The 2016 men’s and women’s outdoor track and field season is underway with the first meet set to take place on March 18 at the Wake Forest Open. This event will be held in the Kentner Stadium, which hosted the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

The team hopes to take their first steps towards a conference championship and a run towards the national championship that Friday.

The future is bright for this young Stevenson team, which includes a total of 42 first-year students. These athletes will look to the seven seniors for leadership and experience when the season gets into gear. As one of the largest track and field teams in school history, they hope that their strength in numbers will bring success in their meets this spring.

The team is coached by Eric Camodeca, who begins his third season as the head coach. He previously spent six years as the head track and field coach at York College (Pa.) and was a two-time CAC Coach of the Year selection.

Camodeca doesn’t teach success only on the track, but also in the classroom. Under his leadership, his teams have had above a 3.0 grade point average each year.

Track and field is both an individual and team sport. It allows athletes to compete in a specific event while earning team points as well.

Junior Devonte Williams is just one individual among a large list of teammates who hopes to continue to earning his team points. Last season at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship hosted by St. Lawrence, Williams took seventh place overall in the 200-meter dash. This performance earned him All-American honors, making him the first student-athlete in program history to earn All-America status. He said, “The team and I hope to challenge ourselves to continue to beat our personal records.”

Closer to home, the team will participate in the Track and Field Classic at Goucher College on March 26 and will compete at Johns Hopkins University on April 16.