Closing in on the end of the 2006 outdoor track and field season, the four members of the Wabash 1600-meter relay team reached one of their goals this weekend. The quartet of Bart Banach, Nathan Bates, Mike Russell, and Geoff Lambert ran a 3:15.80 at the Dr. Keeler Invitational at North Central College. The time was good enough to eclipse the NCAA provisional qualifying time, possible earning the group a place at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship Meet.
"It was an incredible race against some great competition," said head coach Rob Johnson. "Normally, we have a pretty good kick at the end of each of our exchanges. That's what we did at the conference meet to win. But against the type of talent we raced Friday and Saturday, you only pick up time. You don't really see the gap between you and the next runner change. Everyone is fast at these final races."
"That's what makes this run so good. It's the fastest 4 X 400 time a Wabash team has turned in since my teams in 1984 and 1985 qualified for nationals. These guys are something special."
The relay team wasn't the only group turning in top times. Tim Rickard continues to close in on a national cut, running his best time of the year in the 400-meter hurdles. The sophomore won his section with a time of 56.60.
Wabash will return to North Central next weekend to try and trim some more time off the qualifying mark. Provisional qualifying times are compared across the nation, with only the top times earning a spot in the national field. Lambert has already qualified provisionally for nationals after winning the 800-meter run last weekend at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships with a time of 1:51.73. His time is among the best this season, and nearly hit the automatic qualifying mark.
"A sub-3:16 made the nationals last year," said Johnson. "This year, I don't know. We can still run even faster. We had lousy weather up in Chicago. I think if we can trim even a half second off that time, we stand a good chance of going to nationals."