The NCC Men’s track & field team is halfway through its season. The team has already shown why they are one of the top track programs in the country. The Cardinals are already building upon their 21 CCIW conference titles and look to continue a six-year title streak in 2024. The Cardinals finished last season with their sixth conference title, finishing 47 points ahead of Illinois Wesleyan.
High expectations
Under second-year head coach Gabe Rivera, the Cardinals have continued their dominance on both the regional and national levels. On the track side, the Cardinals return three All-Americans, including long-distance runners Max Svienty, ’24, Connor Riss, ’24 and Braden Nicholson, ’24. Svienty and Riss both got on the podium at the Indoor Track & Field Division III Championships after putting up personal best times on the national stage. Nicholson, however, set personal best times in the mile (4:14.74), 3,000-meter (8:23.25) and 5,000-meter (14:37.76) race. All three runners are coming off a third-place team finish at the Division III Cross Country Championships. They are looking to continue that success into the track season.
“For the most part the team just continues to stick to the pattern of working hard in workouts and recovering on the days in-between,” Nicholson said, talking about the adjustment from cross country to track. “Other than tweaking some workouts to be more “track” oriented, a lot of what we do stays the same.”
On the field side, Anthony Divenere, ’25, and Anthony Zajac, ’25, both return to the Cardinals after successful campaigns. Zajac gained the 8th-best weighted throw (50’5.50″, 15.38 m) in program history last season. For pole vaulting, Divenere took up a fourth-place slot at the CCIW Indoor Championship while throwing a personal best of 14’5.25″ (4.4 m).
New faces, same results
The Cardinals have added many new athletes to the team, including a talented mix of freshmen and transfer students. These newcomers have already made a tremendous impact. Freshman jumper Jayden Leise, ’27, and sprinter Marcus Caselberry, ’27, have proved they belong in multiple events. Leise won the triple jump events at the Walter Cramer Invite earlier this month with a jump of 13.66 meters (44 feet, 9.75 inches) and at the Titan Open in Bloomington with a jump of 14.10 meters (46 feet, 3.25 inches.)
Caselberry has already cemented his name among NCC’s best sprinters. At the Blue Demon Holiday Classic, he took sixth place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time 8.48 seconds. This tied him for eighth place in the program’s top ten with Keyon Wolber. Over a month later, Caselberry broke the freshman record in the 60-meter dash (6.94) at the Cardinal Opener. He also broke the freshman record in the 200-meter dash (22.05) at the Aurora Grand Prix just a week later.
“I want to come in and compete,” Caselberry said as he talked about his goals for his first season of college track and field. “Every race will be a test so learning to adjust to the college speed will be my top priority. If I can get comfortable, then I’m going to get fast, real fast.”
Season so far and what’s ahead
The team has already competed in multiple events across the Midwest and has done very well. The Cardinals continued their conference-winning streak as they won their seventh straight CCIW crown. Caselberry and Nicholson contributed hugely to the Cardinals. Caselberry won the 60-meter hurdles and improved his time to 8.41, the fourth fastest time in program history.
“Whatever God allows me to do, I’m going to do,” Caselberry said. “If he wants me to win conference, I’ll win conference. If he wants me to break some records, I’ll break some records. Whatever I can do to help my teammates out, I will do it.”
Additionally, Nicholson won the mile and the 5,000-meter race. This further cemented his place among the top distance runners in NCC history.
“I always go into races with an open mind,” Nicholson said, “eliminating any negative thoughts I might have really helped me run better than I ever have.”
NCC will send athletes to final qualifier events at Carthage and Ripon next weekend before the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships March 8-9 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. But until then, the Cardinals track & field squad will continue working to add more trophies to their already impressive case.
