Sacramento State

Last season, Director of Track & Field Kathleen Raske elected to redshirt 30 members of the team, leaving the Hornets with an inexperienced group which felt some growing pains during the year. That decision, however, gives Sacramento State a veteran roster in 2015 for both the men and women and has the Hornets poised for another run at Big Sky titles.

"We have to remember how to work and claw to the top," Raske explained. "This is one of the best men's teams we've had in a long time and I'm really looking forward to see them perform at a high level."

Each season, Raske tasks her seniors to come up with a theme for the year — the 2015 mantra will be "Getting Serious".

"The team wanted to focus on the details and get better to become the best they can. We can't operate at the level we've become accustomed to without them being serious."

Sacramento State will compete at four indoor meets before heading to the Big Sky Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz. The meet will feature 12 teams as Idaho has joined the conference.

The outdoor season will see the Hornets host three meets on its resurfaced track. The Big Sky championships will be held at Eastern Washington with the NCAA West Preliminary returning to Austin, Texas. The NCAA Championships will remain at Oregon.
 

• Michael Turner will be a junior during the outdoor season and a sophomore during the indoor campaign. Last year, Turner qualified for the Big Sky outdoor meet in both the 100 and 200.

• Junior Osaretin Ogbeide and senior Paul Lyons complete the returners in the sprints. Ogbeide competed in the 100, 200 and 400 a season ago, advancing to the Big Sky outdoor championships in the 100 and indoor 200. Lyons will add depth during the indoor season in the 400 before turning his attention to the hurdles during the outdoor portion of the schedule.

• Five newcomers could all be key contributors for Sacramento State in the sprints. Junior college transfer Eric Adorno posted the fastest time on the team in the 60 and 200 at the Green & Gold intrasquad meet in December. Adorno most recently completed at Modesto JC where he was second in the 100 and 200 at the Big 8 Conference meet. Adorno was also part of the 4x100 relay team which advanced to the state meet.

Freshmen Kyle Orloff, Jelani Brice-Moore and Karsten Niederer and JC transfer Alec Acevedo complete the sprinters. Orloff will complete in the 200 and 400 and will also be a part of the relays. Brice-Moore spent the early portion of his high school career in Arizona where he was the state champion in the 100 and 400.

"Eric and Kyle are both poised to make an immediate impact," Raske said.

"Evan ran 1:56 in the 800 at the Green & Gold," Raske said. "It's a new approach going with the hybrid group but the intrasquad meet was a success.".

• Adam Huhyn and Darrell Jackson also return to the unit. Huhyn, a sophomore, was a 200/400 runner a year ago who qualified for the Big Sky meet in the 400. Jackson is the lone returning 800 runner having advanced for the Big Sky meet a year ago.

• Transfer Christian Gonzales will guide the newcomers. Gonzales has attended Southern Oregon University as well as College of the Sequoias JC where he won the conference title in the 1500. Freshman Jacob Williams could also compete. Williams was an all-Central Section performer for Buchanan HS in Clovis, Calif.

• Jacob Huston led the Hornet men during the cross country season and will be one of the top threats in the distance races. Huston will focus on events ranging from the 1500/mile to the 5K. He will also compete in the distance medley relay indoors.

• Dominic D'Acquisto (right) is one of the dozens of Hornets who redshirted last indoor season. He placed sixth in the steeplechase at the Big Sky meet in 2013 and can also run the 800, 1500 and the DMR. D'Acquisto ranks fifth in school history in the steeple (9:06.33), is third in the indoor 3K, sixth in the 5K and eighth in the mile.

• JC transfer Edwardo Vasquez is in his first season with the Hornets after earning all-state honors at Glendale JC. Vasquez was fifth at the state meet in the 1,500 as a sophomore in 2013.

• Fellow junior Casey Wheeler will also run both hurdle events during the outdoor season. The Loomis, Calif., native has qualified for the Big Sky outdoor championships in both events in each of his previous seasons. Wheeler is also ranked among the top 10 in school history in a pair of events. He is sixth in the 60-hurdles (8.17) and 10th in the 400-hurdles (53.11).

"Casey is much improved," Raske said. "He got serious this summer and has bought in to what we are trying to accomplish."

• Junior college transfer Eric Walden will add depth in the short hurdles. Walden began his collegiate career at Washington State before spending last year at Spokane Falls CC. Freshman Austin Tinsley is slated to compete in both the short and long hurdles during his first season with the team. While at Santa Margarita Catholic HS, Tinsley was a state meet qualifier in the 300-hurdles.

• Turner will pair with senior Julian Young who finished fourth indoors before redshirting during the outdoor season. Young also placed fifth at the conference indoor meet in 2013.

• Other returners include Ricahrd Cooper and Gathunga Ndirangu, who will also triple jump.

• Newcomers include redshirt freshman Cory Barger, JC transfer Alec Acevedo and true freshmen Mitchell Bland and Adrienne Jackson. Bland was third at the California state meet in the high jump and fourth in the triple jump as a senior.

"Mitchell shows to be highly competitive in all three jumps and we are excited to see what he can do his freshman year," Raske said. "He was one of five guys who long jumped over 6.90 meters at the intrasquad meet which showed our depth."

• The Hornets will have four high jumpers comprised of Bland, Barger, Billy Eng and Max Jette. Eng is the only one of the quartet to have any collegiate experience. Last year, he finished fifth in the high jump at the Big Sky Indoor Championships and also qualified for the outdoor meet.

• Two talented returning pole vaulters will be joined by two newcomers giving Sacramento State four athletes who are "all capable of winning", according to Raske. Steven Pust is coming off a 2014 season where he finished fifth at the Big Sky indoor championships and sixth at the outdoor meet. Pust is currently fifth on the school indoor list (16-00.75) and tied for sixth outdoors (16-04.75). The other returner is senior Kyle Fraley has qualified for the Big Sky meet the last three years. Fraley is also a member of the indoor top 10 list with a best of 15-09.00 which ties him for sixth place.

• The newcomers are comprised of true freshmen David Bean and Ryan Pust (Steven's younger brother). Both were their respective section champions as seniors in high school.

"We're expecting big things for Zach this season," she said. "Our goal is for him to finish among the top 16 indoors for the second straight season and have a chance to become an All-American. Outdoors, he's a fifth-year senior and will lead this team while competing in the shot put, discus and hammer."

• On most teams in the Big Sky, junior Richard Casas would be the leader in the shot put. With Coniglio redshirting last outdoor season, Casas led the Hornets and placed fifth at the Big Sky meet in the event. His best of 53-00.00 ranks him sixth at Sacramento State indoors.

• James Kinloch and Matthew Sepulveda will guide the team in the discus and hammer, respectively. Kinloch also redshirted in 2014 a year after qualifying for the NCAA West Regional and placing third at the Big Sky meet in the discus. His best of 173-02 is the second longest in school history. Sepulveda placed seventh in the hammer at the Big Sky meet last season and cracked the top 10 in school history in the event.

• Newcomers Kyle Peterson and Matt Thomas could each see action during the season but will have the advantage of being mentored by the veteran group.

• Garrett Jacobs is back for his second season with the Hornets and is the team's leading returner in the javelin. Jacobs qualified for the Big Sky meet in 2014 and could also be joined by Max Jette and Alec Acevedo.

• Acevedo won the NorCal junior college title in the decathlon as a sophomore at Fresno City College. He also advanced to the state meet where he scored a career best 6,698 points to place fifth.

"Alec is a great athlete but is still learning," Raske said. "He's never been coached in some of the events so his potential in unknown."