Fatzinger (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua HS) tied for 12th in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.25 meters (13 feet, 11 1/4 inches) while senior James Bell (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin HS) took 12th in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.63 seconds

At the 2008 Landmark Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, Brown, Woodruff, junior Jared Henrie (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley HS) and freshman Warner Jones (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) won the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:28.66. Brown joined with Bell, Shaffer and Woodruff to win the 4x200-meter relay in an ECAC qualifying time of 1:31.43. Maginnis captured the 35-pound weight throw with an ECAC qualifying toss of 15.50 meters (50 feet, 10 1/4 inches) and the shot put with a distance of 15.08 meters (49 feet, 5 3/4 inches) and Blenk won the triple jump with a distance of 13.53 meters (44 feet, 4 3/4 inches). All of the champions earned Landmark All-Conference First Team honors for their first place finishes.

Moravian had three other individuals and a relay team earn Landmark All-Conference Second Team accolades with second place finishes in their events. Shaffer got second in the 55-meter dash in 6.61 seconds while Woodruff was the runner-up in the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.61 seconds. Junior Alan Woods (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) was tied for second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.40 meters (14 feet, 5 1/4 inches) while Henrie, Reinhart and Tazik and Skutches finished second in the 4,000-meter distance medley relay in a time of 10:50.17.

Tussey, Shaffer, Blenk, Fatzinger, Henrie, seniors Timothy Pagano (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West HS), Vince Pagano (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East HS) and Khizer Tariq (Bethlehem, PA/Saucon Valley HS), junior John McCullough (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley HS) and sophomore Timothy Betz (Havertown, PA/Haverford HS) were all named to the 2008 Landmark Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll while Blenk also earned a spot on the 2008 Landmark Conference Winter All-Academic Team.

Story written by Nick Pepi '10.