The indoor track team is lacking some of the depth it has enjoyed in years past, but the quality of the Hawks' runners remains strong. As in years past, the majority of the MVCC runners are local and many have gone on to achieve national prominence.
This year's team is shaping up to have some standouts, who will catch the attention of four-year college coaches across the state. One of these runners is freshman Andrew Suprenant, a native of New York Mills. The Hawks have competed in three invitational meets, which featured two-year and four-year track programs.
Suprenant has quickly become a standout in the 60-meter dash. At Utica College's Jen and Todd Hutton Invitational back on December 12, held in the Hutton Sports and Recreation Center, placed sixth in the 200-meter dash finals with a time of 23.35 seconds while in the 60-meter finals, he took seventh place in 7.29 seconds.
He returned to Utica College following the holiday break for the Harold T. and Bernadette Clark Invitational on January 16, where he placed second in the 200-meter dash in 23.55 seconds and fifth in the 60-meter dash in 7.34 seconds.
"Andrew is a 200- and 400-runner who has been thrown into the 60-meter run to see how well he does," MVCC Track Coach Gary Park. "He has done much better than I thought he would with some quick speed out of the blocks. He made the finals in all three meets he has run this year and he just missed winning this past Saturday at Hamilton College."
At the Hamilton College Continental Invitational held in the Bundy Field House on the campus in Clinton (NY), Suprenant finished second place in the 60-meter dash in 7.27 seconds. In the 200-meter race, he took third place in 23.42 seconds.
The other shining star for the MVCC indoor track team this winter has been Michael Warchol, a New Hartford native. Coming into his freshman year at MVCC, Warchol was a sub-50 second runner in the 400-meter run in high school. Since coming to MVCC, he has quickly stood out to the coaching staff after earning a spot on the nationally ranked cross country program, where he was named all region.
"He made the transition to the indoor track well as we are concentrating a little bit more on speed workouts," said Parker, who was named NJCAA Coach of the Year in the spring. "The hard part for him in cross country, being a sprinter five miles is a long way. He struggled early, but towards the end of the season he did real well and earned all region honors."
Warchol had a tough start to the indoor track season as he placed tenth at the Jen and Todd Hutton Invitational in the 400-meter run in 54.11 seconds. Since then, he has improved immensely as he placed second Harold T. and Bernadette Clark Invitational, with a time of 52.12 seconds.
"He has descent speed and is able to hold it that last 100 meters. The hard part for him is that he is 6-6, which is difficult for the indoor tracks with their tight turns. It is a pretty big disadvantage being that tall to handle those turns," added Parker.
At the Hamilton College Continental Invitational, Warchol kept his consistency with a third place finish in 52.27 seconds.
The indoor track season is a huge benefit for these young runners as they are completing against much older runners. And these invitational meets have a twofold benefit, as the four-year college coaches get to see the talent of these young runners and could lead to being recruited after finishing their careers at MVCC.
"They get experience running again more seasoned competition, but they get to see the four-year schools and the four-year schools get to see them. If you want to stay in New York State, almost all of the SUNY schools and some of the private schools, they get a real good idea where they stand when they decide to go on after MVCC," said Parker, who pointed out athletes from last year's team who are now competing at SUNY Cortland and SUNY Plattsburgh.