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"If I can bring this kind of intensity into next week, who knows what I can do?"

- ONU Senior Thomas Adam's running log comments after Saturday's Great Lakes Regional. Adam, who finished 10th at OAC just two weeks ago was an impressive 6th overall in a region loaded with quality individuals.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Outdoor Recap

Last Saturday I traveled to Wilmington College to watch the 2008 OAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. It was a perfect spring day with temperatures in the upper 60’s. A day filled with exciting races and all around good times. Ohio Northern Junior Jimmy O’Brien won the meets Most Outstanding Distance Runner and Mount Union captured the overall team title. Here is a recap of the day’s action.

Men’s 10000 –
This race was on Friday evening. I didn't witness it firsthand so I'll give a recap of what happened based on the accounts of the runners I talked to. The heat and humidity were big factors in this race; so much so that the staff at Wilmington were handing out cups of water on one end of the track and spraying the runners with a hose on the other.

The pace was pretty pedestrian for most of the first 5k with no one wanting to make any big moves, most likely trying to save themselves for races on the next day. A pack consisting of all the big names came through the 5k in roughly 17:15. At this time last years champion, Junior Thomas Adam of Ohio Northern made a valiant effort to defend his title despite suffering from some sickness. Unfortunately his health got the better of him today and his lead did not last. Thomas is an extremely gifted runner but suffered some setbacks this spring, I’m sure he’ll be back at the top of the conference come fall.


Around the four mile mark Sophomore Devin Butcher of Heidelberg decided to get the race started and made a move for the front. This woke up some of the other big guns and finally a respectable pace was established. With about a mile to go it was Butcher, Sophomore Alan Bowsher of Ohio Northern and Senior Kyle Basista of Mount Union (running his first ever 10k) in the lead pack. This final mile saw Basista and Bowsher battle it out while Butcher, realizing he had a good gap on 4th, shut things down a little. In the end Basista turned his first ever 10k into his first outdoor OAC title. Kyle has been a consistent threat in the 1500/5k as well as on grass throughout his years in the OAC and this 10k title just reconfirms his great range.

Men 10000 Meter Run
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================================
Finals
1 Basista, Kyle SR Mount Union 33:16.29
2 Bowsher, Alan SO Ohio Northern 33:20.50
3 Butcher, Devin SO Heidelberg College 33:40.61
4 Lewis, Paul JR Ohio Northern 33:54.70
5 Castrillo, James SO Otterbein 34:03.86
6 Wolfe, Scott FR Mount Union 34:10.51
7 Siesel, Deven FR Heidelberg College 34:28.43
8 Buhovecky, Mark SO Baldwin-Wallace 34:33.63
9 Hull, John SR Marietta College 35:12.00
10 Schoenlein, Jacob FR Ohio Northern 35:21.63
11 Adam, Thomas JR Ohio Northern 35:32.22
12 Hankins, Ian SO Muskingum College 35:42.70
13 Habursky, Nick JR John Carroll 35:55.61
14 Kenngott, Max FR Marietta College 36:02.11
15 Edmonds, Nick SO Ohio Northern 36:32.29

Men’s 4 x 800 –
I also wasn’t present for the 4 x 800 on Friday evening and don’t have the leg to leg details on this race but from my understanding the final leg went a little something like this. Junior Scott Lasch of Heidelberg College, by the end of the third leg, had about a 15 meter lead over Junior Steve Darmon of defending champs Ohio Northern and Sophomore Jeff Bonezzi of Baldwin-Wallace. Lasch handed off to Sophomore Mark Childs, Bonezzi to Senior Aaron Apathy, and Darmon to Junior Jimmy O’Brien to set up the final leg. Childs went out hard hoping to build a bigger lead on the dangerous speedster O’Brien. Childs came through 400 in about 53 seconds and still held a 15-20 meter lead on O’brien. The second lap saw Childs feeling the effort of his blistering first lap and being caught by O’brien with 200 meters to go. O’Brien cruised in for the win and Ohio Northern won the 4 x 800 for the third year in a row.


