PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Last season, the Plattsburgh State men's indoor track and field team saw its best performances of the season come in distance and field events.

This season, head coach Nick Jones believes it will be his group of sprinters that will carry the majority of the clout at each meet the Cardinals compete in.

"We do have a young team, but we also have a lot of talented freshmen that came in," said Jones who is set to embark on his second season at the helm of the track and field program. "As far as meet scoring goes, I think the bulk of our points will come from our group of long sprinters."

Headlining the returning collection of sprinters is sophomore Luke Potash who competed in no less than three events at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships a season ago.

"Luke got some experience last season at the conference meet and now he knows what it takes to score points," continued Jones. "He's been working very hard."

Potash, who calls Camillus, N.Y., home, placed 17^th in the 200-meter dash (23.89), 15^th (52.12) in the 400-meter dash and helped the Cardinals' 4x400-meter relay group earn a seventh-place finish (3:36.02) at the league championships.

"We're looking to have long sprinters be in the top three in the conference in the 4x400 and we're also hoping to get some top-five individual performances in the 400-meter dash and score some points at the conference meet," Jones stated.

Challenging their upperclassmen teammates for spots in the starting blocks will be a large group of newcomers which include Travis Overby, John Picaro and Ty Tedford-Bulriss.

"Ty and Travis were in the same heat for one of their races at the state championships last season, so they're definitely two young guys who could do some damage for us this season," said Jones. "Overby is 6'2 and very talented. He could potentially break the school record in the triple jump. Right now he's just working to get acclimated to the college scene.

"John was a 400-meter hurdler in high school, but I think he could qualify for the 500 in ECACs. He's been doing very well in practices so far."

Rejoining the team for their junior and seniors seasons respectively will be John Hamilton and Ryan Barcomb.

 "Hamilton is a middle-distance runner who came around at the beginning of last season and we hope he has continued to improve headed into this season," continued Jones. "Ryan Barcomb is in the best shape I've seen him in, and I'm excited to see what he could possibly do in the long jump this year."

Hamilton, who comes from Mattituck, N.Y., was another member of the Cardinals' 4x400 meter relay team that sprinted to a seventh-place finish in the SUNYAC indoor meet.

Definitely no stranger to success in the indoor realm, freshman distance specialist Ethan Vinson aims to do big things in his first season at the collegiate level.

"Vinson has been able to run a 4:18 mile and he was out number-one finisher in nearly every cross country race this season and we hope he continues his success in his first indoor season," Jones said.

During his prep days in Potsdam, N.Y., Vinson made two trips to the state indoor track and field championships, set a school record in the 1,000-meter run and was part of a foursome that tied the school record in the 4x800-meter relay.

Entering his final season, Alex Choi has emerged as one of the leaders among the young Plattsburgh State squad. The East Moriches, N.Y., native competed in some seven different events at least one time through the course of his junior year and teamed with Potash, Ben Depo and Hamilton to help them to a seventh-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay at the SUNYAC meet.

In addition to Choi, Potash and sophomore Zach Rose have focused on emerging as leaders for the team.

"Even though they're only sophomores, Luke and Zach know they're going to be leaders on our team," Jones said. "We've talked to them and the rest of our sophomores and they know they have to emerge as leaders on the team."

Another freshman will be counted on to help the Cardinals net points in the throwing circle.

 "I really like working with Garth Benway, another freshman, who is a very hard worker and wants to be successful this season," Jones said of his throwing specialist. "He'll be able to succeed if he keeps doing what he's doing."

Jones will lead his men's squad into Brockport on Saturday morning to compete in the first meet of the 2013-14 indoor track and field season. The Cardinals will see how they stack up with other teams in the early stages of the campaign when the Brockport Early Season Invitational begins at 10 a.m.

"We might see some good performances out of a couple of people, but it's the first meet of the season," finished Jones. "It's important that we go out, compete, and identify areas where we need to improve. We know we will get better throughout the season if we put in the work."