The Wabash track machine was not running on all cylinders this past Saturday at the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Relays, but that did not stop the Little Giants. Armed with a multitalented freshman and a number of upperclassmen willing to do whatever it took to win, the Wabash track team left Denison as the 2007 NCAC Relay Champions.
After finishing second to Ohio Wesleyan in back-to-back years, Wabash finally managed to put it all together and come out on top. The Little Giants won the Relays for only the second time – the first being in 2004 when Wabash was granted the opportunity to host the meet. Wabash scored 78 points, while Ohio Wesleyan scored 68.5 points for second.
Entering the meet, the Little Giants were missing several experienced individuals. Senior Ben Tritle, junior Mike Russell, and sophomore Sam Compton-Craig all missed the meet for a variety of reasons. However, their teammates were out to make up for their absences.
“I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the results of our effort,” Coach Rob Johnson said. “I was not overly optimistic going to the meet because we had three people [Tritle, Russell, and Compton-Craig] that would have scored that were not participating.”
Beginning with the field events, the Little Giants established themselves as contenders. In the high jump relay, freshmen Chris Schweigel and Bill Kneapler each jumped 5’8” for a combined height of 11’4”, which earned them a third-place finish. In the shot put relay, freshman David Haggard and junior John Tsintis earned a fourth-place finish with a combined distance of 84’3.25”.
In the long jump relay, freshman Emmanuel Aouad made up for the absence of Mike Russell by out-jumping the field by 6.5”. He combined with Chris Schweigel to earn third-place in the event. Then, in the triple jump relay, Aouad, who had not practiced the event in several years, entered at the last minute. His mark of 41’4” was fifth best on the day, and, combined with junior Nelson Barre’s jump, earned Wabash fourth-place points.
In addition to providing a second mark for the Little Giants in the triple jump, Nelson Barre contributed even more. In the pole vault relay, Barre was the only Wabash athlete to clear a height. With his vault of 12’6”, Barre earned sixth place on his own.
In the first running event, senior Dennis Frazee teamed with freshman Micah Milliman for a fourth-place finish in the 5000-meter run relay. Frazee and Milliman would both later join sophomore Hugh Jackson and freshman John Henry on the 4x800-meter relay team that would earn a third-place finish.
Johnson was pleased with the efforts of distance runners. “Frazee and Jackson both ran well in other events and then came back and ran the 4x8,” Coach Johnson said. “John Henry also did a good job on the 4x8, along with Micah Milliman.”
The first Wabash victory of the day came in the 4x200-meter relay. After winning the event last year at both the Relays and the Conference Championships, the Little Giants fielded a team with only one returning member – junior Bart Banach. On the newly comprised team, Banach was joined by sophomore Bobby Kimp and freshmen David Parsch and Emmanuel Aouad. In winning the relay, the young team benefited from the disqualification of the Ohio Wesleyan team.
“We basically had a brand-new 4x200 relay team,” Johnson said. “To have people step up and the meet the challenge like they did is very gratifying.”
The freshman phenom Emmanuel Aouad had a busy day. Not only did he top the conference as an individual in the long jump, he also won the hurdles. He finished the 55-meter race almost two-tenths of a second ahead of his closest competitor. Combined with Nelson Barre’s effort in the event, Aouad helped earn Wabash third-place in the 55-meter hurdle relay.
“Emmanuel was probably the star of the meet,” Johnson said. “He won the long jump and the high hurdles, and he ran on two winning relay teams.”
In the sprint medley relay, Bobby Kimp, David Parsch, sophomore Wade Heiny, and junior Tim Rickard earned a second-place finish. In the distance medley relay, junior Geoff Lambert, Wade Heiny, senior Nathan Bates, and sophomore Hugh Jackson brought home another second place.
In the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay, the Little Giants ran away from the field. Geoff Lambert, Nathan Bates, Emmanuel Aouad, and Bart Banach cemented the meet victory for Wabash with their first-place finish.
“Our guys lived up to our motto: ‘The will to win begins within. We are Wabash men, we know how to win,’” Coach Johnson said.
“Now we have to see how we may match up with the talented and deep team of Allegheny the first weekend in March [at the NCAC Championships],” Johnson said. “I am awfully proud to say that, for the second time in four years, we are the NCAC Relay Champions.”
The Wabash track team travels to Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday to compete in the Titan Open. Then, on February 10, 2007, the Little Giants will compete in the DePauw Invitational.