Men 4x800 Meter Relay
===============================================================================
Finals
1 Ohio Northern University 'A' 8:16.55 7:44.53 10
1) Amstutz, Joe SO 2) Porter, Eric JR
3) Darmon, Steven JR 4) O'Brien, James JR

2 Heidelberg College 'A' 7:50.88 8
1) Hoogeveen, Eric SR 2) Wolverton, Reed JR
3) Lasch, Scott JR 4) Childs, Mark SO

3 Baldwin-Wallace College 'A' 7:55.09 6
1) Bowen, Nate SO 2) Eberts, James SO
3) Bonezzi, Jeff SO 4) Apathy, Aaron SR

4 Wilmington College 'A' 7:56.43 5
1) Stiles, Austin SO 2) Howard, Mitch FR
3) Orth, Bret FR 4) Orr, Brad SO
5 Mount Union 'A' 7:58.39 4
1) Gustin, Anthony SO 2) Griffin, Ty FR
3) Whisler, Dan SO 4) Basista, Bryce SO
6 Otterbein 'A' 8:00.91 3
1) Simko, Alex SO 2) Congrove, Tyler
3) Paullin, Steve FR 4) French, Jared SR
7 Capital University 'A' 8:11.13 2
1) Eversole, Joel SO 2) Rhoad, Emerson FR
3) Miceli, Joe JR 4) Woods, Stephan SR
8 John Carroll 'A' 8:12.45 1
1) Cumbo, Brett SR 2) Cianci, Victor SO
3) DiRuzza, Daniel SR 4) Czerwinski, Jason SR


Men’s 1500 –
Saturday’s action started with the Men’s 1500. Last years winner, Jimmy O’Brien, was the heavy favorite having run a 3:47.97 only three weeks before the conference meet. O’Brien dictated much of this race as he took the lead from the gun. At 400 meters O’brien led coming through in 63 seconds. Following O’Brien were Lasch of Heidelberg, Senior Jared French of Otterbein, Freshman Ty Griffin of Mount Union, Senior Daniel Diruzza of John Carroll and Sophomore Nate Bowen of Baldwin-Wallace. These five all looked relaxed through the 400, waiting their turn to make a move. O’Brien still led after a comfortable second lap hitting the 800 mark in 2:09. Behind him there was a lot of waiting. Nearing the 400 mark Lasch decided to make a move for the lead and this quickly got O’Brien and the rest of the competitors moving. Nearing the final turn it looked as though Jared French was in best position to make a move on O’Brien but in the final straightaway O’Brien left no question as to who is the fastest 1500 meter runner in the conference. The final straightaway also saw Griffin chasing down older, more experienced runners as he finished second in one of the fastest times in the conference by a freshman in a long time. Lasch, who made the initial move at the 1k mark faded back to finish 6th.


Men 1500 Meter Run
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
Finals
1 O'Brien, James JR Ohio Northern 3:47.97 3:56.45 10
2 Griffin, Ty FR Mount Union 4:04.41 3:58.45 8
3 French, Jared SR Otterbein 4:01.48 3:58.73 6
4 DiRuzza, Daniel SR John Carroll 4:01.09 4:00.06 5
5 Bowen, Nate SO Baldwin-Wallace 4:02.35 4:00.45 4
6 Lasch, Scott JR Heidelberg College 4:00.17 4:01.97 3
7 Porter, Eric JR Ohio Northern 4:04.42 4:03.78 2
8 Chumney, Greg FR Muskingum College 4:06.99 4:07.65 1
9 Brumlik, Tom Otterbein 4:09.26 4:08.90
10 Darmon, Steven JR Ohio Northern 4:07.20 4:09.58
11 Basista, Bryce SO Mount Union 4:05.01 4:10.30
12 Mickle, Josh SO Marietta College 4:07.90 4:10.90
13 Holbrook, Eric FR Heidelberg College 4:08.01 4:12.12
14 Woods, Stephan SR Capital University 4:13.88 4:18.12
15 Orth, Bret FR Wilmington College 4:22.82
16 Apathy, Aaron SR Baldwin-Wallace 4:08.65 4:25.23


