For years, the balance of power at the Capital Athletic Conference Track & Field championships have centered around Mary Washington and Salisbury, with York rising up recently to prove to be a worthy challenger.

But at the 2014 CAC Indoor Championships, first-year CAC member Christopher Newport captured top honors in the women’s team standings, and Wesley claimed third place in both men’s and women’s standings – the best team performances for the Wolverines since joining the CAC nearly a decade ago.

It may get even more crowded at the top soon because Penn State Harrisburg is having a successful season as a first-year independent/club team prior to advancing to varsity status next year.

But that’s next year.  The focus this week is on the 2014 CAC Outdoor Championships, which will be held at Christopher Newport.  Competition begins Saturday (5/3) with a handful of events at 3 p.m., including the pole vault, hammer, javelin, triple jump and 10,000-meter runs.  Teams return to CNU’s Pomoco Stadium Sunday, with field events beginning at noon and running event finals 30 minutes later.

Salisbury, led by NCAA hurdles champion Luke Campbell, won its third-straight men’s indoor championship in February, and the Sea Gulls will look for the hat trick in the outdoor championship this weekend.   CNU and Wesley finished second and third, respectively, at the indoor championships.

Host CNU won the women’s team title in the Captains’ first-ever CAC indoor championship meet, and they’ll look to do the same outdoors.  Salisbury is the four-time women’s defending champion, but it was Mary Washington and Wesley that were the top challengers for Christopher Newport at the indoor championship meet.

Here is a quick look at each team heading into the 2014 CAC Championship:

After capturing 11 outdoor Mason-Dixon Conference titles since 2000, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT will look for its first Capital Athletic Conference men’s crown in 2014. Following a second-place showing during the CAC indoor meet in February, the Captains will look to better that effort when the program hosts the outdoor title meet at Pomoco Stadium. Entering the championship competition, Dominique Torres ranks 15th in the nation in the triple jump with a 14.25-meter effort, while Daulton Teaford is 27th in the 200 with a 21.85 clocking. The two have also teamed with Troy Newcomer and Robert Mayes to rank 20th nationally in the 4x100. Richard Roethel has also starred for the team, ranking fourth nationally in the decathlon and among the elite in the javelin and high jump.

After winning nine outdoor Mason-Dixon Conference Championships since 2000, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT will look for its first Capital Athletic Conference women’s title in 2014. The Captains, who won the indoor title in February, are led by a strong distance unit. Logan Harrington, who has been honored as the CAC Track Athlete of the Week twice this season, ranks 17th in the nation in the 800 with a time of 2:13.99. Jessica McClelland also ranks among the top-50 nationally in both the 800 and 1500. In other events, Jennifer Westerholm stands among the top-50 in the 400-hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. The sophomore also sits 19th overall in the heptathlon.

FROSTBURG STATE enters this weekend's CAC Championships with plenty of top-five marks in the league this outdoor campaign, but the Bobcats' strength lies in the field events.  Senior Trey Davis holds the league's fourth-best mark in the hammer throw (45.29 meters), while junior Curtis Buckland is second in the discus (44.21 meters) and sixth in the shot put (13.36 meters).  Junior Devin Francillon enters the weekend fifth in both the 110 (15.86) and 400-meter hurdles (56.67).  Senior Matt Collins is seventh in the 400-meter dash (50.33) and will contribute in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays

FROSTBURG STATE heads into CAC Championship weekend with talent and depth in every event, but a pair of throwers hold a combined seven top-10 marks.  Junior Christina Smith is fifth in the shot put (10.46m), sixth in the javelin (29.93m), ninth in the discus (27.37m) and 10th in the hammer throw (33.94m).  Freshman Tiffany Cancel enters her first league championship fourth in the discus (36.75m), seventh in the hammer (35.07m) and eighth in the shot put (9.57m).  Senior Morgan Carroll is eighth in the high jump (1.52 m), while freshman Ana Gomerez is seventh in the 100-meter dash (13.18) and 10th in the long jump (4.9m).

MARY WASHINGTON will send a versatile, talented group to the CAC men’s Championships, led by veteran All-CAC performers Nick Judy and Matt Shaughnessy in the 800 meters. Newcomers Zach Kerns and Glenn Taylor have had record-breaking freshman campaigns in running events as well. The Eagles will be seeking their sixth conference championship in all.

The MARY WASHINGTON women will look to build on their second place finish at indoors with a talented team at the Championships. The Eagles are deep in the throwing events, with school record holders Cheyenne Falls and Elysa Baker, as well as Sheree Turner and Taylor Cockerille. Freshman Natalie Young has been very successful in distance running, and junior Claire Harrington will look to capture the top honors in the pole vault, as well as a member of several relays. UMW is seeking its unprecedented 17th conference outdoor title.

