It did not end the way they had hoped but it provided a glimpse of the future. Such was the situation for the Wabash track and field team in their first meet of the year at the Terre Haute Double Dual when the Little Giants lost to Rose-Hulman, 66-65. In the other dual, Indiana State defeated Illinois State, 98-48.
In their first meet of the new indoor season, the Little Giants won every running event except the 400-meter dash and had four 1-2 finishes. However, a lack of depth, particularly in the field events, allowed Rose-Hulman to pick up enough points to secure the victory.
“I was pleased with some of our early season performances,” Coach Rob Johnson said after the meet.
This past Saturday, the Little Giants tried to continue their successes in the Wabash Alumni Invitational. Against stiffer competition, Wabash had fewer first-place finishes, but there were still positives.
Wabash finished second in the team standings with 108 points, 18.5 points behind meet winner (and Div. II) St. Joseph’s. Indiana Wesleyan finished third, followed by Indianapolis in fourth, Manchester in fifth, and Marian in sixth.
At Rose-Hulman, juniors Mike Russell and Bart Banach each managed to win one race and earn a second-place finish in another. Banach won the 60-meter dash, while Russell took second. In the 200-meter dash, Russell edged Banach by one-hundredth of a second.
“Banach and Russell ran well in the sprints for only coming out a few days ago,” Coach Johnson said after the Rose-Hulman meet.
Banach, the 2006 NCAC Outdoor Track and Field Sprinter of the Year, and Russell, the 2005 NCAC Outdoor Track and Field Sprinter of the Year, will anchor the Wabash sprint crew this year. Returnees sophomore Wade Heiny and junior Tim Rickard, who finished second and fourth in the 400-meter dash respectively, will also be expected to contribute in the sprints throughout the indoor season.
This past weekend, Mike Russell continued to have success, finishing fifth in the long jump and third in the 55-meter dash. However, sophomore Bobby Kimp, a newcomer to the track program, finished ahead of Russell in the 55-meter dash as he tied for first place in a time of 6.69 seconds. Bart Banach did not compete because he had a prior commitment.
In the 800-meter run at Rose-Hulman, junior Geoff Lambert put himself in position to repeat his feat of competing in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Lambert, who was an All-American at the 800-meter distance during outdoor season last year, won the race in 1:53.60, which is a provisional qualifying time for the national meet.
“Lambert’s provisional qualifying time is tremendous, and a testament to the hard work that he and Coach Roger Busch put in during cross country,” Coach Rob Johnson said. “It appeared that he is the first provisional qualifier in the nation in the 800 for the 2007 season.”
“I am really pleased with the way I ran Saturday,” Lambert said. “I am by no means satisfied with the overall time but I am happy I was able to run fast at Rose because that's where Indoor Nationals are.”
While Lambert admitted that he wants to run faster before the NCAA Championships, he said, “As of right now my biggest goal is to help out the track team in anyway that I can.”
Senior Nathan Bates contributed to Lambert’s success by leading him through the first 400 meters on the way to his second-place finish. Bates’ time of 1:56.88 is less than 2 seconds away from the minimum provisional qualifying time. Therefore, Bates, who is a four-time NCAC champion in the 400-meter dash, will likely continue to race at the 800-meter distance for the indoor season, attempting to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“Bates helped make a race out of it,” Johnson said. “He showed some potential to run a couple of seconds faster.”
“Not only did Nathan Bates run a lifetime PR on Saturday, he was willing to keep putting in miles and running distance workouts in order for both of us to be ready to run a fast 800,” an appreciative Geoff Lambert said. Lambert also mentioned Tim Rickard, sophomore Hugh Jackson, and freshman Micah Milliman as helpful training partners.
Moving back to his signature race for the Alumni Invitational, Nathan Bates showed he can still race that distance. Although he finished second, Bates’ time of 51.28 seconds was faster than the meet record.
At the Double Dual, Hugh Jackson dominated his opponents from Division III in the mile, winning in a time of 4:26.01. Completing a fourth 1-2 sweep for the Little Giants, Micah Milliman finished second, crossing the line in 4:42.84.
“We had a breakthrough performance from Hugh Jackson who had a PR in the mile,” Johnson said. “His 4:26 is really good this early in the season.”
In the Alumni Invitational, Hugh Jackson continued to run well. In the mile, he finished third. Then, in the 800-meter run, Jackson was just behind teammate Tim Rickard as the two finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the 3000-meter run at Rose-Hulman, senior Dennis Frazee won the race in a time of 9:13.27. Frazee, who finished second in the 5000-meter run at the NCAC Outdoor Championships, will lead the distance crew this season as they look to cut into the strangle-hold Allegheny has held on the distance events in the past few years.
Frazee continued his success this past weekend in the Alumni Invitational. He won the 5000-meter run, finishing ten seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. In the 3000-meter run, Frazee once again crossed the finish line in first.
Freshman Emmanuel Aouad had a stellar meet in his home-coming in Terre Haute, winning two events. In the long jump, he jumped 21’10” to win. Then, in the 60-meter hurdles, Aouad not only defeated his Division III opponents with his time of 8.52 seconds but also managed to beat the six athletes competing in the event from Indiana State. But he didn’t stop there. In the 200-meter dash, he finished third behind his teammates Mike Russell and Bart Banach.
Aouad continued his success this past weekend in his first official home meet. He finished the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.82 seconds, which earned him second place. In the long jump, the freshman finished fourth with a jump of 6.56 meters, or 21’6.25”.
Aouad will attempt to replicate the hurdling success of Wade Heiny, who finished second at the NCAC Indoor Championships last year but is not running hurdles this year in order to avoid aggravating an injury.
“Freshman phenom Emmanuel Aouad, who won the hurdles and the long jump and did well in the 200 and ran a leg on the 4x4, looks like he’s a multi-talented athlete and could help us in a couple of different events,” Coach Johnson said of Aouad’s performance at Rose-Hulman.
Besides the long jump, the field events were not nearly as kind as the running events to the Little Giants at Rose-Hulman. In the shot put, senior Ben Tritle finished second and teammate junior Justin Sparks was third. In the high jump, freshman Bill Kneapler finished second. In the pole vault, junior Nelson Barre finished third.
At the Alumni Invitational, the field events continued to be a struggle for the Little Giants. In the shot put, Ben Tritle finished sixth and freshman David Haggard finished seventh. In the pole vault, Nelson Barre finished in a tie for fourth, while freshman Chris Vawter finished in a tie for seventh. In the high jump, freshman Chris Schweigel finished in a tie for fifth and Bill Kneapler finished seventh.
The Little Giants will travel to Denison this Saturday to compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays. On February 3, 2007, the Wabash track team will head west to compete in the Titan Open at Illinois Wesleyan.
“I’m looking forward to the NCAC relays,” Coach Johnson said. “I’m hoping we can put together a few good teams and bring back some winners.”