May 31, 2011
Well this is it, the final CUTF blog of the season. There are a lot of finalities represented in this blog. This will be my final blog as a Cedarville athlete. This is also the final athletic blog of the 2010-11 academic year. Most notably, however, this is the final CU athletic blog covering NAIA nationals. That’s right, next year the University will enter provisional status as an NCAA Division II institution, which means that while we won’t officially be a part of the NCAA, we also won’t participate in the NAIA either. It will be an interesting year and I’m sure you’ll read all about it first-hand from all the excellent athletic bloggers next year.
Nationals went pretty well for us this year. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we had some excellent performances and some not-so-excellent ones. Sam LeMaster was the big story here. Throwing a huge PR to barely miss the A-standard for nationals, he set another personal best to qualify to finals in the shot put! Justin Hoffman also made finals in the 110 meter hurdles. Corey Caldwell ran a PR to qualify to the semifinals of the110 meter hurdles. Ethan Blagg also had a huge PR as the lead leg of the 4x800mrelay. Joel Pfaler had a nice PR in the race walk, as well.
The most admirable performance of the meet goes to Alex Moore. He competed in the marathon for CU and ran a 2:49.00! For those who are not distance-conscious, he ran over 26 miles in under three hours, with an average pace of 6:27min/mile! He ran tough the whole race, even flashing coach Orchard a smile and thumbs up at mile 21. Wehad a crowd of fans driving around the course, stopping at each aid station to give him water, GU, and most importantly, our support. We got up at 4:30 in the morning to prepare for the race and it was totally worth it to see him performso well and to get hyped as we drove around cheering for him. It was an unforgettable experience.
The week itself was pretty crazy. We had no fewer than five tornado sirens go off while we were at IWU, and each day looked as though it might storm at any minute. We saw multiple instances of hail (nothing compared to the golf-ball-size stuff people got in Cedarville) and thunder was pretty much perpetual. Other than the weather, however, it waspretty fun to live on campus at Indiana Wesleyan alongside all the other NAIA track athletes. Everyone was living in the dorms on campus, eating in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was full of teams from all over the country each day at lunch. You might look at a table and see a team from California, Iowa, and Florida all sitting next to each other! Definitely a unique experience.
We arrived back at the ‘Ville in the midst of a German Baptist National Convention, which was totally unexpected. It was like night and day going from NAIA’s, where everyone is in athletic apparel, to the campus, where everyone is either sporting an ankle-length dress or a big ole beard. Upon arrival, we all basically went our separate ways. We all had to be out of the dorms by Sunday afternoon, so we all packed up and rolled out of town. It’s kind of a weird parting from people you’ve spent so much time training with each day, but in two short months most everyone will be reunited back at the ‘Ville. It’s been a great season and I’m proud to have participated on such an excellent team.
Thanks for reading!
Country
May 23, 2011
Another day, another dollar. Or so they say... This week in Track and Field news there isn't much to report about either track or field. The Yellow Jacket T&F teams did not compete this week, which means there is no meet to recap for all you good folks at home (and abroad). It does mean, however, that I have extra space here to describe the day to day of a May Term Athlete.
Some of us are taking classes right now. They're known as "May Term" classes and the gist is that they boil a semester's worth of instruction into a month. Class is held every day and lasts for three hours (typically). This means that each day of May instruction is equivalent to a week of regular instruction. It can be pretty grueling, trying to write papers and study for exams all the time. There is a bright side, however. Unfortunately, it's only bright for those not taking class. The sunny side very closely mirrors the summer vacation we all came to love as children. Sleeping in; playing a round of golf; taking a leisurely bike ride. These are all daily experiences (except for golf, since that can be pricey) for the non-class-taker.
That's not to say that "classers" don't have fun too, but their fun tends to be predicated by the need to complete assignments, while non-classers have no such responsibility. Yes, this is what life is like in the golden oasis of Cedarville University. Most students migrate home for the summer, leaving the campus pretty much unoccupied and leaving us feeling like campus kings.
Now that you have the big picture of campus life, I'll fill you in on some details from the week. We've been doing some volunteer work for a local ministry known as the SIFI (sanctifying influence, future investment) Safe Harbor House. Basically, a house was purchased and is being refurbished for the purpose of helping women who need a fresh start to get on their feet. Christian women will be leading the house and the aim is to provide a sanctifying influence in Springfield by reaching people where they are at. We were able to do some manual labor at the house, including priming/painting, cleaning, and some demolition. The house is really coming along and it will be exciting to see how God uses this ministry!
On Thursday evening the team had the privilege to attend a Dayton Dragons baseball game. It was a pretty fun time of fellowship in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Each night, we've also been having a team dinner. Each night, different tracksters volunteer to cook a meal for their teammates. Needless to say, we've had some good food and the budget for these meals tends to save the team money compared to eating in the cafeteria, so it's a big win for the team.
Not much else is really happening. The Village of Cedarville hosts village-wide garage sales on the third Saturday of each month all summer long. This weekend was the kick-off for the 2011 season. It was pretty fun to bike around and see what people are trying to get rid of. Life is pretty slow here in town, so any activity is welcome.
