Wabash received all nine votes from the North Coast Athletic Conference head coaches as the favorite to win the 2020 Indoor Track and Field Championships men's title this weekend at Denison University.
 
The Little Giants received a total of 81 points in the pre-meet voting. Ohio Wesleyan is second in the poll with 72 points followed by Wittenberg in third with 59 points. DePauw (46 points) and Denison (45 points) round out the top-five spots.
 
Wabash won its sixth NCAC indoor title in 2019 by scoring 160 points to finish ahead of Ohio Wesleyan in second place with 121 points.
 
The Little Giants bring back five all-conference individuals from the 2019 championship team. RaShawn Jones and Josh Wiggins placed 1-2 in the 60-meter hurdles at last year's championship event and have the top-two times headed into this year's meet. Jones set the NCAC's top time in the hurdles of 8.16 last weekend at Wittenberg. Wiggins ran an 8.24 at North Central two weeks ago. Leo Warbington is third on the pre-meet performance list with a time of 8.48 set last weekend at Wittenberg. Wiggins is the top-ranked runner in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.53 set at North Central. He is also ranked fourth in the 60-meter dash with a top time of 7.08 for the season.
 
Wabash holds the top-three spots on the NCAC performance list in the shot put heading into Friday's first day of competition. Isaiah Campbell owns the top mark with a distance of 14.89 meters (48 feet, 10.25 inches). Brandon English is second on the list at 14.57 meters (47 feet, 9.75 inches). Brandon Peck sits in third place with a top effort of 14.45 meters (47 feet, 5 inches) this season. Peck is also second in the weight throw with a top distance of 16.40 meters (53 feet, 9.75 inches). Donnie Mader owns the fourth-best mark in the conference with a throw of 15.63 meters (51 feet, 3.5 inches).
 
Ethan Pine enters championship week with the NCAC's top time in the mile run at 4:23.82. Sam Henthorn is third on the list with a time of 4:25.58. Henthorn is also second in the 3,000-meter rankings with a time of 8:44.33 and is third in the 5,000 meters at 15:46.76.
 
Max Bigler, Ballard Suiter, and Hunter Baehl already combined to score 12 points for the Little Giants in this year's meet with their efforts in the heptathlon. Bigler earned All-NCAC honors with his third-place finish. He picked up All-NCAC honors in the high jump in 2019 and enters the 2020 meet ranked second on the performance list with a top height of 1.95 meters (6 feet, 4.75 inches). Ahmaud Hill is tied for fourth in the pre-meet rankings with a height of 1.88 meters (6 feet, 2 inches).
 
Keith Abramson scored a third-place finish in the 800-meter run at last year's indoor conference championship. He enters this year's meet ranked second in the 800 with a top time of 1:58.34. Jon Deem-Loureiro and Clarke Criddell are fifth and sixth on the 800-meter list with time of 1:59.18 and 2:00.09, respectively. Jose Franco is ranked sixth in 400-meter dash with a top time of 51.69 set last weekend.
 
Jared Strehl owns the top mark in the long jump among conference performers at 6.76 meters (22 feet, 2.25 inches). Gianni Minor scored a second-place finish in the long jump last year for Wabash. Luke Bender is ranked third in the pole vault at a height of 4.28 meters (14 feet, 0.5 inches) with Ballard sitting in fourth place at 4.10 meters (13 feet, 5.25 inches).
 
Kam Ferguson owns the second-ranked mark in the triple jump for the conference with a leap of 13.10 meters (42 feet, 11.75 inches). Hill is fourth in the triple jump at 12.75 meters (41 feet, 10 inches).
 
The NCAC Indoor Track and Field Championships begin Friday, February 28 at 12 p.m. and run through Saturday, February 29. Complete meet information is available at http://www.northcoast.org/sports/itrack/Championships/2020NCAC-Central.