CMC75 Moments: 1992 Men's Track and Field Starts Streak of 19 Straight SCIAC Titles

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1992 Men's Track and Field takes first SCIAC Title

When the 1992 Track and Field season began, the Stags had never won a SCIAC title, but after the 1992 team brought home the trophy, they pretty much wouldn't stop winning them. CMS dominated the 1992 championships with 249 points, beating second-place Pomona-Pitzer with 106, and the Stags would go to win or share 19 straight league championships before finally being temporarily knocked from the top in 2011.

CMS won 11 of the events at the 1992 SCIAC Championships, which were interrupted by the Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King verdict. The second day of competition was pushed back a week, and created a scheduling conflict with the Occidental Invitational, which Oxy hosted instead of attending SCIACs, resulting in a smaller field.

Mike Susank captured the hammer throw and went on to place second at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors, his first of three top-two finishes (second, second, first). Will Watson added a sixth-place finish to give the Stags two All-American hammer throwers in the same year for the second time, along with 1986 (Carl Giles, Chris Hickie). Mark Gilbreth was third in the decathlon at nationals, while Jason Rhodes, the SCIAC Athlete of the Year, was fifth in the 800 after winning the SCIAC title, his first of three top-five finishes (fifth, second, first).

At SCIACs, John Akerboom swept the 100 and 200, Brad Aagaard won the 1500, Brian Barnes took first in the 5K, Bill Fulton was first in the high hurdles, Brian Hughes captured the intermediate hurdles, Jeremy Jurgens took the SCIAC title in the high jump, Chris Mehnert won the javelin, and Dave Summers joined Akerboom, Rhodes and Hughes on the winning 4x4 relay team.

Susank and Rhodes would go on to win individual national championships in 1994, in the hammer and the 800, respectively, making them the second and third national champions in program history. Both are currently in the CMS Hall of Fame, along with Mark Gilbreth, who was an All-American three times in the decathlon, and Brad Aaggaard, who earned All-America honors as a junior and senior. 

Brad Aaagaard:

The '92 track and field season was my sophomore year and a breakthrough season for me. The previous year I mostly ran the 800m but that year I started running the 1500m and did well in several big races throughout the season. I improved significant over both distances but especially the 1500m. It became clear that the 1500m was probably my best event.

At the 1991 SCIAC track and field championships, we really tried hard as a team and thought that we might finally get the win. There were some great team leaders that graduated that year. In 1992 we were a stronger team in terms of performance and it was a lot of the younger members of the team (Mike Susank and Jason Rhodes) that started to step up and become leaders. 

I remember feeling ready for the SCIAC championship meet. I was fresh and ready to race. I felt great on the first day running the 1500m and 800m prelims. I also felt great on what was supposed to be the second day, when we ran in a "substitute" meet down at UCSD; I ran my fastest 800m of the season and came within 0.2 seconds of qualifying for the NCAA championships. A week later when we ran the SCIAC finals, I felt a bit under the weather and only ran the 1500m final.

Winning the SCIAC Championships under the conditions that we did, with other teams not showing up for the second day, was bittersweet. In the following years we definitely showed that the win wasn't a fluke.

1992 Men's Track and Field Roster
Head Coach: John Goldhammer
Assistant Coaches: Kelly Beck, Mike Wallace, Tricia Wright
Brad Aagaard (So., Middle Distance, HMC)
John Akerboom (Jr., Sprints, HMC)
Fritz Anker (Jr., Hammer, CMC)
Mike Barnett (Fr., Long Jump, CMC)
Brian Barnes (Sr., Distance, CMC)
Steve Chung (Jr., Middle Distance, HMC)
Bill Fulton (Sr., Hurdles, CMC)
Mark Gilbreth (Jr., Decathlon, CMC)
Jon Giron (Jr., Long Jump, HMC)
Tim Hall (Sr., Jumps, CMC)
Brian Harris (Fr., Long Jump/Sprints, CMC)
Brian Hughes (Sr., Hurdles, CMC)
Eric Johnson (Sr., Pole Vault, HMC)
Jeremy Jurgens (Jr., High Jump, CMC)
Dave Karlton (Jr., 400, HMC)
Chris Macy (Jr., High Jump, HMC)
Darren Malloy (So., Distance, CMC)
Matt McAdams (Sr., Middle Distance, HMC)
Teo McCarthy (Sr., Middle Distance, HMC)
Chris Mehnert (Sr., Javelin, CMC)
Kevin Ng (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Gary Okerson (Fr., Throws, HMC)
Ben Painter (So., Distance, HMC)
John Poston (So., Middle Distance, CMC)
Kris Rajanna (So., Pole Vault, HMC)
Jason Rhodes (So., Middle Distance, HMC)
Scott Smith (Fr., Sprints, CMC)
Joe Spagna (Fr., Throws, CMC)
Dave Summers (So., 400, HMC)
Mike Susank (So., Throws, CMC)
Tom Walden (Sr., Throws, CMC)
Will Watson (Jr., Hammer, CMC)
Phil Winston (Fr., 800, HMC)