The Wiseman family hosted us for dinner last night, which was very gracious (and delicious) of them. We went to their house in Springfield and roasted hot dogs and s'mores and played some (actually, a lot of) volleyball. It was a good time. Thankfully, the weather is getting warm and sunny again. Those cold, rainy days were getting to be a nuisance.
This weekend is NAIA Nationals at Indiana Wesleyan University. The meet looks promising for us. Everyone is healthy now and running well. It will be exciting, for sure. Thanks for reading!
Country
May 16, 2011
Well track fans, I’m baaaaack. That’s right folks, after a harrowing tenure as XC blogger this past fall, the good folks at Sports Information have allowed me, Chris “Country” Vaughn, to once again chronicle the experiences of the CUTF (Cedarville University Track & Field).
What an exciting month this has been! We men began “el mes de mayo” (the month of May) in Joliet, IL at the National Christian College AthleticAssociation’s National Championships, hosted by Judson University. Evan Thayer has already recounted many of the outstanding performances in his May 9 blog, so it will suffice to say that our men had an excellent time bringing home the NCCAA Track Championship banner for the first time in 27, yesTWENTY-SEVEN years!
After the meet, most of the team departed for home. Finals were done and for many who didn’t entertain hopes of competing at NAIA nationals, this was the end of the season. For those of us left, we began to gear up for a “last chance” meet down at the University of Louisville. The meet tends to have strong competition and good weather, and this year was no different (despite forecasters calling for storms). Though the team didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped, we did have some awesome marks from three of the men.
Josh Lusk set a lifetime best in the high jump by clearing the bar at 6’5”! This is nearly two inches above his previous best! Sam LeMaster followed up with a shot put of 50’11.5" - approximately three feet further than his previous best and good enough for an NAIA provisional mark. It should be noted that Sam missed the automatic qualifying mark by ONE CENTIMETER. I think perhaps if a butterfly had hit the shot while in the air, Sam would’ve had the auto mark… (probably not but it doesn’t hurt to have a little hyperbole every once in a while). Corey Caldwell was the third great performance of the night in the 110 meter hurdles, coming very close to a personal best. Ryan Gustafson rounded out the great stuff by barely missing the NAIA provisional mark in the 1,500 meter run. Honorable mention goes to Joel Pfaler, one of our race walkers. He already has an NAIA mark in the 5K race walk and rather than sit around another weekend, he volunteered to run the 800 meters, hoping to break his season beat of 2:15, set at Otterbein back in January. Well, he ran a 2:13, improving his time by 2 seconds.
The trip back from Louisville was interesting to say the least. First of all, we left the track at 11:30 p.m., with an ETA at Cedarville of 3:00 a.m. Second of all, we were all very hungry and it seemed that all the restaurants between Louisville and Cincinnati were closed. Then, off in the distance, a light. Could it be? Yes, it is! Waffle House! This delightful little chain happens to be open 24 hours a day, so we stopped and filled our bellies with all the breakfast, lunch, or dinner (served all the time) that we desired. Having attained an astronomical sugar high (from the gratuitous amounts of syrup) we all waddled back to the bus and collapsed in exhaustion.
All in all it was a good weekend. Louisville was much goofier this year than last. “Live”results weren’t posted until after the meet. The 800 meters was delayed by about 10 minutes because the finish line camera stopped working. A heat of the men’s 110 meter hurdles had to be rerun due to a starter’s error. Most infamous, however, was the women’s 4 x 400 meter relay. There was only one team in the event, so as the first leg charged from the start, all eyes were on her. About 200 meters later, I’m sure everyone in the stadium was thinking the same thing, “where is her baton?” Yes folks, it happened. This young lady managed to start the relay (and run 350 meters at full speed) with NO BATON. Of course, without a baton there can be no hand-off and the race was over before it really even started. Fortunately, the ladies had a chance at redemption later on, when they were able to re-run the event, this time with a baton.
Next on the horizon is the NAIA Track and Field National Championships, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University. We have several individuals and one relay squad that will be traveling to Marion, Indiana next week for the meet. In the mean time, we’ve been doing business as usual these past few days. Breakfast and lunch in Chuck’s and dinner in Printy Lounge, voluntarily cooked by track athletes. It’s pretty nice. Some are taking May Term classes but most of us have the days to ourselves. For the latter group, this really is the college experience we always dream of: hanging out in the dorms with our friends with no classes to study for. In short, we’re living the life and hopefully it’ll only get better as we exceed our own expectations and dominate the meet next week.
Thanks for reading,
Country
May 9, 2011
From the Room of Evan Thayer,
If I had to describe the Men’s Track Team this weekend with one word I would use the word determined. Many of the men on the team went into the NCCAA meet after a long week of finals where many of them had late nights and early mornings. You could definitively tell that people were tired from a long week of finals. However, just like conference we managed to stick it out and get the win. There wasn’t any complaining, people just realized that they were tired but that they needed to get the job done anyway.
I think the decathletes were especially expressive of this attitude. Having to leave for the meet on Wednesday, many of them were tired but athletes such as Landon Bundenthal still PR’d in ALL ten events and Mike Herrera took the win for the meet.
