Dickinson Indoor Men's Track 1986
Photograph courtesy of Dickinson College Archives

This photo shows standout Dickinson College track star Dave Hoke as he clears the high hurdles in the March 8, 1986, Dickinson Invitational at the Kline Center. In this meet, Hoke's performance was good enough to earn him first place honors in the 60 yard high hurdles event. Hoke was also an instrumental member of the mile relay team with teammates Mike Williams, Mark Sucolosky, and Dave Hurley. This particular race shows Hoke well ahead of an unidentified foe from Messiah College.

In only its second year of existence, the Dickinson College Men's Indoor Track team was composed of some of the most talented track and field athletes ever to compete for Dickinson. Despite being large in numbers, this group remained very close knit and supportive of each other, according to various student publications. This unity was the basis for the number of outstanding performances that year. Led by coaches Jere Harbold and Richard Ocker, and senior co-captains Andy Bridgeman, Dave Hoke, and Mike Williams, the team set a number of records and did extremely well in Middle Atlantic Conference competition.

There were numerous examples of outstanding individual performances by the men's team throughout the season. Perhaps the most spectacular was Andy Bridgeman's 6'8" high jump, which won for him the MAC championship and qualified him to compete in the NCAA national high jump competition. Other records set during the 1986 season were Mike Williams 6.7 seconds in the 55-meter dash, Dave Hurley's time of 35.4 seconds in the 300-meter run, and Dave Huber's record shot put of 38'1.75". Two of Dickinson's members set double records during the year. Ray Marsh had record times of 2:05.8 and 4:14.7 in the 880-yard dash and the 1500-meter run, respectively. Matt Smith had a record time of four minutes, forty-two seconds in the mile run, and ten minutes thirty-one seconds in the two mile run. Also setting school records were the mile relay team, Paul Recent, who long jumped 19'13.25", and Jon Williams who triple jumped 12.23 meters. One must understand, of course, that with only two years of times in the books, records were perhaps more within reach than usual.

Many members of the indoor team used the training and conditioning to prepare them for the spring outdoor season.  As co-captain Mike Williams was quoted in the Dickinsonian, "This team has the most potential I've seen going into the outdoor season. The coaches really did a superior job in preparing us for the trials of spring" (Dickinsonian, 3/28/86). 



Sources:
1986 Dickinson College Microcosm
The Dickinsonian, 1986-87