November 20, 2012
Fare thee well, dear reader! No more shall you hear of our exploits, no more shall our praises be sung. No more shall you be subject to my poor witticisms and sad word-play. No more shall my fingers strike across the keys, trying, hoping, striving to grasp something, to make sense of this most frivolous of activities, and perhaps make sense of this thing we call life. Quoth the blogger, Nevermore.
This past weekend was the NCAA DII National Championship race in Joplin, Missouri. The NCAA paid for us to send nine guys (eight runners and Coach O), by plane, to the meet. Alas, I was not one of those nine, so I am unable to regale you with stories of shenanigans; I shall leave that to the imagination. But if you must ask someone, ask those who went: Brooker. Joe-Zee, Schneil, Gus, Walters, Clay, Toots, and Nemo. I’m sure they have more than enough stories to pass an evening or two.
The beauty of our technology became readily apparent when we, those who were at Cedarville, discovered that there would a live video feed of the race. We set the date, got a room, and waited with baited breath for the race to start. Oh how I wish we could all have been there! Oh the excitement that was in room BTS 104! This was more than a race, this was the goal that we had set for ourselves last year: to be the first Cedarville team to go to an NCAA National Championship, and here it was. Thousands of miles, millions of steps, untold calories were sacrificed by all for this moment. And how did we do? We got 15th; exactly what we had been ranked. Are we disappointed by this? The general consensus seems to be that this was a good race. There was nothing to be ashamed of in our performance. But now....now we know what it takes.
Now we know what it’s like to be there, to race there, to perform there. Now we can look forward to next year, to look back and see how far we’ve come, to look forward and try to see how far we can still go. Yes, now may be the time for a brief rest, but there is no true rest. Not until we are done. The fire that has driven us has been blazing since May, but it is still there. We have added kindling, gasoline, all we need is a spark and we’ll be ready to go for track, something entirely different, but still the same. Families, I warn you, beware the runner coming home for Thanksgiving. It’s been a long season, and we’re hungry, tired of cafeteria food and ready for a home-cooked meal!
Last week I bade farewell to Scootsie and Dubie, and now I must send off our captain Josiah “Joe-Zee” Bragg. In his four years here, Josiah has been a bulwark for consistency and hard work, a consistent performer and leader on our team. Josiah has always been the voice of reason on our team, level headed with his mind on the task at hand. Josiah has been an RA and a captain for the past two years, balancing his responsibilities with his school work. His genuine kindness has served to hold us all together, binding us with bonds of love and affection for each other. Yet, when the cards were down, Josiah raced with all that he had, running in a way that glorified God. Josiah set a standard of excellence for himself and for others that has served to create a team dedicated to excellence. Language fails when I try to explain how much Josiah has done for us and with us, but I can say his legacy will be one that will be with us for years to come.
Now, I come to the end. Looking back, I can say that we conducted ourselves worthy in a manner of not only Cedarville University cross country, but also as representatives of Christ, pursuing excellence and glorifying God in everything we did. Words alone cannot express what I have learned this year about myself and about the team, but I hope that I have been able to at least give a glimpse into our lives, into our team. This team, these men I consider my brothers, my companions, my closest friends. Being part of this team gives all of us an other-centric attitude rather than a self-centric attitude, working hard and sacrificing for the team rather than purely individual achievement. Perhaps....perhaps I have given you a better insight into what we do, what makes us tick. Perhaps not. But, thank you for reading, for putting up with me, and thank you for your prayers and support, which sometimes may be the only thing that keeps us going. - Greg “JJ” Johnson
Everything else: It’s Christmas in the SSC!...so long to Twinkies, and good riddance!... someone finally finished the code for KOTOR 2 - eight years after its release, and now I can finally finish the game....No-Shave November is going strong....looking forward to Turkey and apple pie....and going home. Thank you to Coach O for putting up with us all season, dealing with our neuroses and problems with stunning aplomb. He may deny it, but none of this would have been possible without him. Thank you Coach!
November 13, 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, and the rest of you readers, our season will soon be coming to a close. After this past Saturday’s NCCAA national meet, the only meet left is this coming weekend’s NCAA D II national meet. So the season has been done for some, is now done for others, and will soon be done for the rest. Every year my mind suffers from whiplash when I think of how quickly these seasons fly by - just the other day I was setting my room up for the semester, and now the semester itself is almost over! Oyvey...
As I mentioned earlier, this past weekend was the NCCAA national meet, and it truly is becoming a national meet, with teams from California all the way to South Carolina and everything in-between. This year was the largest NCCAA meet to-date, and it looks as if it might continue to grow. If you’ve been following the blog so far, you would know that this weekend we did not race our top guys, instead racing what we call the “B” team, a good opportunity to introduce points-based racing to some of the underclassmen, as well as to give others one last chance at a PR.
We raced Matt “Cheeks” Cheney, Forrest “Gump” Thayer, Nathaniel “Dutch” Burrell, Erik “JJ’s brother” Johnson, Jon “JVD” Van Dyke, and Philip “Dandelion” Dannelly this weekend, placing a respectable 12th-place out of 39 teams. Of course the best part of the day was the awards banquet after the meet, where Pioneer Food Services (Chuck’s) catered - the food was great! And it was good that night, then for Sunday lunch, and Sunday dinner... Just kidding...There weren’t any leftovers past Saturday night. Congratulations to Oklahoma Christian for running away with the Men’s Championship title banner...but our “A” team would have trounced them. The truth hurts, but it’s not mean if it’s true!