It was exciting to get to be on the men’s 4 x 800 meter relay team and get an A mark for nationals. We’ve been working for this mark a long time. The excitement of getting to take four more runners to nationals spreads because the camaraderie during May Term is strong and the more runners that can compete the closer the team get’s not only for this season but for the season to come. We put eight distance runners in the 5 K and it was exciting to see them race. The determination was evident here as runners put themselves out of their comfort zones pushing the pace even when they were tired. The throwers also posted impressive efforts making some big heaves despite slick conditions.
Having not won an NCCAA meet in over a decade our victory was especially exciting. The trip itself brought the team closer together and I know we'll not only always remember the exciting races but time on the bus, hotels, and restaurants laughing and having fun with our teammates and coaches. Surely college athletics has to be some of the best days of our lives!
Congrats Guys!
May 2, 2011
Ethan Blagg everybody, a man who needs no introduction…
To: The World
Hi. How are you? We have missed you, because you have been here and there, to and fro, playing hide and seek. Collectively, we as track and field athletes prefer your company, as you always brighten our days, lighten our spirits, and make our thoughts so dreamy. We are here for you still, and we love you. Thank you for coming back, wonderful nice weather.
As seen above in a letter actually sent to the weather, Nice Weather attended our track meet(s) this weekend, and we are thankful, hoping Mr. Weather (and his wife Mrs. Life “is way better when we have awesome” Weather) remains for a few months. I don’t mean to imply that we hate bad weather, but I do. (Of course bad weather is sometimes fun, and we compete just as hard in it, and it is the same for everyone, but let us not kid ourselves – weather could only be described as “nice” in the Garden of Eden.)
So anyways, after a refreshing off week over Easter weekend, we had a track meet with a bright sunshiny setting on Saturday. But this is not where the story begins. We go back a few hours to Friday night. Two things happened. The first of these was a meet at Hillsdale, Michigan. Chris Vaughn, Matt Brooker, Evan Thayer, and Josiah Bragg happened to be there, accompanied by Coach Paul Orchard. Chris opened the night with the steeplechase, running to a season best 9:41.53. Next was Evan Thayer who pranced to a 3:47.96 1,500 meters (third-fastest in school history). Matt Brooker followed up in the 5000 meters at 14:22.30 (0.12 seconds off Sergio Reyes’ school record). To finish the night, midnight came and went. Early on the morning of April 30, at 12:15 a.m., Josiah Bragg began the 10, 000 meters, and finished after 31:35.76 minutes, which is an automatic qualification for the NAIA Championships coming up in late May. These times speak for themselves, yell really, and they are still going on about how impressively fast they are.
The second thing that happened was TJ Badertscher, Jordan Davies, and I baby-sitting for Coach Orchard on Friday night (his wife was out of town as well). Highlight of the night: playing hide and seek, but not telling the boys we were playing. TJ and I hid in a closet for about 40 minutes while Jordan locked himself in the bathroom with the boys begging them to let them in to hide. Well, I cleverly sent both boys a text saying TJ and I were outside hiding, and to come hide with us, but not tell the other brother. They both went outside, and we “adults” regrouped and hid. It ended up that one of the boys came in and found us, so we accepted him into our group, went outside, and hid from the remaining brother. All-in-all we hid from him for about an hour and a half. Next time Coach O is going to have to have the baby-sitters baby-sat. (I was about to muse why it is called baby-sitting when the kids are in junior high, then I thought of the way TJ, Jordan, and I acted. Duhhhhh)
Back on track (get it?), most of the team competed at the Miami Redhawk Invitational at Oxford, Ohio on Saturday. There were some good showings, such as Corey Caldwell placing third in the 110 meter hurdles and sixth in the 400 meter hurdles, Joe Niemiec and Neil Klinger placing seventh and eighth respectively in the 1500 meters, Ryan Gustafson placing fourth in the 800 meters, and Sam LeMaster with a 49.43 meter hammer throw (being a 5.4 meter personal record!!!).
Not on the good side of things was Jordan Davies’ race. Actually, he was having the best race of his season in the 3000 meter steeplechase, in second or third place and moving up, when he landed going over the water pit, and partially tore his Achilles tendon. Leyna (our athletic trainer) told us he will need surgery for it, so remember to pray for Jordan. I know it is frustrating for him, but he has a good attitude about it, which can be very hard to maintain when that happens. I’m proud-o-you Jordan, and I am going to miss you after you graduate. In fact, I am going to send you a text right now to tell you so, before I write another sentence. OK done. This paragraph may seem sentimental, but let me assure you I could cry if I wanted to right now, because Jordan, TJ, Alex Moore, Chris Vaughn, Paul Ikeda, and Joshua Wiseman are all graduating. (Jordan just texted me back and said, “Hey dere bub. Love u too as well”). I have had three awesome sweet years so far with these fellows, and will miss them, although I will probably just follow them around still. Alright, enough boo-hooing, I’m really starting to get sick of myself.
