For the third year in a row, Kevin McCarthy and Jake Waterman are headed to the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship meet together. This year, however, they will join teammates Donavan White and Cole Hruskovich to compete in the distance medley relay.

Waterman and McCarthy both competed in the 800-meter run last year at the indoor national at Capital. McCarthy just missed earning a place in the finals, while Waterman lost a chance to become a national champion by 3/1000^th of a second. Both runners have used last year's disappointment as motivation for this year's meet.

“I'm more confident heading into nationals this year than perhaps any other year,” McCarthy said. “Even though I'm competing in a different race by running the men's mile this year at indoors, I've had the opportunity to race at cross country nationals as well as outdoor and indoor track nationals. Coming off last year's effort at indoor nationals, I've learned a lot. I got boxed in during my prelims race in the 800 and that cost me a chance to run in the finals. I've taken that experience and learned to run my race. That's helped me at cross country and outdoor nationals, and throughout the season this year as I've prepared for this opportunity.”

Waterman echoed his teammate's thoughts.

“Having competed at nationals before provides a good level of experience,” Waterman said. “I have learned a lot each time I have raced, particularly have lost such a close race in the finals last year. My hope is to use the experience to get a victory this year.”

White is getting the chance to compete due to an injury to distance medley relay member John Haley, who was part of the group that set the qualifying mark for Wabash at Boston University earlier this season. For White, it is a chance to compete that he thought might not exist again. The senior was a key member of the Little Giants' cross country team this past fall, but broke his foot during a training run midway through the season and missed a chance to compete for a team that eventually won the North Coast Athletic Conference title and finished 16^th at the NCAA National Championship event. Now White gets that opportunity to compete on the national stage again.

“I just feel blessed to be able to compete and try to help us possibly win a national title in the distance medley relay,” White said. “Not being able to race at cross country nationals this year was tough, but I have used that as motivation to get stronger and be able to compete in track this year. Now I'm where I want to be --- competing at nationals. I want to run a good, smart race and give the rest of the team the opportunity they deserve.”

“Donavan is just a great story,” Assistant Coach Roger Busch said. “Here's a guy coming off a broken foot from cross country, he was just a few seconds off making the outdoor championship meet last year, and we weren't even sure he was going to be able to compete in track at a 100-percent level this season. He came out and ran a personal best in the mile by three seconds at the conference meet. I'm just really happy for him. I couldn't pick a better young man to get us going at the national meet.”

Hruskovich was also part of the Wabash country team that raced at nationals the past two seasons, so he is no stranger to top NCAA competition. In fact, having raced at one of the top national meets at Boston University earlier this season may have been the best way to get ready for the indoor championship event.

“Jake and Kevin have been here before, so I'll really listen to what they tell me in terms of getting ready to run Friday night in the prelims,” Hruskovich said. “I believe getting a chance to compete early this season in Boston against some of the same teams we will see Friday night in the distance medley relay at nationals will be helpful. The Boston University meet was a big meet in terms of the number of teams, even more than the number that will compete at nationals. I think that will experience will help me relax and be able to focus on what I need to do to help the team.”

 The Wabash track program has become a regular fixture at the national meet over the past few seasons. The Little Giants enter the meet ranked 11^th in the national computer poll and are led by three-time US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Men's Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year Clyde Morgan. For Morgan, seeing more athletes compete at nationals each year is the progression he has hoped for from his team.

“Jake and Kevin gained their motivation to get back to nationals this year from their experiences last year,” said Morgan. “It's good for them to go back this year, but I'm thrilled to have our distance medley relay team competing. I think there is something special about getting a relay team to nationals. It allows more guys to compete on the big stage, and really helps to continue the development of that team concept that we believe in.”

McCarthy will compete at 5 p.m. Friday in the prelims of the men's mile run. He enters the meet with the second-fastest qualifying time at 4:06.58. Waterman will race in the 800-meter prelims at 6:45 p.m., then will have a short turnaround before joining his teammates for the finals of the distance medley relay Friday at 7:05 p.m. Waterman is the fourth-quickest qualifier in the 800 with a time of 1:51.86. The Little Giants' DMR is the third-fastest in the field of 10 finalists with a time of 9:53.49.

Live video of the championship meet is available here, with live timing and scoring updates available here.