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This weekend marked the start of the 2008 OAC cross country season with eight of the ten conference schools competing.
Junior Devin Butcher of #16 Heidelberg opened his season on a positive note leading the way for the Student Princes at the unscored Tiffin/Heidelberg Invitational 8k placing 2nd overall in 26:04 to Tiffin University's Jason Bumb, while freshman Jordan Karnes won the 5k in 16:44.
#31 Mount Union was lead by junior Dan Whistler who finished 3rd overall at Buffalo State's Walker Invite with a time of 26:31. Mount finished just behind #18 SUNY Geneseo in 2nd place.
Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll each competed at the Bill Sudeck Invitational hosted by #24 Case Western Reserve. 2008 OAC Outdoor 5k champion Derek Hill lead the way for the Yellow Jackets finishing 4th overall in 26:54. B-W finished third of eight schools. The Blue Streaks were lead by senior Nick Habursky and featured nine freshman among the 13 runners on their roster. Case edged #14 Allegheny 28-42 for the team win.
Meanwhile Wilmington freshman Pat Carroll had an impressive opening to his collegiate career at the six-team Sodexho Grizzly Invitational as the Quakers second man finishing 9th overall in 28:03. Junior Brad Orr lead the way for Wilmington finishing fifth in 27:43. Wilmington finished just behind host Franklin College in 2nd.
Marietta competed in their Alumni Race and were lead by juniors Josh Mickle and Mike Siringer who ran the 6k course in 20:57 and 21:08, respectively.
Otterbein competed in their annual Alumni Race Friday evening but results have yet to be posted. Muskingum runs their own Alumni Race today.
#9 Ohio Northern and Capital each had the weekend off. Northern will begin their defense of the OAC title next weekend at the Hanover Invitational while Capital will begin their season September 13th at the Marietta Invitational.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
2008 OAC Cross Country Season Kicks Off!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
ONU is NCAA Preseason Top 10 ('Berg top 20)
Ohio Northern University heads into the 2008 cross country season ranked an impressive 9th in the nation. Northern returns their top six runners from a team that was at one time ranked 10th in the nation in 2007 and finished 17th at the NCAA Championships.
Northern's not just an extremely talented and deep squad...they're experienced. Five of their aformentioned top six returners are seniors, while the lone "non-senior," Alan Bowsher, is a junior. Add a sub-31 minute 10k transfer from Purdue and a sensational freshman class to the mix and you have one dangerous team that just might have podium potential on the 22nd of November.
Heidelberg College (not Heidlberg...the USTFCCCA continually forgets there's an 'e' after that 'd') starts the year surprisingly high in the 16th spot. While this team certainly has the potential to place that high--perhaps even the top 15--they'll be largely dependent upon the health of freshman Jamie Martin. If the 'Berg is healthy when it matters, this will certainly be a dangerous team. However, last season's squad was a preseason 19th seed that finished 27th at nationals. The Student Princes must understand that, while fun, a good preseason rank won't punch their tickets to Hanover.
Mount Union College rounds out the trio of OAC teams beginning their 2008 campaigns on the NCAA Division III National Poll sitting in 31st. Mount returns a healthy amount of experience and talented youth and is more than capable of challenging Heidelberg within the conference. With Calvin (preseason #2) and ONU (#9) as the heavy favorites coming into the season, there should be an incredibly hard-fought battle between Mount and Heidelberg, as well as #24 Case Western Reserve for the remaining national qualifying spots at the 2008 Great Lakes Regional hosted by Otterbein, November 15th.
Read about early favorite, #1 SUNY Cortland and more HERE.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Conference Coaching Carrousel...Continues
Complete story here:
John Carroll University has accepted the resignation of Mark McClure as its head coach of cross country and track & field, and has promoted two assistant coaches from within to handle those positions for the 2008-2009 school year.
Dara Ford, who spent last season as the program’s graduate assistant, will serve as the interim head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country teams this fall. Elmore Banton, the former head coach of Ohio University who has spent the last five years as an assistant under McClure at John Carroll, will assume the role of interim head coach of the school’s men’s and women’s track & field teams.
McClure stepped down from his post at John Carroll to accept the same position at his alma mater, Malone College.