Starting Tuesday, we have final exams. Thursday afternoon we are leaving to compete at NCCAA championships. Thus, because of this, therefore, needless to say, we are most likely going to have a “fun” week, with an actually fun weekend. The whereabouts of this meet are located at Elgin, Ill. If you read this, and live in Chicago – be there, or be a square. I’m somewhat nervous about the next week, because we have finals, NCCAA’s, and I have to finalize plans for summer and next semester. I would guess this goes for most of us here. But, this is all cancelled out by the excitement of jolly jovial jocundity of knowing school is almost out. I may sound pessimistic about school and weather, but I’m not. I just really enjoy summer. Back to NCCAA’s, I don’t know what the prediction on paper is, but after our conference meet, we were pretty excited, and I believe we have a chance to do pretty well this weekend. Be rooting for us!
Perhaps this blog has been very heart to heart and personal this week, but I think I am just trying to get the point across that SCHOOL IS ALMOST DONE (for a couple months). For those parents reading this who have jobs and don’t get a summer break, ha! That is a dumb thing to say, as I have to work this summer.
Finally, thanks be to Jordan Molstre for writing this blog all year! It takes time, and he is a very busy man. He is also engaged to be married (this is not new news). Go Jordan!!!
-Ethan Blagg
April 25, 2011
There was something different about this Easter break; there was a lack of running. This lack of running was due that there was not a track meet this week. With a free weekend bestowed upon us for the first time, at least for this senior track athlete, we were able to go home. And thus it was.
More importantly, it gave our team the opportunity to take a break and reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior. I’d encourage all of us, if you haven’t already, to read from the Gospel of John chapter 20. This is a weekend of celebration, death was conquered and our sin was nailed to the cross. Jesus has risen! His grace and mercy are unlimited. This should be celebrated everyday of the week.
Enjoy a week, at least, reading one of the Gospels and meditating on what Christ has done for us. We couldn’t have been made clean by our own merit.
Till next time…
April 18, 2011
“We are the Champions!” Despite constant changes in weather and injuries, our men’s track and field team did exceptionally well on Friday and Saturday. It was the American Mideast Conference Championship and like most AMC Championships before this one, it was scheduled with on and off rain and nice gusts of wind. Thankfully, we all kept our spirits up and most of our athletes performed with great intensity. It was a great to see the team come together in a sport that most feel is individually-based.
Anyways, the awards have already been passed out, but I have a few of my own to give out to some very special athletes and coaches…
Awards:
Best Hat: Goes to Coach Bo. Fedora, need I say more. (Justin Hoffman is a close 2nd)
Most PR’s in a Meet: Greg Hannay. He had 3 out of 4 in throwing events.
Funniest Kick at the End of a Race: Leighton. He just smiled at the 250 meter mark and then took off to help win the 4 x 400 meter relay.
Most Stylish Jacket: Ethan Blagg. It was very white.
Best Free Style Dancer: Coach Scott. (The highlight of the meet)
Most Sarcastic Comment of the Meet: Sam LeMaster. “It looks like rain…”
Worst Prediction of the Meet: Coach Bo. “We might not win by a hundred points, but we’ll win by a few.” (We won by 90+ points)
Most Ice Cream Sandwiches Consumed: Evan Thayer. 14 sandwiches give-or-take 10 of them.
Best Walker: Wheezy. The man can walk faster than most can jog.
Hope you enjoyed these awards and congratulations to you who won an award. You have to go through a very selective process to win Best Hat or Most Stylish Jacket.
Once again, great job to all the athletes. Most of them have been mentioned on the Men’s Track and Field web page. It’s really nice to win a championship and have a nice break afterwards. Easter break is upon us and most of our champions are now frantically trying to finish assignments before the four-day weekend.
Congrats again to all the Athletes and Coaches!
Till next time…
April 11, 2011
Our meet last week was at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. This meet could be split up into three parts according to the weather patterns. The first third was on Friday and it was sunny enough that most walked away with sunburn. The second third consisted of rain and a three-hour delay from a thunderstorm rolling through Ohio. The last third was sunny and warm again, perfect for ending the meet on a good note. The meet ended when the sun finally set and we could no longer run in the dark. This is just a brief summary of how the track meet unfolded.
At Miami of Ohio there is always good competition and this meet was no exception. Many of our athletes competed well, but they might not have placed due to the strong performances of the other athlete participating. Of those who did place, Justin Hoffman was our obvious champion who scored half of our team’s total points for the men. Cory did well in the hurdles and Aaron triple jumped for a PR and placed seventh. Honorable mentions go to Leighton, Beau, Ryan, Parker, Sam, and Mark Farris for great performances in their respective events.
It was nice to see that even though the weather was unpleasant for a while, everyone was able to stay focused and still perform well. It might have been the movie Tangled that inspired them, but they will never admit to that fact. Another reason could be the amazing Chipotle Burrito waiting for our hungry stomachs at the end of the meet. Anyways, it was nice at the end of the day to go back to our rooms and take a shower.
The week is the American Mideast Conference Championships!
The meet is on Friday and Saturday. The guys have a great chance to win this meet.
