By Joseph Rubin

As America East Indoor and Outdoor champions and winners of the New England Championship, men’s track returns to Northeastern with high expectations for the season.

The team lost two key indoor players in vaulter Wes Shaw and Jared Carpenter. Freshman Aaron Hill hopes to fill the void left by Shaw, while Carpenter, nicknamed the team’s “renaissance man” for his excellence in numerous events, will be a more difficult void to fill.

However, the team did retain both members who went to Nationals last year, senior captain Vinny Tortorella and junior Paul Klemic. According to assistant coach Dion Gardner, he [Tortorella] is to “be one of the elite athletes this year.” Klemic was a national qualifier for the high jump event. Idris Payne, now a sophomore, is coming off a breakthrough freshman year that surprised many.

Lloyd Collins, another important cog as captain, is excited for the season.

“We’ve gained some really good freshmen, and all of them are showing a promising future,” he said.

“I always wanted to [be captain]. I was captain in high school and did a good job. Hopefully I can do a good job here.”

“They are a hardworking team, they always give their best,” Gardner said. “We expect the same results as last year, if not better since we were such a young team last year.”

The season begins on Dec. 7 in the Husky Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Center. Starting time will be at 10 a.m.