Men’s Steeplechase –
The Steeplechase is always a favorite and true to tradition minutes before the gun a crowd started to gather around the water pit. The race saw defending champion and heavy favorite, Senior Justin Walters of Muskingum run away from the field, winning by nearly 20 seconds. From the gun Walters left no doubt as he took off and built a heavy lead that would prove impossible to overcome. Behind him there was a lot of action in the chase pack. The conference steeplechase always seems to bring out the runners fastest times of the year and this was no exception. The chase was lead by eight different runners throughout the race including Eric Thatcher of Ohio Northern who made a bold move just after the mile mark. Teammate, Senior Robert Leslie also tried his hand leading that pack during the middle stages of the race. Alas, their respective moves came up a bit short as the two ONU steepler's faded over the final 1k. Senior Brett Cumbo of John Carroll ran a smart race and earned runner up honors followed closely by Sophomore James Eberts of Baldwin-Wallace to close out the All-OAC Honors. Seven of the top ten runners in the race earned season bests with their time on the day.

Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
Finals
1 Walters, Justin SR Muskingum College 9:30.15 9:28.79 10
2 Cumbo, Brett SR John Carroll 9:53.86 9:44.28 8
3 Eberts, James SO Baldwin-Wallace 9:55.51 9:45.65 6
4 Whisler, Dan SO Mount Union 9:56.45 9:46.44 5
5 Orr, Brad SO Wilmington College 10:02.22 9:47.32 4
6 Schneider, Chase JR Otterbein 9:49.63 9:49.89 3
7 Kuess, Jamie SO Heidelberg College 10:06.84 9:53.71 2
8 Potter, Harrison SR Marietta College 9:56.81 9:57.01 1
9 Czerwinski, Jason SR John Carroll 9:55.78 9:58.01
10 Lemon, Jake SO Heidelberg College 10:10.87 9:59.82
11 Thatcher, Eric JR Ohio Northern 9:54.28 10:01.22
12 Leslie, Robert SR Ohio Northern 10:01.07 10:07.06
13 Dieterich, Matt JR Mount Union 10:00.12 10:08.93
14 McPheron, Ben SO Ohio Northern 10:13.37 10:22.15
15 Snider, Tyson SR Ohio Northern 10:19.39 10:26.39
16 Simko, Alex SO Otterbein 10:23.15 10:38.11
17 Bonezzi, Jeff SO Baldwin-Wallace 10:15.67 10:47.74
18 Wirrig, Nathan FR Capital University 10:54.94 10:50.14

Men’s 800 –
Once again O’Brien of Ohio Northern left no doubt as to who is the best middle distance runner in the conference as he calmly waited for the first 650 meters of the race and took off through the final turn, putting two seconds on the field in the final 150 meters. The lead pack came through the first quarter in just over 57 seconds and the final lap saw Junior Jered Mitchem of Marietta and Junior Mark Childs of Heidelberg battle it out for second and third with the edge going to Mitchem.

Men 800 Meter Run
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
Finals
1 O'Brien, James JR Ohio Northern 1:50.87 1:54.10 10
2 Mitchem, Jered JR Marietta College 1:57.40 1:56.50 8
3 Childs, Mark SO Heidelberg College 1:55.19 1:56.74 6
4 Griffin, Ty FR Mount Union 1:55.95 1:57.48 5
5 Hoogeveen, Eric SR Heidelberg College 1:57.63 1:58.24 4
6 Eversole, Joel SO Capital University 1:58.90 1:58.50 3
7 Bowen, Nate SO Baldwin-Wallace 1:57.49 1:58.53 2
8 Porter, Eric JR Ohio Northern 1:57.70 1:58.95 1
9 Wolverton, Reed JR Heidelberg College 1:59.56 1:59.16
10 Howard, Mitch FR Wilmington College 1:59.37 2:00.07
11 DiRuzza, Daniel SR John Carroll 1:54.96 2:00.50
12 Congrove, Tyler Otterbein 1:59.19 2:00.97
13 Stiles, Austin SO Wilmington College 1:58.36 2:02.17
14 Walters, Justin SR Muskingum College 1:57.87 2:08.34
15 Apathy, Aaron SR Baldwin-Wallace 2:10.15


