Men's Track & Field 2024 Season Preview

FROSTBURG, Md. – Frostburg State Athletics will be taking a preview of each team competing in the spring season, covering nine total sports.  Over the next two days, both remaining teams will be broken down into their matchups, key players, and overall outlook for their season and program.  To start the last week is Men's Track & Field.
 
Overall
Frostburg State Men's Track & Field enters their outdoor season having competed in seven indoor track meets, along with competing in the MEC Indoor Championships.  The Bobcats finished second out of nine teams in the MEC Championships for their best ever finish, totaling 107 points.    
Head Coach Shane Brookshire enters his fifth season at the helm of the program, as he is happy to bring back all four coaches from last year in Ballard Suiter, John Kerns, Daryl Bushnell, and Gabbi Maher. 
 
Last Season
The Bobcats competed in seven meets last outdoor season, along with the MEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships that lasted over a span of three days.  FSU recorded four top-five finishes in the 2023 season as team, going for 3^rd out of 10 teams in the Team Weaver Invitational, 4^th out of 24 teams in both the Messiah Multis and Messiah Invite, and securing a first place finish in the team's first ever Bob Lewis Classic hosted at Frostburg.  To cap off their season, the Bobcats took third place in the MEC Championships, also hosted at FSU, placing third out of nine teams.
 
In the 2023 MEC Outdoor Championships, Marquise Burks took first in the decathlon with nine first place finishes out of 10.  Mason Reed came in right behind Burks on five second place finishes and two third place finishes.  Nathaniel Mesy earned third in the 400 meter dash with a 49.05 finish, as the team of Mark Vaughs, Aiden Schwab, Nicholas Richardson, and Mesy placed third in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:25.63.  To conclude the track events, the relay team of Mesy, Vaughs, Aaron Dufresne, and Richardson went on capture fourth place in the 4x100 meter relay with a 42.68 time, as Scwab secured a fifth place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a 58.01 finish.  In the field events, Tom McCoy took second in the pole vault with a height of 4.85m, while Brayden Ecker earned fourth with a 4.45m height.  Jared Johnson proceeded to take fourth in the hammer throw with a distance of 46.68m.
 
Overall, in 2023 the Bobcats set multiple new outdoor records with Mesy setting the fourth best time in program history in the 400 with a 48.38 time, while Justus LePrevost secured the best overall time in Frostburg history in the 3,000 meters with a 8:34.02 time.  LePrevost also went on to set the eighth best time in the 5,000 meters with a 14:53.84 finish, as McCoy set a new program record in the pole vault with 4.95m, and Ecker tying the third best distance of 4.45m with his performance in the conference championships.  In the hammer throw, Johnson now holds the sixth best in FSU history with a 46.68m distance, while Aubrey Russ is right behind him in seventh with a 46.03m throw.  With a total of 6,503 points in the decathlon in the MEC Championships, Burks scored the third best in program history to round out the accolades for Frostburg last season. 
 
The Returners
Brookshire welcomes back a significant number of athletes from last season's squad in 15 returners.  Multiple returners already made their mark this season in the MEC Indoor Championships this past winter, as Burks captured first in the heptathlon with a total of 4,844 points, placing either first or second in all seven events, while once again, Reed was right behind him in second place.  In the 400 meters, Mesy placed second with a time of 48.11, coming in second as well in the 4x400 relay team alongside returner Paul James with a 3:20.29 time.  LePrevost and his relay team secured third place in the distance medley relay with a 10:17.93 finish, as McCoy took first place in the pole vault at 4.85m.   
 
Adding to the indoor season, Frostburg returners continued to shatter and set new records, as Mesy now holds the best time in program history in the 400 meters with a finish of 48.11 in the conference championships.  Burks (8.44) and Reed (8.75) both set records in the 60 meter hurdles sitting at third and sixth place, while McCoy sits at the top in pole vault in Bobcat history at 4.85m, setting the record in the conference championships as well.  With his finish also at the MEC Championships, Burks now holds the best-ever score in program history in the heptathlon with 4,844 points.  Mesy and James now hold the best 4x400 meter relay time in FSU history, running a 3.20.29 in the MEC Championships, as a distance medley relay team made up of two returners, Mesy and LePrevost, now hold the best time in program history of 10:13.99, with the 10:17.93 finish in the MEC Championships led by LePrevost sits at second all-time.  Other returners in Caden Jones and Travis Hook set multiple personal records in the indoor season, as Rondell Carlton competed in multiple indoor meets as well. 
 
The Newcomers
Brookshire welcomes in a solid freshman class of 20 freshmen that includes one redshirt, as well as adding two transfers.  Multiple freshmen as well as both transfers have already made their mark in Frostburg indoor history, succeeding in multiple events and meets in the indoor season.  Junior Austin Comeaux, a transfer from Harford Community College, slid into the 10^th spot in FSU history on a 15:30.00 time in the 5,000 meters, as sophomore Ben Treat, a transfer from Liberty, also took a 10^th place all-time spot, throwing a 14.05m in the weight throw in a meet during the indoor season.  Freshman Ka'Von Turner left his mark in the indoor season, setting the program record in the 60 and 200 meters with times of 6.87 and 21.92, taking home first and third in the events in the MEC Indoor Championships.  Fellow freshman Logan Haines now holds the second best time in Bobcat history in the 200 with a 22.05 finish, as he also went on to run the fifth best time in program history in the 400 meters with a time of 49.66.  Three freshmen set program records in the 800 meters with Jack Hynes running a 1:55.39 for third best all-time, Isayah Stewart finishing with a 1:55.79 for eighth best all-time, and Gage Osborne holding on to the 10^th best all-time with a 1:57.13 time, all set in the conference championship.  In the mile, Osborne ran a 4:21.79 for eighth best in FSU history, as freshman Ryan Connelly holds on to the fifth best time in the mile of 4:18.66, and seventh best time in the 3,000 meters with an 8:44.16 finish.  Freshman Nate Shields sits at the second longest long jump of all-time in Bobcat history with a distance of 7.37m, going for a 6.82m in the conference championships with a second place finish.  Freshman RJ Eubanks scored the fifth best-ever finish in Frostburg history in the heptathlon with 3,900 points for his best of the season, prior to placing fifth in the event in the MEC Indoor Championships.  To round out records set in the indoor season, Haines and Hynes were a part of the 4x400 meter relay team with Mesy and James that holds the best time in program history, as Osborne and Hynes joined Mesy and LePrevost in the first all-time distance medley relay finish, with Osborne, Hynes, and Connelly running with LePrevost in the relay that sits second all-time in the distance medley. 
 
Kickoff to Season
FSU looks to compete in six regular season meets, opening their outdoor season on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 in the Stan Romanski Open located in Morgantown, WV.  The Bobcats will host the second ever Bob Lewis Classic on Friday, April 5 for their lone home track meet of the regular season, as Frostburg looks to host the MEC Outdoor Championships once again this year, Sunday, April 28-Tuesday, April 30. 

For more information and upcoming previews, please visit frostburgsports.com.