Ohio Wesleyan University | Battling Bishop Athletics

2009 Season Preview

[ Evan Hitchcock ] After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference championship race, Ohio Wesleyan head coach Kris Boey and associate head coach Matt Wackerly look for the Battling Bishops to make an upward leap in the conference standings.

"We have the potential to be much-improved, with the homework everyone's done and the ability we have," Boey said. "The hallmark of our program is that people improve through the season, and if we continue to do the right things, we'll be in a good place in late October and will be able to represent Ohio Wesleyan well when we host the conference championship."

Leading the way for the Bishops will be sophomore Evan Hitchcock (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), who won honorable mention All-NCAC status with an 18th-place finish at last year's championship; senior Christian Schlabach (Wooster/Triway), who led the Bishops in their first 2 meets of the 2008 season; and sophomore John Batchelder (Powell/Worthington Kilbourne), who scored for the Bishops in both the NCAC and the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meets.

Juniors Jeff Driscoll (Shreve/Triway), Cody Morrison (Caldwell), and John Thatcher (Centerburg), and sophomore Sharif Kronemer (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) also are returning lettermen. Senior Matthew MacKenzie (Franklin, Mass.), junior Kyle Herman (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls), and sophomore Kyle Lemke (Loudonville) also return.

"There are a lot of good runners," Wackerly said. "We should have contributions from all 4 classes."

Newcomers who should contribute include sophomore Kale Booher (Covington/Newman), who joins the cross country team this year after placing in the 1500-meter run at last spring's NCAC outdoor track & field meet; sophomore Ben Andrews (Delaware/Hayes); freshman Jake Bonnell (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional), who qualified for the state track meet in high school; freshman Nathan Kafity (Huron/Lake Ridge Academy), who won all-state honors in the mile run in high school; freshman Ben Schlabach (Wooster/Triway), a regional qualifier in track in high school; and freshman Tyler Tomazic (Medina/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary), who qualified for the state cross country high school championship.

The Bishops’ season opens on Sept. 1 at Kenyon. Ohio Wesleyan plays host to 3 major meets this season, including the Great Lakes Colleges Association meet on Sept. 12, the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championship on Oct. 2, and the NCAC championship meet on Oct. 31.