The 2007 Wabash cross country team got off to a fast start by winning the Great Lakes Colleges Association meet held in first half of the season. That early success could not hold throughout the entire year. This year’s squad hopes to slowly improve week by week in preparation for a strong run in the North Coast Athletic Conference and NCAA Regional meets at the end of the year.
"We shocked a lot of people by winning the GLCA’s for the first time in 11 years," second-year head coach Roger Busch said. "Injuries and maybe some of the training routine wore us out by the time we got the conference championship meet and regional.
"This year we plan on taking it easy early so we can turn it on when it counts in November."
Two key runners return for the Little Giants after missing all of the 2007 campaign. Juniors Grahm Johnson and Micah Milliman are back on their feet after recovering from compartment syndrome surgery. Both ran well during the spring track season and have posted good early season runs.
A large recruiting class of 12 freshmen — one of the largest groups in several years at Wabash — will make up the bulk of the Red Pack in 2008. The newcomers are:
Adam Becerra (Highland, IN/Andrean High School)
Garett Bonk (Crown Point, IN/Andrean High School)
Brian David (New Milford, NJ/Information Systems Academy)
Bill Digman (Muncie, IN/Delta High School)
Colin Dunlap (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville High School)
Kenny Farris (Indianapolis, IN/Cardinal Ritter High School)
Michael Gough (Merrillville, IN/Merrillville High School)
Kevin McCarthy (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville High School)
Matt Meyer (Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso High School)
Garrett Redwelk (Twelve Mile, IN/Caston High School)
Spencer Sheridan (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence Central High School)
Donavan White (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis High School)
Half of the incoming freshmen have posted times below the 10-minute mark in the two-mile during their high school careers. Four — Dunlap, McCarthy, Sheridan, and White qualified for the Indiana High School Athletic Association Track and Field State Championship meet. Dunlap was part of Noblesville’s state championship 3200-meter relay team. A fifth, Farris, just missed making the state meet, as well.
The team depth will provide a boost to an experienced group of returnees, led by seniors Sam Compton-Craig and Hugh Jackson. Both runners earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors in 2007 with top-20 finishes at the conference championship meet. Sophomore Seth Einterz was the top finisher at the NCAC meet for the Little Giants in 2007, crossing the line in eighth place for a spot on the All-NCAC Second Team. Einterz is recovering from mono diagnosed a few weeks ago, but is starting to regain his strength. Junior Sam Prellwitz, and sophomores Justin Allen, Michael Richmond, and Jacob Surface are also battling for a spot among the top-seven for the Wabash this year.
The Little Giants finished six points behind Denison to finish third at last year’s NCAC Championships. Wabash was picked to finish sixth by the coaches this season.
"I’m ok with being picked sixth," Busch said. "We have 12 freshman that will need to take a while to get comfortable with the college cross county distance of 8,000 meters. We have good experienced runners returning, but we need to take some time at the start of the season to learn to run as a team.
"We hope to give Allegheny a run, since the Gators have won the last four conference titles. They were a very good team last year and are ranked 14th in the nation in the preseason poll this year. We need to have guys start believing in their abilities. If that happens we should be able to give Allegheny a scare."
Wabash opens the 2008 season with two home meets. The Little Giants will participate in the annual Alumni Invitational this Saturday at 10 a.m. before playing host to the Wabash Hokum Karem September 6.
Photos - (Main cross country page) Senior Sam Compton-Craig is one of nine upperclassmen on the 2008 Wabash roster. He earned Honorable Mention All-NCAC honors in 2007 with a 16th-place finish at the conference championship meet.
(Top left) Senior Hugh Jackson finished 17th at the 2007 NCAC Championships for an Honorable Mention All-NCAC selection.
(Bottom right) Sophomore Seth Einterz ran well as a freshman. He is recovering from mono heading into his second season at Wabash.
For more information see: