The North Coast Athletic Conference men's cross country coaches have picked Wabash to finish fourth at the league's annual championship race. First-year head coach Roger Busch believes his team may surprise some people at the end of the year.
Busch, a member of the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Little Giants' national powerhouse cross country teams of mid-90's in addition to earning All-America honors in track before graduating in 1996, takes over the program from his former head coach. Rob Johnson continues to coach the track and field program, and guided the Wabash cross country team to a fourth place finish at the NCAC Championships in cross country in 2006.
"Fourth this year is a fair ranking based on our finish last year," Busch said. "But we rallied late last season to finish higher than Denison, Oberlin, and Ohio Wesleyan. With the hard work our team has put in over the summer, I believe we can shoot for at least a second place finish at the conference race."
The 2007 Little Giant team will not have a lot of members, but will have plenty of road-tested runners. Senior Geoff Lambert has made the biggest splash in track and field competition, finishing second at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Nationals in the 800 meters. The two-time All-American is joined by fellow seniors Ben Bly, Matt Maher, and Josh Vaughan.
Juniors Sam Compton-Craig finished eighth at last year's NCAC race to earn Second Team All-Conference honors. Hugh Jackson was one of the top-seven runners for the Little Giants in 2006 and returns after a summer of hard training for his junior year. Sophomore Sam Prellwitz and freshmen Justin Allen, Seth Einterz, Nick Hitch, and Jacob Surface make up the rest of the Wabash squad for 2007.
Wabash receive 65 points in the NCAC preseason poll. Allegheny, the three-time conference defending champion, earned all ten first-place votes for a total of 100 points. Denison was second (84 points), with Ohio Wesleyan taking third (81). Oberlin (64) was fifth with Kenyon (55) in sixth place. Earlham (31) and Wooster (31) tied for seventh, with Wittenberg (29) and Hiram (10) rounding out the final two spots in the poll.
The Little Giants hit the course this Saturday morning for the annual Charlie Finch '51 Memorial Alumni Fun-Run. Introductions begin at 8 a.m. with the race scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m.
Photos
(top left) - Geoff Lambert reaches the finish line at last year's Alumni Race.
(bottom right) - Sam Compton-Craig finished eighth at last year's NCAC Championship race.
(main cross country page) Lambert and Compton-Craig during last year's Wabash Hokum Karem race.
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