By: JERRY REILLY, Sports Information Director
FREDONIA, N.Y. – The prospects for the 2012 women's track and field season are mixed. While head coach
Tom Wilson looks to rebuild the distance and middle-distance portion of the team, assistant coaches
Justin McQuality and
Julia Williamson are optimistic that their specialized groups can meet high expectations.
The Blue Devils – who competed Dec. 8 at Rochester Institute of Technology – will kick off the 2012 portion of their season Saturday at the Al Hall Freedom Games in Edinboro, Pa.
McQuality's top returner is sophomore
Erin Parker (Derby). Parker set the school heptathlon record (4,102 points) and provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships during the 2011 outdoor season. She was also selected to the 2011 SUNYAC All-Conference Outdoor Team.
“One could argue,” McQuality said, “that Erin had one of the best freshman seasons in program history. She (had) top-ten performances in nearly a dozen different events. … I fully expect Erin to improve on what she did last year and challenge for national berths in the indoor pentathlon and the high jump.”
McQuality's good feeling is not limited to Parker. He said his group – which includes jumpers and sprinters – has been committed to getting better. Among them, sophomore
Emily Cummiskey (Clarence) was first in the triple jump and second in the long jump at RIT. Her best triple jump as a freshman is No. 5 on the school's all-time record list.
Cummiskey's older sister, senior
Melissa Cummiskey (Clarence), a four-year member of the women's soccer team, has emerged as a team captain in just her second season in track and field. McQuality believes Melissa is capable of big things in the long jump, while sophomore
Alyssa O'Connor (Castleton) – a transfer to Fredonia State – is raw but very talented in the triple jump.
McQuality said his top sprinters are sophomore Lexi Perez (Hamburg) and freshman
Kelsey Travers (West Seneca).
“They (his group) have done great thus far,” he said. “They are having one of the best off-seasons of any group I've ever been around, coaching or competing.”
Williamson – the former Julia Hopson, 2009 NCAA Division III national champion in the 20-pound weight throw – has a relatively large group of female throwers.
Kathleen Goodberlet (Victor), a junior, already has a win to her credit this winter. She was first in the weight throw at RIT.
Two sophomores,
Loren Metzger (Fairport) and
Jessica McClean (Lakeview), and two freshmen,
Jenna Fiacco (Verona) and
Nicole Desens (Hopewell Junction), join Goodberlet. Metzger and McClean have already tasted success at the collegiate level, while Fiacco and Desens have impressed their skills coach.
“They (the freshmen) have showed tremendous growth already,” Williamson said. “Their biggest contribution (during the) indoor season will be in the shot put. (The upperclassmen) will be major contributors in the weight throw.”
Wilson will specialize in the middle distances, the distances, and the pole vault.
Amanda Solly (West Seneca), a senior, leads the running group. In the fall, Solly ran a 40-second personal-best at the Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championship, and then won the 5,000 meters at the RIT indoor meet.
Becca List (Hilton), a sophomore, is the other key returning distance runner. List missed the cross country season with an injury, yet is healthy now.
Kateri Walsh (West Seneca), a junior, has emerged as the leader of the middle-distance group. She, Parker, and two teammates set the women's 4-by-400 relay record last season. Walsh is a versatile runner capable of scoring points from the 400 meters up to the mile. Another veteran in the middle distances is sophomore Kimberly Foltz (Elbridge), who will specialize in the 400 and join the 4-by-400.
Wilson said three key newcomers are freshmen
Amanda Cocchiara (Hilton),
Angela Richter (Newark Valley), and
Sarah Rocco (Irondequoit). All three ran cross country; Cocchiara emerged as No. 2 and Richter as No. 3 runners on the team.
In the pole vault, sophomore
Kelci Yousett (Lockport) held a share of the school record as a freshman (it was eventually broken by a teammate) and finished in the top five at the conference meet.
The women were seventh both indoors and outdoors last season, Wilson's first at the helm.
“With lots of key returners who scored points in last year's conference championships,” he said, “the team will focus on freshmen making a statement early on.”
