Galesburg, IL - The Prairie Fire indoor track and field teams are looking to continue improving this season and move up in the Midwest Conference standings.

Those goals are certainly attainable with the return of 14 members of the women’s and men’s teams that combined last year for 48 new all-time top 10 Knox indoor track and field marks. One of those all-time top 10 marks belongs to junior Weston Chenoweth (Canton, IL, Canton), who earned a second place medal in the shot put at the 2012 Midwest Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Coach Jason Haynes believes the Prairie Fire surprised some people with what his squads were able to do last season. “Even though our placement at the Midwest Conference meet didn’t show it, we made some huge improvements over the previous year, both on the women’s and men’s teams.”

The track and field teams will be led by seven seniors.

“We don’t have a large group of seniors this year, but they do have overwhelming talent and experience,” Haynes said. “This class has the unique distinction of being the first class that has experienced me as the coach all four years of their career. They know exactly what I expect and I will be looking to them to be team leaders.”

The five seniors on the men’s team are Sean Choate (Chicago, IL, Chicago Academy), Joe Puntoriero (Cheektowaga, NY, Cleveland Hill), Dan Johnson (Chicago, IL, Luther South), Paul Lebryk (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South), and Jonas Mack (Algonquin, IL, Cary-Grove).

“Sean is coming off of a stellar cross country season and has his eye on some school records,” Haynes said.  Choate placed fifth individually at the 2012 Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships on October 27, earning him All-Midwest Conference honors.  He owns four of the top 25 all-time best men’s cross country performances in the 8K, including the fourth-fastest time in school history.  He also has three all-time top 10 indoor track and field marks.

Puntoriero has 18 all-time top 10 performances. He’s the school record-holder in the 60 meter dash and is second all-time in the 200 meters, just 3-hundredths of a second off of the school record.  Puntoriero’s name is next to six of the 10 fastest times in the 200 meters while he also ran a leg on two relay teams that set school records last season -- the sprint medley relay and the distance medley relay.

“Joe has put a ton of work into the offseason and I think that if other conference sprinters aren’t frightened, they should be,” Haynes said.

Johnson and Lebryk both set all-time top 10 marks in the weight throw last season.

“Something clicked for Dan last year and I expect him to be a contender in the weight throw, along with Paul, who has been working harder than I have ever seen him work in the offseason,” Haynes said.

Mack medaled with a second place finish in the javelin throw at the 2012 Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Haynes said while Mack made a splash in his first track season at Knox in the javelin, he expects him to make an impact during the indoor season in the sprints and jumps.

The men’s team also welcomes back three juniors that have combined for 24 all-time top 10 indoor track and field records in Matt Brongo (Eureka, IL, Eureka), Bobby Mueller (Woodridge, IL, Downers Grove South), and Devin Compton (Aurora, IL, West Aurora).

Brongo owns 15 all-time top 10 marks. He and Mueller ran with Puntoriero on the sprint medley relay team that broke the school record last season at the Midwest Conference Championships. Brongo was also part of the distance medley relay team that established the fastest time in the history of the men’s program. Mueller is associated with eight all-time top 10 records.

Compton, like Johnson and Lebryk, has one of the 10 best weight throws of all-time. Also returning this season for the men’s squad is junior Tim Worrell (Wataga, IL, ROWVA). The Prairie Fire welcomes six newcomers.

On the women’s team, There are two seniors on the Prairie Fire women’s team, Lizzy Warner (Champaign, IL, University Laboratory) and Sara Brown (Homer Glen, IL, Lockport).

Haynes said Warner returns after studying abroad last season. “She’s back and is likely going to surprise some people,” he said.

Warner has four all-time top 10 indoor track and field marks to her credit. She ran on the 4x200 meter relay team that set a school record time in 2010.

Brown also has a pair of all-time top 10 performances, both in the 60 meter dash. “Sara had her season cut short last year due to an injury, but she’s been incredibly focused on getting back to the track,” Haynes said.

Four other returning members for the Knox women have combined for seven entries on the all-time top 10 lists.

Junior Yael Cody (Highland Park, IL, Highland Park), a distance runner, has had success in the mile and the distance medley relay. 

Junior Danielle Erikson (Mokena, IL, Lincoln-Way East) ran a leg on last season’s 4x200 meter relay team that set the second-fastest time in school history and missed the all-time record by less than one-half of a second. She was also part of the sprint medley relay team that finished with the third-fastest time on record.

Junior Sophia Mwaura (Santa Fe, NM, Santa Fe Prep) established an all-time top 10 mark at #7 by an individual in the weight throw and sophomore ShirJia Bielefeld (Weston, WI, DC Everest) ranks fifth all-time by an individual in the pole vault.

The other returners for the Prairie Fire women’s team are junior Carli Bogolub (Downers Grove, IL, Highland Park) and sophomore Nicolette Bridgeforth (Chicago, IL, Guerin Prep).

The squad welcomes 13 newcomers this season -- nine first-years, three sophomores, and one junior.

“I have really been impressed with the work ethic of our first-years. Some of them can only work out early in the morning, but that hasn’t stopped them,” Haynes said.

The Prairie Fire indoor track and field teams begin the new season by hosting the Knox College Invite on January 12 inside the T. Fleming Fieldhouse.