Laurie Massa, the Director of Athletics and Recreation at John Carroll, cited timing, available talent and the need for continuity for retaining the services of Ford and Banton in new capacities.
“When you lose a cross country and track & field coach this late in the summer, you essentially have three seasons worth of positions to fill in a limited amount of time,” said Massa. “Mark McClure maintained a successful and well-respected program here at John Carroll. It is important that, for all the efforts that went into putting this team together, we kept as much continuity as possible. We have qualified people already on staff, and that made the decision to hire from within an easy one.”
Both Ford and Banton will serve as the top assistant coach for the program in which they are not the head coach this season.
Ford will begin her fourth year as a college coach, but taking over the reigns of the Blue Streaks’ cross country program will be the first head coaching job. Prior to her arrival at John Carroll, she was the assistant cross country and track coach at her alma mater, Mount Union, for two years.
A 2005 graduate of Mount Union College, she received a Bachelor's of Science in Biology. As a Purple Raider, she set four school records -- the indoor 3,000-meter run, and the outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase, the 5,000-meter run and as a member of the distance medley relay.
A five-time national qualifier (three in cross country, two in track for the steeplechase), Ford received multiple Academic All-OAC accolades and was a two time Academic All-American. She was also honored with the Clyde Lamb Award.
Ford is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Biology at John Carroll.
Now in his sixth season at John Carroll, “Mo” Banton brings instant credibility to the Blue Streak programs as the mentor of the track & field programs and the assistant coach for the cross country teams.
Banton was the highly successful head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Ohio University for 23 years. During his tenure, he collected 20 Coach of the Year awards, including nine Mid-American Conference and eight All-Ohio. Banton guided the Bobcats to 10 MAC titles, 14 All-Ohio championships, and six Central Collegiate crowns over the course of his 23 seasons at the helm.
When hired in 1980, Banton was the first African-American head coach of any intercollegiate sport at Ohio.
As a competitor for Ohio University, Banton made history when he captured the NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country championship in 1964. Not only was he the second Ohio student-athlete to earn national medalist honors, but he was also the first African-American to win the national title.
“We are excited that coach Banton and coach Ford have agreed to take on bigger roles within these programs.” said Massa. “Both have provided exceptional leadership for our student athletes and I am certain they will continue to do so.”
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Episode 12, Part 1: Joe Eby
In part one Joe talks about his program at Allegheny and some of the successes and frustrations of his college career at Mount Union.
Episode 11, Part 1: ONU Senior Quintet
In part one Thomas Adam discusses ONU's newly appointed head coach, Ryan New, Jason Maus's new full-time position and former ONU Assistant Jake Gleason's acceptance of the Muskingum head coaching spot.
Jim O'Brien discusses Northern's expectations returning 6 of last season's top 7 along with a great incoming class including Purdue University transfer Eric Hammond.
Paul Lewis and Eric Porter close part one by talking about the culture change in terms of distance running at ONU.
Friday, August 22, 2008
2008 Men's Great Lakes Region Preview (Top 10)
2007 GL Region Recap: 1st with 27 pts.
2007 GL Region Recap: 2nd with 114 pts.
*Alan Bowsher, JR- XC: 107th Nationals, 21st GL Region/Track: 15:27.50 5k, 31:47.76 10k
2007 GL Region Recap: 4th with 128 pts.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
#12 Preview: Joe Eby's Six Degrees of Separation
Current Allegheny Assistant/Mount alum Joe Eby spilled his guts for well over an hour, covering everything from his experiences at Mount (Joe was a 4-time OAC Champion, 13-time All-OAC performer and All-American), a summer full of traveling (and running with the likes of Olympian Brian Sell, Ryan Bak, Josh Rohatinsky and others), building a premiere track & field meet from scratch (the new, very successful Allegheny Gator Invitational), how the current state of OAC distance running compares to his time at Mount way back at the turn of the century and so much more.
Expect Joe's complete interview (Talk Show #12) along with Ohio Northern's Senior Quintet (#11) to be posted within the next week.
For now, feast on some of the quotes from the interview. After you're done reading some of this stuff the title of this post might start to make a little more sense. Also notice the first Let's Run-style OAC Distance quote to grace the top of the front page taken from Joe's interview (they say imitation is the highest form of flattery...they can sue us if they don't like it).
