By: KSU Sports Information
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men’s track and field squad announced their team captains for the 2011-12 season on Monday as Jemir Martinez, Brian Graham and Ryan Burruss were elected.
“This season our captains are all very strong leaders,” Head Coach Andy Eggerth said. “They are all devoted student-athletes to performing well on and off the track and have all bought in to what we are selling here at Kennesaw. Their work ethic is outstanding and they embody everything that this program represents.”
Martinez, a senior from Augusta, Ga., and a 2011 Atlantic Sun First Team Honoree has been a part of the 4x400 meter relay team that has captured back-to-back first place titles at the A-Sun Conference Championships. Martinez also competes in the individual 100-meter, recording his best time of 10.55 and the 200-meter with a time of 21.38.
“As a leader you expect people to look at you to see how things are supposed to be done,” Martinez said. “It’s our responsibility to do everything right all the time and hold others to a high character statute. Character is what you do when nobody is looking, and I expect this team to always represent us well.”
Graham, also a senior hails from Hochston, Ga., and was named to the All A-Sun Second Team. A competitor in multi-events, Graham finished in second place in the Heptathlon in 2011.
“This is a team that is led by a ferociousness that is hard to describe,” Graham said. “Motivation should not be any issue for any of us, as I expect this team to send more athletes than ever to Nationals and gain national recognition we deserve.”
Burruss, a junior and local athlete from here in Kennesaw is carrying a successful cross country season over into the Track and Field season. Burruss finished eighth at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship and helped lead the Owls to a second place finish earning him All A-Sun Honors as well as USTFCCCA All-Region Honors.
“It is our job to promote a positive team attitude,” Burruss said. “Attitude reflects leadership and on this team as a leader you have to give 100 percent all the time, because that’s what it takes to win in this conference.”
The men's track and field program has been one of the most successful programs here at Kennesaw State University. The Owls have set nine A-Sun Championship records since joining the conference, as well as have won five of the last six indoor/outdoor championships in the A-Sun and have qualified for the NCAA Division I Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship the past two seasons.
The Owls will have a new training facility this season with the implementation of a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility to be used by the team in spring 2012. The facility will include a standard 400-meter track with eight lanes and will be surfaced by Rekortan, an IAAF (International Amateur Athletic Federation) certified product on which many world records have been set. The surface will be 15mm thick and is one of the top track surfaces in the country.
“The opportunity to have a track to call home is almost surreal,” Burruss said. “To be able to go to the track and train as hard as we’ve been training will only produce better results, and I cant wait to see what we can do with this opportunity.”
The men’s team opens the season Dec. 3 at the SIU Fast Start in Carbondale, Ill. For updates on the program, you can follow the team on Twitter @KSUTrackFieldXC.
