When the men’s track and field team’s outdoor season begins March 29 with the Ithaca Invitational, the only thing the team hopes will change is the roof above their heads.

In November of last year, Head Coach Jim Nichols’ roster card was inundated with freshmen and sparse in experienced upperclassmen. Twenty-four of the team’s 45 athletes were in their first year competing at Ithaca College.

In each meet so far this season, the underclassmen and other first-year athletes have risen to the occasion — stepping up with strong, consistent performances.

And if last weekend’s State Championship meet is any indication of what the spring holds for the team, the Bombers can look forward to many broken records and solid performances. Rebounding from last year’s disappointing ninth-place finish, the men notched a solid fifth-place finish of the 15 competing teams. It was their highest finish since 2004. That type of building success bodes well for a team on the rise.

Nichols said he was very pleased with the results and its prospects for the upcoming season.

“Most of our guys had personal bests or school records, and our relay teams were exceptionally strong,” Nichols said.

The 4x400 relay team was a surprise in St. Lawrence — earning a sixth-place finish. Joining junior Toby Wycoff in the quartet were sophomore Joel Tragger and freshmen Max Orenstein and Jeff Wetmore.

Sophomore Andrew Brown was a team standout last weekend and exemplified the team’s young rebuilding effort. Clearing 4.41 meters in the pole vault, Brown broke his own school record and finished fourth in the championship event.

In hurdles, Dustin James has been a breakout contributor in his first year as a Bomber and is only .06 seconds away from the school record in the 55 hurdles.

With longer, open air tracks, the hurdles increase from a 55-yard event to a 110-yard event for the outdoor season — something James said he is eager for.

“It’s frustrating to be so close and not get the record” James said. “The indoor events are so unforgiving [because they’re] so short and leave little room for error.”

Senior distance specialist Kyle Miller, coming off of an ECAC qualifying run in the 3,000 meters, said he is looking to leave a mark in his last spring as a Bomber.

“The relationships we’ve built as a distance squad is what I’m really proud of” Miller said. “Bringing the team in as a whole has made us much stronger, and I’d really like to see that continue.”

While there is a lot of anticipation and hope on the horizon, Nichols refuses to let the team forget that the indoor season isn’t over yet.

“I’m not even thinking about outdoor yet,” said Nichols. “We still have ECAC Championships next weekend [tomorrow and Saturday] to think about, with some athletes who have a shot at NCAAs [March 14 to 15]. It’s a whole different beast that we’re not preparing for yet.”