On his experiences/travels this summer to the U.S. Olympic Trials, etc:
*When I knew the Trials were going to Eugene, He (Ryan Bak) lived in Eugene so I called him up and said, "Hey, I'm looking for a place to stay." I've hosted him a couple times for different meets and he always said, "if I can refurn the favor let me know," so he let Becky and I--my wife--stay with him out in Eugene for the Trials.
*I run for Brooks and we were hanging out at the Brooks house a lot and he came out for one of the morning runs and the end of the run came down to myself, Brian Sell's and my rep from Brooks and Zach Ross--it was just the four of us, and that was like the last 45 minutes, so we just got to run with him and talk with him which was a pretty cool experience...
*The Trials was an amazing time. I would compare it with being at Fantasy Camp. I mean everywhere you went, we went out to dinner and Jen Rhines is there with Terrance Mahon, and Adam Nelson's sitting a couple tables away from us. We'd go out on a run and see Amy Hastings or Anna Willard or, I saw Gabe Jennings, Leo Manzano...everywhere you went you're running into people.
*...then went to Portland to visit one of my friends from high school out there. I stayed with him and I got to go to the Adidas Headquarters because he works at Adidas and he knows Josh Rohatinsky real well so we went over to his house and played Wii with him and he was going for a run so I just jumped in with him and went for another easy run with him.
*...Bernard Lagat actually sat in front of my wife on our plane flight from Eugene to Seattle. When we were in Seattle we went and visited the Brooks Headquarters and kind of took in sights up there and then went to a wedding in San Antonio and I think last Saturday was the first time I'd slept in my own bed since January. So yeah, it was a lot of traveling, but it's been a lot of fun.
*I met Pat Tyson randomly just walking with my buddy. I was just trying to help him with some Adidas stuff, I was carrying some Adidas posters and stuff and I dropped something on the ground and Pat Tyson happened to be walking behind us and he was like, "oh here, let me help you carry that," so everywhere you go you're always running into someone who's done something or run really fast.
We're certainly going to have to call Joe in the future for a sequel interview. Stay tuned for Episodes 11 & 12, coming soon!
Camp Week Countdown & Episode 11
I know what you're thinking: finally some activity, right?
As most OAC teams gear up to report back to campus on Monday we hyped the occasion by picking the brains of five Ohio Northern seniors. Can the Polar Bears fight for a spot on the podium this November? Will they battle Calvin for a Great Lakes Championship? How do they feel about their recent head coaching hire?
After nearly an hour and thirty minutes of recorded interview time you can expect to see quite the ONU jukebox grace the front page sometime next week. Until then, we'll leave you with a little preview.
Also coming soon, a couple good reads courtesy of contributor/B-W alum Tim Budic as well as Talk Show #12 featuring Allegheny Assistant/Mount alum Joe Eby.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
At Long Last, ONU Announces 'New' Head Coach
Less than a week out from the start of cross country camp, the Ohio Northern Athletic Department officially announced today that it will be former Centre Assistant Coach Ryan New who will take over the reigns for the Polar Bear harriers this fall.
New will inherit what is without a doubt the most talented Ohio Northern cross country team in the history of the program, fresh off a 17th place finish at Nationals in '07--a team that was at one time ranked within the top 10 nationally.
Expectations are very, very high at Northern this season, and for good reason.
Full story via ONUSports.com:
ADA — Ryan New has been named head coach for both the Cross Country and Track & Field programs at Ohio Northern.
New comes to Northern after spending the past three years as an assistant coach at Centre (Ky.) and running for the program from 2001-2004.
The 2004 graduate earned his dual degree in classical studies and history from Centre.
New was a sprinter for the Colonels, competing in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes as well as the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays.
At the end of his career, New held or shared seven school records in track.
New was named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Runner of the Year and Centre Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2004 while running an NCAA Provisional time of 48.33 in the 400-meter dash.
“I am very excited about the chance to come to Ohio Northern,” said New. “This does not necessarily seem like a job but rather a great opportunity that has been given to me.”
After completing his undergraduate work, New earned his master’s degree in history from Eastern Kentucky.
New resides in Ada with his wife, Andrea.