2008 Season Review

The Trojans produced another quality season that was highlighted by three new school records, twelve Top Ten performances, and six Trojans earning All-American honors at the NAIA National Championships.

A major strength of this team was the depth of the squad as well as its balance as each group held their own against the best.  The Trojans finished third at the Mid-Central Conference Championships and tied for third at the NCCAA Championships which featured 14 teams.

Though featuring only three seniors, each brought specific talents to the team.

Ryan Gregory was able to compete only twice due to an injury, but daily brought leadership to the sprint group with his encouragement and spirit.

Lamont Laing returned for his final season and produced some great performances, among them a 10.89 100-meters at the NCCAA Championships. Laing also led the 4x100 relay team to a school record 41.62 which propelled them to the NAIA National Championships, the only 4x100 team TU has ever sent to Nationals. Laing was joined by junior Ian Brown and two freshmen, Scott Gill and Bryan Allingham.

Drew Cowan found the consistency that had avoided him in his previous three seasons as he qualified for both the hammer throw and discus at Nationals before the season was three weeks old. In the final weeks of the season Cowan focused on the discus finishing third at the MCC meet, second at NCCAA, and crowned his career with a sixth place finish at the NAIA meet to earn All-American honors. His season best of 170'2" places him second all-time at Taylor.

The throws group was a small contingent, but very effective as Cowan was joined by Yahchaaroah Stuart in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw. JP Robles stepped up in the javelin during his first year with the implement to finish third at the MCC meet with a distance of 169' 7".

The distance crowd was a very young group with only one junior in its midst, but that did not slow them down. Sophomore Tom Robertson led the squad with an NAIA qualifying time of 9:39.87 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In the middle distance events, the Trojans depended upon freshmen Isaac Bryan and Nate Kirsch. Bryan produced a 4:00.70 1500-meters, while Kirsch popped a 1:57.56 in the 800 meters. The duo was joined by soph Jeff Hubley and fellow frosh Brian Tencher to run a 7:50.34 in the 4x800 meter relay, a provisional qualifying time for the NAIA meet and showing a clear sign of what might be in the years to come.

TU relied upon hurdling group with both quality and depth. Sophomores Dave Voss and Jason Crist were joined by frosh Cory Anderson in the 110-meter high hurdles where they took turns beating each other to the line, but always by the smallest of margins. The trio finished 2-3-4 at the MCC Championships. Voss and junior JP Robles created a formidable duo on the 400 hurdles where they finished 1-4 at the MCC meet. Voss went on to qualify for the NAIA National meet where he ran the eighth fastest time in TU history as well as earning All-American honors with the 4x400 relay team.

The Trojan sprint group was perhaps the most dominating of the season. It produced three school records and four All-Americans. Junior Ian Brown was a force for the Trojans as he was a double-winner at the MCC meet, set both the 100-meter (10.69) and 200-meter (21.48) records in addition to anchoring the 4x100 meter relay team to a school record 41.62. Brown placed 11^th at the NAIA National meet and ran the opening leg of the sixth place 4x400 relay team, earning All-American honors.

Not far behind Brown was a deep group including Andy Marston, Bryan Allingham, Kyle Cassidy, and Scott Gill. Marston produced a 50.07 in the 400-meters, and was a member of the 4x400 until an ankle injury sidelined him late in the season. Allingham proved to be an all-around sprinter, but a 49.16 at the NCCAA meet cleared the air concerning his strength. Cassidy slowly built a solid season then came through in spades when his team needed him as he stepped into the 4x400 in Marston's stead and never missed a beat.

Brown, Cassidy, and Allingham were joined by Dave Voss for the NAIA National Championships. The quartet earned an automatic qualifying time by just .06 seconds, but improved with each outing as they ran 3:16.19 in the prelims to earn a spot in the 4x400 final. The foursome came back the next day with a cool demeanor, but fire in their hearts as they torched a 3:13.64 to place sixth and collect All-American honors.

Jumpers had plenty to offer the team this season as each of the three events found three quality performers. Mark Beckford returned to lead the way in the triple jump where he placed second at both the MCC and the NCCAA meets but less than an inch. He was joined by freshmen Scott Gill and Cory Anderson who both were completely new to the event, but placed fourth and fifth at MCCs.

Gill and Anderson teamed up with Jason Crist in the high jump where they went 2-5-10 at conference. Gill cleared an NAIA qualifying 6'6" during the season, then had phenomenal day at Nationals where he went over 6'9" on his first attempt to tie for fourth. It was the third highest jump ever by a Trojan, surpassed only by two seven-foot performances.

In the long jump Gill was a force as he won the MCC title with leap of 23' 6.75" and qualified for NAIA Nationals while posting the third best jump ever by a Trojan.

Looking back on the season, head coach Ted Bowers felt that his squad had accomplishment most of what they set out to do, "We missed our goal of winning the MCC title, but hit nearly every other goal we set. I am extremely proud of our team, their passion for track and field, and their commitment to becoming strong men in Christ."