Till next time…
April 4, 2011
Well, unfortunately I was not at this past weekend’s meet. Instead, I have a real treat for my faithful readers. Since writing a blog every week can produce a lack of originality, I have charged Marcus Benjamin with the task of entertaining you. His dramatic style and broad range of vocabulary should leave you inspired. Without further ado, I give you Marc’s Blog entry:
“Despite the bone-chilling wind and pockets of pouring rain that blanketed the hard rubber track and seared the eyes of the brave athletes, Cedarville University’s track and field team emerged from its latest meet at Cincinnati with a sense of dutiful accomplishment. Magnificent performances were witnessed by throngs of spectators from high above on the top floor of the parking garage as the elite athlete and runner extra ordinaire Evan Thayer rushed forward for an awe-inspiring sub-four minute finish in the men’s 1,500 meters. The audacity of such might was astounding to those that watched him compete.
There were many highlights of that glorious meet that left those who witnessed them inspired to compete themselves. This athlete can attest to the swift, powerful strides of Justin “The Incredible Hoff” that propelled him to strong finishes in both the 110 meter and 400 meter hurdles. Our brave decathletes put their heart and brawn into their events, and emerged heroically in top-eight finishes. Sprinters, throwers, and distance runners all demonstrated incredible feats of strength. I, for one, am proud to have competed in the presence of such greatness.” – Marc Benjamin
“Are you not entertained?”
Anyways, our next meet will be at Miami of Ohio on Saturday. Thankfully it looks as though the weather has decided act like spring.
Till next time…
March 28, 2011
It was a beautifully sunny day, or so it seemed from the comfort of our warm dorm room. Before jumping to any conclusions we checked the temperature via the internet. It was a warm 25 degrees with winds up to 18 mph. Typical Cedarville meet. So, my roommate and I bundled up with three different layers of Under Armour and headed out to the track, which is a short walk from the Rickard Dorm.
Fourteen teams were at the meet, but the track seemed abandoned until we discovered most of the athletes huddled in a large tent with a heating unit. These were the accounts leading up till 10:30 a.m. The meet was about to begin.
Once the meet began, many of us were surprised at the number of great performances that still took place despite the weather conditions. Justin, Corey, and Aaron had a great hurdles run. Marcus and Mark put some points up in the short sprints. Leighton in his first 400 meter dash since his junior year of high school won the event. Sam won the shot put. Ryan and Jordan had a great 1500 meter run. Brooker and Country had a great 5K. Aaron had a tough double in the triple and competed in the long jump along with Parker. Slayer and Ryan again ran a great 800. Spencer, Mike, and I all placed in the top eight in the javelin. The race walkers did their thing, and walked it out. And a special shout out to our steeple chasers Joe, Greg, and Trevor—that is very cold water.
Overall, we won the meet! Not bad for a cold meet. At the end of the day we had a ton of pizza and breadsticks and watched Butler beat Florida. Once back in our dorms and houses, I’m sure all of us took a long, warm shower and thawed out the bones.
Cincy is up next.
Till next time…
March 21, 2011
Our first outdoor meet was this past Saturday! It was surprisingly nice weather and everyone seemed to have performed very well for only having one week of outdoor practice. As I explained two weeks ago, our first outdoor meet was located at the University of Cincinnati. It’s one of the few tracks that our team runs on that has a city landscape. Most of the track meets are located out in the middle of a corn field somewhere, much like the school we attend.
The most fun you can have is receiving the full track facility tour, which includes a shuttle bus ride to Coy Field. Coy Field is a little piece of property that the University of Cincy owns that is about a mile away. Javelins and hammers are thrown on this field. Surrounded by bamboo shoots and a chain linked fence covered in vines, it is like a separate world from the urban track. Anyways, I was personally excited this year because they resurfaced the javelin runway, which it desperately needed.
Unfortunately I missed many of my fellow teammates competing, because I was at Coy Field. I would though like to give a shout out to Mike “heraraaraa” who pole vaulted his best this season with a jump of 12'-11". Justin Hoffman who was just plain Hoffman, meaning he is great at what he does. Aaron Lane had an amazing start to the season with a 22+ foot jump. Sam and Greg did well in their throws and the distance guys are still some of the toughest guys on our team. It was a good start.
To end the sunny day, we headed to Chipotle/Five Guys. Good food! There is nothing like an oversized burrito and chips to satisfy your hunger. And just to let the readers know, all the animals were slaughtered humanely, at least that is what the sign in Chipotle claimed.
Next meet - this Saturday - will be our first home meet.
Till next time…
March 14, 2011
After a nice long spring break it looks like it’s time for the outdoor season. Now some of you may be wondering what is different about the indoor track season compared to the outdoor season. Well, let me tell you. (Forgive me any hard core track people out there if I leave anything out.)
When we move to the outdoor season, we will no longer have the 4 x 200 meter relay or weight throw, and normally not the 60, 300, 500, 600, or 1000 meter runs. Instead they will be replaced with the 4 x 100 meter relay, steeplechase, 400 meter hurdles, 100 meter dash, 110 meter hurdles, the 10K, hammer throw, discus, and the best outdoor event of all… Javelin! (I’m biased.) Another minor difference might be the wind that didn’t exist indoors. (If you’re from Cedarville, you can sense my sarcasm.)