Men’s 5000 –
The OAC 5000 always seems to come down to one factor: who has the freshest legs? With many of the athletes running Friday's 10k, or the 1500/steeplechase earlier in the day, the edge usually goes to the runner who is solely running the 5k. As the gun went off there was a large group running pretty conservatively for the first few laps. Coming through the mile in about 4:55 the large lead group consisted of Junior Derek Hill of Baldwin-Wallace, Senior Kyle Basista of Mount Union, Junior Scott Lasch of Heidelberg, Sophomore Alan Bowsher of Ohio Northern, Senior Jared French of Otterbein, Junior Chase Schneider of Otterbein, Sophomore Devin Butcher of Heidelberg and Junior Jarrod Saling of Heidelberg. The second mile consisted of more waiting as the leaders reached the 3200 mark in about 9:55 with everyone still in contention. Just after the 10 minute mark Hill decided to make his move...and a big move it was. The spurt seemed to catch the rest of the field by surprise as it took almost 200 meters for anyone to start to chase him. Hill continued to burn up the track the final mile. Behind him about 30 meters was Basista and trailing Basista by about 50 meters was Bowsher. These would be the final positions for these three as Hill would win his first OAC title and the first for a proud and storied Baldwin-Wallace program since 2003.
Men 5000 Meter Run
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
Finals
1 Hill, Derek JR Baldwin-Wallace 15:21.91 15:11.49 10
2 Basista, Kyle SR Mount Union 15:06.86 15:16.89 8
3 Bowsher, Alan SO Ohio Northern 15:27.50 15:31.55 6
4 Butcher, Devin SO Heidelberg College 15:31.80 15:36.28 5
5 Lasch, Scott JR Heidelberg College 15:18.02 15:41.74 4
6 Saling, Jarrod JR Heidelberg College 15:38.88 15:41.98 3
7 French, Jared SR Otterbein 14:56.51 15:49.49 2
8 Schneider, Chase JR Otterbein 15:47.71 15:51.19 1
9 Wolfe, Scott FR Mount Union 15:49.84 15:56.00
10 Castrillo, James SO Otterbein 15:49.17 15:59.04
11 Fyock, Chris FR Otterbein 15:50.46 16:00.38
12 Lewis, Paul JR Ohio Northern 15:42.18 16:02.26
13 Ford, Dustin JR Mount Union 15:34.22 16:08.85
14 Adam, Thomas JR Ohio Northern 15:23.33 16:22.78
15 Whisler, Dan SO Mount Union 15:52.55 16:28.60
16 Leslie, Robert SR Ohio Northern 15:51.32 16:55.07
17 Keppler, Andrew SR Capital University 17:27.20 18:07.19

Get Ready


Welcome to OAC Distance, a new site deidcated to providing coverage of runners from the second oldest conference in the NCAA (any division). Follow your team year-round. Familiarize yourself with the OAC's up-and-coming young talent and keep tabs on upperclassmen via interviews, training logs, blogs and videos. Discuss who's the team to beat, find out what OAC alumni are up to, check the weekend's results and more.

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For the time being things are obviously under construction. Developing this site will be an on-going process but the vision will become clearer and clearer with time. By the time the first gun is shot to start the 2008 cross country season we guarantee to have a load of "goodies" waiting for OAC cross country/track fans.

Stay tuned, as OAC Distance dot com unfolds this summer and on into the fall.

About the Site

My time running at Heidelberg and competing within the OAC is something I will never forget. Over the span of four and a half years I learned so much about myself through this sport and more importantly, gained friendships that will last a lifetime.

Throughout that time I was very aware of the talent pool within the conference. I knew, at the very least, the scorers from each and every team, whether they were a perennial power or a non-factor at the time. Though I'm pretty confident anyone close to the Heidelberg family would tell you my number one priority while there was to make sure we were running to the ceiling of our potential, I also always appreciated the progression of other runners around the conference, again, whether that meant a guy improving from 16:30 to 15:59 in the 5k, or from consistently hitting provisional marks to eventually breaking into the thick of the national scene: I was a fan.

When I moved to Georgia upon graduation I was floored by how much I missed collegiate running. Nostalgia got the better of me as I began to read through old logs on a nightly basis. I began to think there must be a way I could give back to the sport, the OAC and NCAA Division III athletics in general.

This site, OAC Distance, is my way.