Once in awhile, the thoughts of winning a national championship slip into Geoff Lambert's mind.
After coming within a fraction of second, he wonders about what it'd be like to finally win a Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 800-meter title.
Just a year ago, the Wabash College senior middle distance runner finished as runner-up, only .36 seconds from his first collegiate championship.
He's back in the hunt again this year - and with the DePauw Indoor Qualifier meet Friday night - Lambert could race his way into the NCAA championships for the third time in four years.
For now, though, he's stomped that title thought out of his head. He knows he needs to quicken his pace to advance there first.
"I'm trying not to think about a (national championship) at the moment," said Lambert, who currently holds the 11th-fastest 800-meter time (1:53.93) in Division III. "I'm focusing on running well Friday night. It's something of a goal of mine. I've been training for three years to have a shot at winning a national championship. To just to have a shot to do it is pretty remarkable.
"I'm trying to focus on running fast Friday night. It's always my goal of national championship. But I can't win the race unless I'm in it."
Three Wabash College track and field athletes are sitting on the bubble for the Division III Indoor National Championship meet.
Senior Geoff Lambert (800 meters), sophomore Emmanuel Aouad (55-meter hurdles) and freshman Rob Smallman (pole vault) all have a chance to reach the March 14-15 meet at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio
Lambert and Smallman currently have the 11th-best times in their respective events.
Both are coming off winning North Coast Athletic Conference titles in last weekend's conference meet at Denison University.
Lambert won the 800 meters by four seconds - finishing in 1:54.49 and earned an NCAA provisional qualifying time - while Smallman cleared a season-best 15 feet, 11¼ inches in the pole vault.
Aouad repeated as the conference's long jump and 55-meter hurdles champion, winning the long jump with a 22 feet, 4¼ inch leap and the hurdles in 7.72 seconds. He has the 16th-best time in the 55-meter hurdles.
Wabash track and field coach Rob Johnson said he expects the top 14 to 18 times to advance in the 800 meters and the top 16 or 17 times and heights to qualify for the 55-meter hurdles and pole vault.
"(Geoff) is going to need to run faster," Johnson said. "He has to run at least a half a tenth of a second faster. He's at 1:53.93. If he runs 1:53.45, he'll be OK for sure. There are a lot of last chance qualifiers this year because of the schedule. But I think he'll be able to get there."
"Rob Smallman is a sleeper. If he keeps going the way he has been, he has a shot at Nationals . . . Emmanuel Aouad is a super all-around athlete. He probably could have qualifed in the long jump and hurdles. He's got an outside shot."
Lambert, who earned All-American status last year, has been training with coach and 1996 Wabash graduate Roger Busch.
Busch earned All-America honors his senior year at Wabash and finished fifth in the steeplechase.
Busch has helped Lambert recover from some hip problems this year.
After being spiked in his right Achilles' heel last year's NCAA championship preliminaries, Lambert toughed up and competed in the finals, where he finished second.
But the injury caused him some hip problems. He overcompensated for three to four weeks, which made his left hip hurt all summer and fall. Now, he's started to just start to return to last year's form.
"(Geoff) has got what it takes," Busch said. "It's just matter of whether he shows up there or not. A lot of it determines what type of race is ran and if he chooses to make the race an 800-meter race."
Lambert and Busch agree - his start will determine whether he qualifies or has a shot at winning an NCAA title.
Lambert likes to push the pace hard the first 600 meters and then cruise to a win. But he can't do that Friday or if he advances to the NCAA championships. He has to keep the pace up the entire way - a lesson he learned last year.
"I want the race to be honest and fast," Lambert said. "While I do have some leg speed, I'm not anywhere near some guys in the field If I wait until last 200 (meters) to make a move, there are other guys who have so much more speed than I have. They'll just kind of pick me apart.
"I need to go out, get out cleanly, move through the pack and make sure I'm in the top three or four in the first 300 or 400 (meters). I have to make sure pace isn't slowed down. I have to make sure it stays fast and honest for 600 to 700 meters so people can't just be sitting and waiting on me."
This story originally appeared in The Paper of Montgomery County.