We have five days of track practice, hopefully outside, before our meet on Saturday. We have never had our first meet in Cincinnati in my track career, so this will be a new experience for everyone. It looks like great weather on Saturday, which means everyone will have a chance to a have a great opening track meet.
Well, it’s time for me to start working on all the homework that we college students neglect over spring break. Student-athletes’ work is never done.
Till next time….
March 7, 2011
Well, it’s spring break! That means a week off from classes, but its recovery time for our athletes that went on to the NAIA Indoor Championship. They all competed very well. Since I personally was not there to personally see all the performances, Justin Hoffman, our very own super star track athlete will be giving you his perspective of the meet.....
“A national meet truly is unlike anything else. The atmosphere, the emotions, and the competition are so intense it sometimes becomes difficult to keep coach Scott from jumping on the track and running a sub-50 second 400. This year we traveled up north to the great city of Geneva, Ohio to compete at the new GaREAT facility. This new track brought out some very fast times and Cedarville was no exception. Thursday we saw our women's distance medley take a huge chunk out of the school record. On Friday the freshies Corey Caldwell and Ryan Gustafson both got personal best in their respective events. Chris Vaughn also smashed his previous best in the 3K by 8 seconds nearly missing a ride to the finals on Saturday. So congratulations to those who made it here and especially to those running their best times of the year at the most important meet to date.
That being said, a big shout out goes to our freshmen for showing up and performing at their best. Anyone who has been in that position knows the mental toll it takes on even the most advanced runners. Looking back at previous races, looking forward to the ones to come. Breaking down every bit of information that you process during your time on the track and analyzing it over and over looking for anything that you can improve upon. You can't just show up and hope that something great happens, you have to take it upon yourself to make something happen and those freshmen did nothing short of a spectacular job at putting themselves in the best possible position to finish with the best outcome. If you can leave a meet like this one with no major regrets then that is an accomplishment to be proud of.
Indoor track, I bid thee farewell.”
Justin Hoffman
The “Incredible Hoff” did very well himself, placing sixth and setting a new school record in the 60 meter hurdles.
Now there are two weeks till the first outdoor meet.
Till next time…
February 28, 2011
Well, there was no track meet this week, which means… sleeping in. Yes, one of the simple pleasures in the life of a college student is actually waking up without an alarm clock.
This coming weekend is the NAIA indoor championship and we have some elite men participating in this one. Their names are as follows:
Evan “Slayer” Thayer – known for his amazing 1 mile runs, 1000 meter and his follow up 800 meter dash.
Justin “The Incredible Hoff” Hoffman – an amazing specimen of a man who hurdles like none before him.
Joshua “wheezy” Wiseman – with his hot pink cast will be race walking faster than a man late for his final exam.
Joel “Silent P” Pfahler and Paul Ikeda – these men will also be race walking faster than those grandmothers in the mall on a power trip.
Matt “Booking” Brooker – will be tackling the 3000 and 5000 meter run. For those of you who can’t do math that’s 8000 meters of running.
Chris “Country” Vaughn – will be running a grueling 3000 meters. May your legs be with you.
Corey Caldwell and Ryan Gustafson – we’ll have freshman blood performing in the hurdles and mile respectively.
That’s our lineup. These great men will be competing at GaReat Sports Complex. So they’ll all have a nice 300 meter track to run on and maybe set some personal bests. The most daring things these gentlemen will face is missing three whole days of classes. I’m sure most of them are devastated over the fact that they won’t have to sit through lectures or even have labs. I’m sure they’ll make up for this by doing some extra homework on the road.
And as for the rest of the track team, we’ll be conditioning and getting ready for that first brisk outdoor meet in Cincinnati, Ohio. This should be an interesting first meet. Every first outdoor meet that I can remember has been in sunny Emory, Georgia. Who knows? Maybe God will show a little humor and make this our warmest meet of the season.
Hey....it could happen.
Till next time…
February 21, 2011
Well we had some great performances at the NCCAA Championship in Marion, Indiana. The men placed third overall in some very competitive events. I have been in this championship for four years now and I haven’t seen some of the crazy athletic numbers put up before by some of these teams this year. Not to make excuses for our team, but we definitely competed against some talented athletes.
The setting for this championship was in an indoor track of course, sitting on a very flat Indiana plot of land out in the middle of the breadbasket of America. Indiana Wesleyans’ facilities are impressive. They have an eight-lane track and our spikes were able to grip the surface quite well. There was one problem that the men and women faced when we arrived: the bathrooms. There are only two toilets for the guys and not enough for the girls. So, if one is confronted with a long line and an uneasy feeling, well you had to make a 15-minute trek to the campus for some relief. To be honest it seemed like a crusade. There we were, three of us….men, in the prime of our life, ready to travel the distance to find the “great” restroom in a far-off land. As we fought the wind, proudly wearing our Cedarville colors, we found the land of multiple restrooms in the student center of the IWU campus. The End. I know…. that was epic.
