Ohio Northern women's indoor track and field head coach Jason Maus believes his team has earned something ahead of the 2019-20 season.
"Pressure is a privilege," Maus said.
It's a phrase Maus has heard for years, and this season he believes it applies to the Polar Bears. But rather than using that phrase word for word, Maus is making a slight adjustment.
"Rather than talking about pressure and expectations, we are going to instill confidence," Maus said. "We are going to focus on the process and the steps to get there rather than the outcome. We'll focus on the process and the steps we need to take to be successful, and then we'll let the clock or tape measure tell us. I think that's the approach we'll take."
The outcome last season for ONU was a fifth-place finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships. And plenty of pieces from that team return to the fray in 2019-20.
The Polar Bears will be headlined by their field events, especially pole vault. The senior duo of Maggie Krause (Chagrin Falls/Kenston), an All-American, and Allison Stevens (Naperville, Ill./Central) come back after taking one-two at the OAC Championships as juniors and qualifying to the NCAA Championships.
Junior Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch) returns to the long jump where she took third at the conference meet a season ago. On the track, senior Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) comes back after crossing third at OACs in the 60-meter dash.
Northern also did some good work in the conference meet relay events.
Senior Madeleine Routhier (West Unity/Hilltop) and junior Chyanne Retcher ran legs of the distance medley, which placed fourth. The youthful 800-meter relay team — partially comprised of sophomores Emily Norden (Carey) and Kayla Silva (Westerville/South) and senior Sydney McCluer (Columbus Grove) — rounded out the returning top-five finishers at conference, after they placed fifth at OACs.
"The women's team has the pieces and parts to be competitive," Maus said. "It's a women's group that you don't have to spend as much time with the basics. They know what to expect. They know what's coming at them. It's more fine-tuning and polishing with this women's team that has experience."
The 2019-20 season gets underway Saturday at the Findlay Invitational. The Polar Bears' first home meet will be the Larry Cole Friday Night Invite Jan. 24.
Northern will enjoy two other home meets — the Joe Banks Invitational Feb. 1 and the Polar Bear Final Qualifier March 6 and 7. The OAC Championships will take place in Marietta Feb. 28 and 29, while the NCAA Indoor Championships are in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, March 13 and 14.
The Ohio Northern men's indoor track and field team's roster is weighted heavily in one particular way. The Polar Bears have a lot of underclassmen and not so many veterans.
"Across the board, we are really young," Maus said. "It's going to take some time to get some experience with these kids and even some of your sophomores and juniors adjusting to new roles and new positions."
And while the roster is youthful, it's well balanced. The Polar Bears finished fourth at last year's Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and got there by receiving contributions from all over the track.
Sophomore Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela Saint Joseph) took runner-up in the 400-meter dash as a freshman. Fellow freshman, and now sophomore, Luke Shellhaas (Greenville/Versailles) also placed runner-up in the pole vault.
Junior Sam Krabacher (Hamilton/Badin) crossed third in the 800-meter run, and senior Andrew Shelton (Williamsville, N.Y./South) finished third 1000-meter run at OACs a season ago. Over on the field, junior Owen Lloyd (Colfax, Ind./Clinton Prairie) placed third in the high jump.
Krabacher, junior Colin McCullough (Galion) and senior Cody Benny (Wapakoneta) placed third at last year's OAC Championships in the 1,600-meter relay. Benny, Krabacher, Shelton and junior Jordan Green (Wooster) crossed fourth in the distance medley.
Most of the remaining roster is either young or unproven, and that will make 2019-20 a year of firsts for much of the team.
"I think in track this year it's going to be a growing experience," Maus said. "There's going to be some ups and downs, but these kids just have to keep believing in themselves and gain some confidence as the season goes on."
The 2019-20 season gets underway Saturday at the Findlay Invitational. The Polar Bears' first home meet will be the Larry Cole Friday Night Invite Jan. 24.
Northern will enjoy two other home meets — the Joe Banks Invitational Feb. 1 and the Polar Bear Final Qualifier March 6 and 7. The OAC Championships will take place in Marietta Feb. 28 and 29, while the NCAA Indoor Championships are in Winston-Salem, North Carolina March 13 and 14.
