April 08, 2008
Nice weather brings nice results for the Little Giant tracksters...
Coach Busch -- Saturday was by far the nicest day we have had yet this spring! Sam Compton-Craig got the day started off in the 3000 steeple chase...
Hugh Jackson had a good day going 4:02 in the 1500 and 1:58 in the 800, way to go Hugh...
Rob Smallman wins again in the PV, clearing 4.40m for first place!
Emmanuel Aouad runs another great time in the 110 high hurdles despite nursing a sore hamstring...
Having one of his best days as a track athlete, Richard Roomes goes 50.49 for 400m and 23.09 for 200m...
Banach is on his way back! 50.80 in the 400m dash...
Wes Chamble and Quincy Dotson exchange the baton to lead off the 4 x 400 relay with the fastest time of the season at 3:23.29...
Posted by buschr at 03:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 15, 2008
The Good and The Bad!
Coach Busch -- THE GOOD: Outdoor track starts today at the Wabash Relays! The guys are ready to run and enjoy the weather as we have been anticipating getting outside all winter. A big thanks to Coach Johnson, Trinity, Marian, Franklin and Robert Morris for joining us for the beginning of the outdoor track season.
As I write this from the hotel room in Lima, OH, I have to sit and think how lucky I am and how lucky Geoff Lambert has been the last 2.5 years. He and I are heading back to the Div. III NCAA Indoor Track Nationals this afternoon. Geoff has qualified for 5 consecutive (indoor and outdoor) track national meets. Way to go G!
THE BAD: The weather isn't as "spring-like" as we would like, but it's still decent enough to get things rolling.
Unfortunately, Lambert did not qualify for the 800m finals here at the Indoor National meet. He was not mentally prepared to race the second of two prelims in the manner that it happened. He and I had discussed all possible scenarios and he made a decision at the beginning of the race that did not work out in his favor. See, I had called him over to talk right before his heat was to begin and showed him the time of the first heat which was pretty darn fast. I instructed him to make the second heat honest by getting out quickly. He choose to "wait and kick" which is awfully tough to do against the top 12 800 meter runners in the country!
It is now time for Geoff to get ready for the outdoor season and join his teammates back in Crawfordsville. Outdoor track nationals will be here before you know it!!!
Posted by buschr at 12:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 09, 2008
Headed to Nationals!
Coach Busch -- 1:52.70!!!!!!!!!!!! NEW SCHOOL RECORD...That is the time Geoff Lambert HAD to run in the 800m on Friday night in order to make it into the 2008 Div. III NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championship meet. His previous season best of 1:53.93 would have only placed him 14th in the country and on the outside looking in. He ran a very strategic race in order to post the 4th fastest time in the country this year. The nearest competitor was over 4 seconds back.
Geoff will be making his 3rd trip to the indoor meet after finishing the 2007 indoor season as the national runner-up in the 800m. He will be competing this Friday in the prelims and if all goes well will have a chance to be the first Wabash National Champ since Tom Puschak '89 won the hammer throw in 1989.
Posted by buschr at 10:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
August 31, 2007
It's Great To Be Back
Ben Bly '08 -- Without any more delays, I’d like to finally add my two cents to the hopefully entertaining ramblings that have filled our cross-country page thus far. As one of four returning seniors running for the Red Pack this season, there is more excitement and anticipation than any of the previous years combined. While there are many reasons for such high expectations, I am extremely excited just to be able to train, compete, and be a part of the Wabash Cross Country program for one final season. Due to a season-ending stress fracture in the fall and an opportunity to study abroad in England for six months in the spring, it has been exactly one year from this previous weekend since I have been able to compete for Wabash College. Despite a fear that using tacky clichés like, “You never miss something until its gone,” and “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” I can’t help but to have those feelings when I think about how much I missed training, racing, and simply being a part of the team day in and day out while I was injured and abroad. Needless to say, it’s great to be back.
On that note, simply returning to the team has only been half of the struggle; I still have to ensure my fitness level is up to par with the demands of a hard working program and the challenges from our enthusiastic coach. Fortunately for me, I probably benefited from missing the track season while I was abroad because it gave my leg plenty of time to recover and to safely build my mileage back up for cross country. On the other hand, getting ready for my first race back with the team in over a year has caused me to think about the big differences between training by yourself as I did abroad and all summer, and training with an established program that is preparing to compete in a tough conference at the collegiate level. Even though I have been training hard with the aim of returning to Wabash ready to help the Red Pack this season, there are still some lingering insecurities in my fitness and training level. Even though our first race of the season is only a Hokum Karem and not our traditional five-mile cross-country distance, it has not eliminated all of the uncertainties of returning to competition. Nonetheless, I am excited to return to the racing scene with the belief that I am on track and that my fitness is almost back to racing form.
Despite all of the miles logged and various workouts completed, this rediscovered self-assurance has mostly come from a hill workout that our team took on last week. As a team, we usually consider ourselves fortunate to have many opportunities to travel off campus to nearby Shades State Park or Turkey Run State Park. These excursions offer a nice way to break up the weekly mileage and sometimes monotonous scenery around town. However, this particular day we were going to Shades to do repeats on the Trail #4 hill, which consists of 800 meters of steep uphill goodness. To give you an idea of this hill’s level of difficulty, it is best described as a death march, and that’s if you’re having a good workout day. As usual, every member of our team was up to the challenge of anywhere from three to six repetitions of the devastating hill on a brutally hot and humid Indiana afternoon.