Our track and field website usually names the top athlete from Cedarville in each event. Since that is their territory and not mine, I will let you know about some individual personal records that were set on this weekend. Stephen Port cleared 13-5’’ in the pole vault, which is a foot higher than previous track meets. Mike “Herarrrrrara” cleared over 12’ for his first time in a few meets, so congrats to them both. Sam and Greg improved in the shot put and made a great muscle man team. Aaron Lane did well in the long jump, and this man also performed in the triple jump and the 60 hurdles. Finally, hats off to our distance runners that ran the 3K and the 5K; these brave men are Greg Johnson, Josiah Bragg, and Joe Niemiec. The men gave their best and had fun doing it.
To celebrate the end of a good meet, we all went to the Outback Steakhouse. Yes, it was good. I know all my readers are wondering what I had. It was the Teriyaki Filet Medallions with a loaded baked potato, steamed vegetables, and a raspberry cheesecake to end the meal. Jealous? You should be.
Well this ends the indoor season for many of our athletes, so they will now be focusing on the outdoor season.
Till next time…
February 14, 2011
Well, Cedarville had their first home meet! This means that there are several advantages that our track team got to enjoy. I’ve taken the liberty of listing some of them below.
1. We didn’t have to travel on a charter bus.
2. We didn’t have to leave the comfort of our beds at an early time in the morning.
3. Our friends and family could watch us perform in our own facility.
4. We could use the equipment in the fitness center to warm up.
5. Eddie (our start official) is great at what he does.
6. We get to eat Colonial’s food (our neighborhood pizza joint).
7. When the day is done our beds aren’t too far away.
8. We didn’t have to travel by bus. (Yes, I know I said that twice.)
9. Also we had methanite polyurithine coating on the medial aspect of the spike plate that provided undeniable advantages to the CU athletic team as we warped to inevitable victory.(Joking)
I would have to say that home meets are fun. How often does your Resident Director get to see you run or your future in-laws? There is just something nostalgic about coming to your good ol’ track, where you’ve sweat and toiled by running repeat 200's on its not very soft surface. There is just this bond, mostly from when you’ve collapsed from exhaustion or have not drunk enough water that day so you’re walking about in a daze. (Wiping a tear from my cheek.) Anyways, that may have been a little over the top, but you get the idea.
The Cedarville men earned runner-up behind Miami of Ohio. Overall there were some good performances. I’d have to say a good majority performed better than they did the last meet at Findlay. Evan “Slayer” was our only champion in an event but I know men in tights like Josh Lusk and Aaron Lane who did well in the high jump and triple jump respectively. As a bonus to the meet we had the opportunity to watch Jason Scott, a former CU track athlete, attempt 18 feet in the pole vault.
Our team did a great job cleaning up. And to add to our character, we decided to go to another meet on Saturday, just for fun. Actually we hosted a high school track meet in our field house; it’s a way the track team can make a lot of money in one day.
Well that’s all the news for this week. Next week we have the NCCAA Championship in Marion, Indiana.
Till next time!
February 7, 2011
Our third indoor track meet of the year was in Findlay, Ohio on Friday. It was a crazy week leading up to this meet, mostly because of the weather. We had an ice storm that paralyzed Cedarville for a day, meaning NO CLASSES for a day. It was nice. Anyways, the weather had improved greatly before we left for the track meet. While there were many li’l sibs running around the campus (because it was “Li’l Sibs Weekend”), we packed up the bus. Our particular bus left at 2 p.m. because we were the lucky ones who didn’t have to go to the track meet early. The field events had to leave at 10 a.m. and the heptathlon athletes had to leave at 6:30 a.m., but we don’t feel too sorry for them.
Once again, I got on the bus and fell asleep, but not before pulling out my comfortable roll pillow that I take to all track meets to make my slumber more enjoyable. Two hours of sleep later, and we’re at Findlay, Ohio. It’s like magic. Though, personally I find that Findlay is not the most interesting place in the world; however, it is the location of a start to a good career of one Ben Roethlisberger. Yes, I am a Steelers fan. Sadly, they lost the Super Bowl.
When we arrived at the Findlay indoor facility we each did one of three options. One group immediately sought out the bathrooms. Another third headed out to see where the food was. And the last group wanted to take a look at the indoor track.
As the meet went on our team had some good performances. There were some PR’s and some good marks. Mostly by guys who names start with the letter J, it’s a good letter. The most exciting part of the meet was the elite performances by the Olympians at the meet. Yes, I said Olympians. Olympic hammer throws. They toss a 30 pound weight like it was made out of foam. The farthest throw from these massive men was 81 feet. Really impressive. So impressive that basically no one was watching the track for that entire part of the meet.
Then to end our meet we had some pasta and bread sticks, a good way to end any meet.
We traveled back and arrived around 1:00 a.m., except for the heptathlon athletes that had to stay overnight to compete again the next day. They did pretty well for their first try. For complete results, look up the results on our web page.
Till we meet again.
January 31, 2011
Where to begin….Our story starts very early in the morning, 4:30 a.m. to be precise. This is when we were loading the bus this past Saturday morning. To be honest I don’t remember much about the trip to the GaREAT Sports Complex, in Geneva, Ohio, except for a few re-positions in the attempt for maximum comfort to sleep on the charter bus. So what seemed like 30 minutes later to me (which was really four hours) we found ourselves in the upper corner of northeast Ohio looking out on a wonderland of snow and ice.