SALISBURY enters the CAC championships searching for its third-consecutive outdoor title.  With the indoor championships that have been added to the league in recent years, the Sea Gulls have won five-straight track & field titles.  Salisbury will be led by the defending CAC and NCAA champion in the 110-meter hurdles, Luke Campbell.  Campbell posted the fastest time in the nation during the 2014 season this past weekend, with a time of 14.21 seconds.  Campbell is also the top-seeded runner in the CAC in the 400-meter hurdles, and ranks ninth nationally, with a time of 53.20 seconds.  Thomas Burke holds the top time in the CAC this season in the 800-meter run, while Dylan Burkett holds the top CAC performance this season in both the shot put and discus.

Salisbury will be looking for its fifth-straight CAC outdoor championship this week.  The Sea Gulls enter the championships with the top-seeded performance in four different events.  Kara Tolson holds the league’s top time in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes.  Sophomore Shannon Gilligan holds the top effort in the CAC this season in the javelin by nearly 10 feet over the closest competitor.  Freshman Sarah Taylor, who holds the school record, is tied for the top spot in the conference in the pole vault.

After placing a program-best third at the CAC Indoor Championships, WESLEY hopes that its sprint-heavy freshman roster will perform even better at the Outdoor Championships this weekend. The Wolverines boast five sprinters seeded in the top ten in the 100m dash, two more in the 200 and four in the 400. Freshman DaJahn Lowery and indoor national qualifier Markael Jenkins lead the way for Wesley in the shorter sprinters with classmate Johnny Crenshaw closing in while Dominic McAnulty currently holds the top spot in the CAC in the 400 with classmate Evan Le’Mon right behind.  Carlton Sheppard was the lone Wolverine men’s athlete to earn All-CAC honors in two events during the indoor season and looks to win his first-ever conference championship in the 800.  Both of Wesley’s relays also rank first in the CAC and are looking to improve their times in hopes of qualifying for Nationals later in May. Wesley also has a competitive contingent in the field events led by Patrick Schlosser and Ryan Schilling in the discus, Darryl Guilford in the shot put, Thomas Kidwell in the javelin and De’Vaughn Trader in the long and triple jumps.

The freshman contingent of Elizsha Streeter, Kiona Mency, Kameko Webb and Kadijah Doughty provide WESLEY its best chance to improve on its third place showing at the CAC Indoor Championships in hopes for its first-ever Conference title. Streeter, who was named the Indoor Rookie of the Year, leads the Wolverines and is seeded second in both the 100m Dash and 400m Dash while sitting third in the 200m Dash. Mency, who was a high teammate of Streeter’s and the CAC Indoor Co-Athlete of the Year, is coming on strong after an injury forced her out of the ECAC and NCAA Indoor Championships.  Webb joins the duo along with fellow freshman Angel Hall and junior Stevi Carpenter in the national-caliber 4x100 and 4x400 Relays and recently jumped 18-1.5 in the long jump to take the top seed in the event. Doughty should make some noise in both the shot put and discus. Also battling for key points in their various events are freshmen Taylor Cosby (100 hurdles), Brittney Kerns (jumps), Arnelle Akakpo (jumps) and Taylor Rae Danforth (pole vault).

YORK enters the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference championship meet looking to make an impact in the standings. The Spartans are powered by a strong core of distance runners led by All-American Tim Hartung. He is joined by Michael Stetson, Matt Hayes, Craig Eppler and Connor Simpson. In the sprints, York will look for Ryan Banta, Darnell Tillman, and Darien Gray to score points in their events. The Spartan throwers are powered by Robert Doster, Terez Beauford, Eddie Kraft and Alex Aponte.

YORK comes to the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference championship meet looking to improve on last year's third place finish. The Green and White will count on a strong group of distance runners to provide York with quality points. Jess Miller, Caroline DeLany, Jenna Roberts and Stephanie Bower are the core of the Spartans' distance group. Freshman Emily Cronise gives York a strong presence in the sprint events with her specialty being the 800 meter run. Sophomore Bria Jones and freshman Courtney Rice give the Spartans a solid group of sprinters capable of scoring points in the championship. Reigning CAC Rookie of the Year Bethany Miller will be counted on to score in the pole vault and also in selected sprint events.  The Spartan throwers are led by Abbey Rhodes, Amanda Mackey, and Molly Hoffer.