Because hills have always been one of my strengths, I decided that I was going to attack this workout with hopes of getting in a great workout as well as proving to myself that the power and toughness was still there. When all was said and done, I had completed six hill repeats alongside the group of our top-returning runners. Needless to say everyone was exhausted, but we were feeling great about the days workout with the knowledge that it would pay off in time for the Hokum Karem, which is our only home meet of the year. Personally, I was able to walk away from the hill with the confidence that I’m in good shape and will continually improve to where I want to be and where the team needs me to be as the season progresses. Even though I may not be as fast as I would like, with the aid of a tough hill and a great workout, I’m sure that I’m well on my way. And this is why it great to be back with the Pack.
Posted by buschr at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
August 29, 2007
Einterz gets Braveheart!
Seth Einterz '11 -- This is Seth Einterz, from Zionsville, IN, checking in before Cross Country and after Physics homework. Just wanted to give you a couple thoughts about the race on Saturday. We were racing alumni, and some of these guys were wicked good, all-Americans and what-not, and I’ll admit that I was a little afraid that they would beat us. But I came up on this kid, and I was like, “Who are you?”
And he says, “I am Samuel Compton-Craig.”
So I say, “No you’re not.”
And he says, I AM Compton-Craig! And I see a whole team of current Wallies, here, in defiance of all-Americans. You've come to run as Little Giants, and Little Giants you are. What will you do with that title? Will you run?
And I said, “Against all-Americans like that? No, we will walk, and we will live.”
But Sam said, “Aye, run and you may die, walk, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our Alumni that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR VICTORY!”...
Needless to say, we beat them, and we didn’t even have to take our kilts off.
Posted by buschr at 07:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
July 05, 2007
Senior Matt Maher!!!
Matt Maher '08 -- It’s not often that I actually sit down to write many things out, unless it’s a paper and it’s due in a couple of hours. But when Lambert asked me to write up a little ‘sum ‘sum about myself I figured, “What the heck, why not?” So alas, here I sit at the Lilly Library circulation desk (when I ought to be barcoding) and break the silence.
I grew up in a small town called Greentown in north-central Indiana, just east of Kokomo. I went to Eastern School of Howard County my whole life, and while in high school I played soccer (two years), ran cross (three years), wrestled, and ran track. I was a pretty good student and still am for the most part; high school was really an easy time in my life. If there is one thing college teaches you, however, it is that your high school is a cake walk, especially when it comes to sports. And I suppose that is where my Wabash experience really began for me all those (three and a half, haha) years ago…insert dramatic, dreamy flashback music…
I had wanted to run in college, but training really wasn’t at the top of my list when I came to Wabash, but all that soon changed the day Coach Roger Busch (AKA “Captain Blood”) put his chips on the table. Eager to help and ready to launch the Wabash distance men to national recognition, Coach Busch wasted no time whipping us all into shape in the winter of 2005, indoor track season my sophomore year.
Through the injuries and sicknesses and everything else, we have all suffered through the perils of dedicated distance running, and we are all better for it. With each mistake we make, we learn not to make the same error again; and hopefully a little something about ourselves. I suffered a stress fractured femur that indoor season from biting off more than I could chew, but Coach Busch kept my head in the game and I was able to return last fall and run a cross country PR by 3 minutes! I steepled for a bit in track, to mediocre success through an injured wrist and some lack luster training methods, but the cross country season was always in the back of my mind. As soon as track ended and summer began, a whole new set of motivations came to mind.
First, it is my last year of college and my last chance to really get out on the CC course and kick some…well…you get the picture. Second, it is Busch’s first season with us as head coach, and we owe it to him to get out there and kick some…well…you know. Third, we are returning 6 of our top 7 runners, and we should have a few young guns to step and kick some major…yeah… Keep consistent, have some fun, and stay out of trouble (trust me on that last one…) and I will see all of you in the fall!
This fall looks to be the strongest season yet for our squad, and with some consistent training and the added bonus of a healthy few others (Bly and Micah), we will be off to a great start. So I leave you all with a little advice: stick with it, because these will be the best years of competition of your lives. And with that I leave you all to your daily lives and the “Miles of Trials…the Trial of Miles.”
Oh and one more thing: “Everything in moderation…” (Coach Busch) “…including moderation.” (Me).
Posted by buschr at 11:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
XC is here whether we like it or not!
Geoff Lambert '08 -- Well it can not be denied any longer, the 2007 cross season is officially here. Today was our first workout of the summer and surprisingly it went well. Hugh Jackson came down to hang out on the 4th so Maher, CC, Hugh, and I were able to work out together. We warmed up two miles and I did not feel the best and was somewhat worried about how the workout was going to go. But once we started, I felt better and I knew I would be fine. The four of us ran 3 miles alternating with a minute hard (about 5:40 minute mile pace) and then a minute easy (about 7 minute mile pace). We went out Big Four Arch road which we all know very well and it felt like nothing had changed between last fall and today. It was nice to get that workout in and I feel better knowing that I am still in somewhat decent shape. After the run I went to play golf with CC and Hugh. I shot a 59 for nine holes, getting better but still pretty bad. But, golf relaxes me and I like being outside. It is raining right now so no fireworks tonight, kind of a downer but I am not really in the mood.
In my previous post I said that the next bio up would be Ben Bly's but that was a lie. Senior Matt Maher's will be the next one up.
Posted by buschr at 11:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