Well, enough about the snow and the long trip….The inside is what counts, and it was amazing. The GaREAT Sports Complex is a new complex with a fast 300 meter track; it even smelled new. And with this new-smelling track came some great opportunities for some brand new-smelling records.
From our distance core Evan “Slayer” Thayer crushed in the mile run. He didn’t break the record but he’s going back to The GaREAT sports complex for the NAIA Championship. Matt “Booking” Brooker ran a ridiculous pace in the 3K to win and set a new Cedarville record.
These were just some of the performances that stood out at the Lake Erie Open. One of my favorite highlights from the meet is the crowd of Cedarville athletes that got together and cheered on the 4 x 400 meter relay. We’re a pretty loud bunch when we want to be. We thought maybe the louder we cheered the faster they’d run so we could eat. Which reminds me, one of the Wendy’s locked us out at 9 p.m. on our way back, but we found another one. I had the privilege of trying their new sea-salt fries; I’d recommend them (especially if I get paid to advertise this).
And to end my not-so-epic story, we did finally arrive back in Cedarville around 1:30 a.m., well-prepared to sleep for the next 12 hours….or till it was time to go to church.
Next stop Findlay, Ohio…
January 24, 2011
Well, as predicted we had some great performances at the Otterbein track, despite one minor condition. For some odd reason our track spikes wouldn’t dig into the track. This made the track comparable to running on soft plastic. Anyways, it wasn’t that important. The important thing is that we won with 193 points! Actually, winning wasn’t that important either. The important thing is that our team had a good start to the 2011 track season.
Since we have so many male athletes on our team this year, I’ll limit it to those who made top four in each event.
Mark “Speedy” Ferris earned first in the 200 meter dash with 23.61 seconds and placed fourth in the 55 meter dash with a final time of 6.82 seconds.
Marcus “swift deer who goes running through forest” Benjamin ran the 200 meter dash, earned fourth place with a time of 24.18 seconds.
Freshman Corey Caldwell won the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.01, not bad for his first time. And to add to his freshman awesomeness he received third place in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 7.91 seconds.
Justin “The Incredible Hoff” Hoffman placed first with a great time of 67.79 seconds in the 500 meter run. He also won the 55 hurdles with a time of 7.69 seconds.
Evan “Slayer” Thayer slew his competition with a time of 2:32.51 in the 1000 meters, and right behind Slayer was Ethan Blagg with a time of 2:38.81.
Matt Brooker dominated in the mile with a time of 4:22.78.
Greg Johnson, Joe Niemiec, Jordan Davies, and Joe Cathey swept the first four places in the 5K with freshman Greg Johnson leading the way with a time of 16:03.13.
Freshman Parker Adams had a good start to his winter track season placing third in the long jump with a jump of 20’-07.75’’ and fourth in the high jump with 5’-09.75’’.
Aaron “Jumper” Lane placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 38’-05.00’’ and placed fourth in the long jump with a jump of 20’-07.25’’.
Stephen Port bravely cleared 12’-06.00’’ in the pole vault, placing third.
Now for our two heavy weight muscle men whose names I shall reveal today. Sam LeMaster thrust his shot put 48’-02’.5’’ earning him second place, and Greg Hannay used his strong build to toss the weight throw 44’-01.25’’.
There were so many other note-worthy performances but if I were to write all of them it would take me half the day to give each accomplishment the attention it deserves.
Till next time…
January 17, 2011
Hello everyone who reads this track blog! My name is Jordan Molstre. I am a senior Allied Health major which means that I lack the normal level of professionalism when it comes to writing, but hopefully you’ll bear with me. This will be my fourth year on the Yellow Jacket men’s track & field team - throwing the javelin and running in circles. It has been a pleasure competing with the host of Christian athletes here at Cedarville University.
Now, there will not be much to report in this first blog of the winter track season, because there hasn’t been a track meet yet this season. Not to worry though, because we’ll have a track meet coming up on Saturday, January 22nd at the Otterbein Invitational. So as we frantically work off the last of those Christmas cookies we’ll be ready to compete at the first meet of the season.
Our team looks strong this year with a good number of dedicated freshmen and returning athletes. The distance team has never looked larger, except for the fact that large in this case means number of guys and not large in size. Our long sprinting group also looks strong this year which means we can look for another good year for the 4 x 400 meter relay - the best part of any track meet. On the throwing team we have the two heavy weight muscle men and a new freshman sibling of a legend. If I reveal their super identities they’ll never be able to live a normal life. And for those athletes that feel left out, we have guys who jump high (high jump), jump far (long jump), and those that jump with sticks (pole vault).
Well, I’ll leave you hanging on the edge of your seat for more, soon to come, after this one-of-a-kind blog. Next time I’ll reveal some amazing future performances coming up after our first meet. How do I know there will be any? Simple, we’re that good.
Till next time.
Jordan Molstre, a senior allied health major from Pittsburgh, Pa., is a four-year member of the Yellow Jacket track & field team. He was an NCCAA Indoor All-American as a junior in the 4 x 200 meter relay, was the American Mideast Conference champion in the javelin as a freshman, and is a two-time NCCAA runner-up in the event.
