Bryan College Triangle

by Daniel Jackson
Staff Writer

Three men from Bryan College’s indoor track and field team are competing in the NAIA indoor track and field championships, held in Geneva, Ohio, at the Geneva Area Recreational, Educational and Athletic Trust Sports Complex, March 3 through 5. The championship races are held inside an echoing sports center large enough to hold a race track because snow and icy winds cover the outdoors.

Indoor track and field is very similar to outdoor track and field, except that it is raced indoors, and the track is smaller. An outdoor track is usually 400 meters long, but the average indoor track is 200 meters. At nationals, the Bryan Lions will be racing on a track 300 meters long.

Senior Zach Buffington, junior Bryson Harper and sophomore Jason McLeod will be traveling to Ohio to race against 144 other schools across the nation. Those schools will be represented by teams of one to 15 athletes.

Each of the athletes are running different races at nationals. Buffington will run the 5k race, Harper will compete in the 3k and McLeod in the mile. Read full story »

by Anna Kat Thomas
Staff Writer

Cross country team prepares to compete in nationals, held in Washington./Triangle photo by Anna Kat Thomas

The men’s cross-country team placed seventh at the NAIA National Championships Saturday in Vancouver, Wash., and junior Bryson Harper placed 27th to earn a spot on the NAIA All-America team.

Junior Ericka Simpson paced four Lady Lions, who competed individually, and finished the 5K course in 20:15, good for 211th place.

Recently the men were able to defend their title as Appalachian Athletic Conference champions against Montreat College (Black Mountain, N.C.), and Head Coach Rodney Stoker was named the AAC Coach of the year.

Going into the competition with the men’s team ranked sixth in the nation, Stoker said, “Rankings are great for recruiting, they are great for alums, fans and our school, but for our team it is meaningless. That day is what counts, so it is not about numbers, it’s about effort.” Read full story »

by Kaity Kopeski
Editor-in-chief

The men’s cross country team placed first in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday, held at Montreat College (Black Mountain, N.C.), scoring 20 points and qualifying for the NAIA National Championships.

The Lions swept second through sixth places led by junior Bryson Harper. Claiming the third through sixth spots were sophomore Jason McLeod, senior Zach Buffington, senior Josh Bradley and sophomore Drew Thompson.

The women placed second in the conference with four runners, juniors Ericka Simpson and Alyssia Lindsay, senior Catherine Anderson and sophomore Liz Olsen, qualifying individually for nationals.

In cross country there are two ways to qualify for nationals, either win the conference as a team, or qualify as an individual. To qualify as an individual, the runner’s team has to place in the top six. The individual runner has to place in the top 15 runners, plus, once the winning team’s runners are eliminated, the runner be one of the top five runners.

Although the men’s team won the AAC championship, only the top seven runners will compete at nationals, according to head coach Rodney Stoker, who, after the conference win, was named AAC Men’s Coach of the Year.

“I felt this was one of the best races all year,” said Lindsay about the weekend meet. Lindsay said all the “small things” like 6:15 a.m. runs and workout sessions, early bed times and eating healthy, “came together,” setting the Lions apart from the other runners.

Now the runners are focused on Nationals, to be held in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 20.

Last year the men placed 27th at nationals. Stoker said the plan for nationals is “the same as it is with any race—to compete at the highest level possible and let the outcome take care of itself.”

Senior Josh Bradley competes

by Tim Baldi
Staff Writer

Last Saturday, April 10, the Bryan College Track & Field team competed in the 44th annual Sea Ray Relays at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The event hosted nearly 1,200 athletes between Wednesday and Saturday.

Bryan runners placed fourth in the 4×800 meter, setting a new Bryan record and the second fastest time in the NAIA with 7 minutes and 42 seconds.

The finishing time also qualified Bryan’s 4×800 team for the NAIA Outdoor National Championship on May 27-29.

“We can compete with anybody,” said Head Coach Rodney Stoker. “It’s just a matter of believing it.”

The team was in second place behind Illinois State after the second leg of the race. However, two teams passed the Lions during the remaining two legs.

Freshmen Jason McLeod and Alex Stephens, sophomore Bryson Harper and senior Joshua Bradley competed in the relays on Friday and Saturday of last week.

“It was impressive how our boys competed,” said Stoker.

Read full story »

by Timothy Baldi
Staff Writer

AAC runner-up in the 2009 Outdoor 1,500 meter dash, sophomore Bryson Harper has been running track since eighth grade. He trained himself through high school but never experienced hardcore training until he was recruited by Coach Rodney Stoker to run track and cross country for Bryan College.

Now, Harper runs a 3 minute 59 second 1500-meter dash and set the school record with his 15:05 5-kilometer run.

At practice, Harper and the other members of the Track & Field team regularly run seven to 11 miles. However, Harper has been recovering from an injury to his left Achilles tendon that occurred early in the semester, so he is still working toward full running strength.

Harper had injured his right Achilles once already prior to his current injury this semester.

He said he has been more prone to injury since coming to Bryan, “not because Coach Stoker does anything wrong. I just have a tendency to keep pushing when my body needs a rest.”

Team practices begin at 6 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Harper also has practice every day in the afternoons. Read full story »