This meet represented a lot of lasts: it was the last home meet of the season, the last race of the season for the women’s team, the last race of the season for many of our guys, but there is another ‘last’ that I would like to call attention to: it was Senior Scott “Scootsie” Gardner’s last XC race, ever. Done. Gone. Four years and countless miles, over. I’d like to say a few words about his time here.
Scott “Scootsie” Gardner never seemed to get a lucky break when it came to XC. Be it the H1N1 Swine Flu his freshman year, a mysterious knee injury his junior year, and a senior year marked by a journey from a six month recovery period, Scoots always got the raw end of the deal. A lesser man would have been broken and given up any hopes that he might have had, but not Scott. Scott persevered through these trials, by the strength of his will and the grace of God, forging an indomitable spirit that will serve him throughout his life as he moves on from here into the chaotic mess known as “the real world.” Scott’s presence on the team may not have been marked by “success,” per se, but was instead marked by his stepping up as a leader, both spiritually and socially.
Scott took it upon himself to help bring back and lead a team Bible Study. His history of injury and “bad luck” gave him a unique insight that has enabled him to bless those around him, in a way that can only be brought about by empathy rather than sympathy. I can honestly say it has been a blessing and an honor to have run with Scott these past three years, and that he has had a marked impact on my life that I will not soon forget.
This was also Jacob “Dubie” Dubie’s last season; though his last race was several weeks ago, I think now is a time to commemorate his contribution to our team. Dubie transferred to Cedarville from Oregon Tech my freshman year (but he wasn’t actually from Oregon); as a transfer, he was neither sophomore nor freshman and only had three years of eligibility left, but we soon accepted him as one of us. Right from the beginning, Dubie was known to be one who marched to the beat of his own drum, not afraid to do his own thing, the first of us to truly embrace barefoot running, for example and with a fashion sense of questionable taste. His car, “Betty,” was legendary even then and more so now, three years later. Dubie’s running has always been characterized by an ability to pull out a good race when it counts the most, be it the NCCAA open race his first year, the conference race at Walsh last year, or the first Kenosha trip this year. His training has been...unique...but his attention to the little things, namely recovery and nutrition, has served him well and given us an example to follow, showing what hard work and determination is capable of achieving. If you were to compare the Dubie of three years ago and the Dubie of today, you would see how far he’s come and a level of maturity, sometimes, that is beyond his years. Dubie, too, has gotten some tough breaks when it comes to running, especially this year, the unluckiest
of which being tripping and chipping his knee cap on a curb. He is back running now, but this brought his season to an abrupt end, and is now fueled by a desire to make the most of his last two track seasons, having one more year of eligibility for track after this spring.
These next few weeks may be a rough time for those who feel they did not accomplish what they set out to do, a time to look back and see what happened, see what changes need to be made, and to see what worked, too. Some have finished on a high note, ready to take a break and revel in success. But not yet! There’s still one more week, one last chance to justify our strange obsession with bipedal locomotion, down in the great state of Missouri, against the best in the nation. All to the glory of God!
Everything else: a beautiful week last week, a beautiful race day, and a beautiful Sunday - God is most definitely good...Listen to your body! Know yourself!..nothing we do now can really make us go faster at this point, but we can do plenty enough to screw it up...still knocking off Steinbeck books; after The Cup of Gold, I read To A God Unknown, The Wayward Bus, Tortilla Flat, and The Short Reign of Pippin IV... time to buckle down and start studying for finals and writing final papers - We’re almost done! Coach O-ism: “This moment is like Rudy, you’ve worked hard, you’ve been overshadowed by these other guys, but it’s time to show what you can do, to stand up and take your place on the line; today is about you racing for points.”
November 6, 2012
‘Long ago, when I was a young man, my father said to me, "Norman, you like to write stories." And I said "Yes, I do." Then he said, "Someday, when you're ready you might tell our family story. Only then will you understand what happened and why."’ - “A River Runs Through It.”
Those words, coupled with the movie itself, have forever marked why I write and how I approach my writing. This blog has been a wonderful opportunity to work out my thoughts and feelings over the season, to tell the stories of my brothers, to sing praises of their mighty deeds and to lament our losses and failures; to celebrate our triumphs and humbly admit our defeats; to try to understand what makes us human, to understand our humanity and see the imago dei. This weekend is one of those weekends that needs to be worked through, picking out the elements and seeing what happened through different perspectives, trying to grasp at the enormity of this trip.
There’s so many things I could tell about this trip, going deeper and deeper to try to capture the moment, to bring the cramped bus seats and too-small televisions to life, to show all of us scattered lazily throughout Coach O’s room as we talk about the race, at the seeming absurdity of some of our special orders at the restaurants, at the boisterous camaraderie between the men’s and women’s teams, the youthful enthusiasm of Brendan “Brenda” Orchard and Daniel “D-Bo” Bolender throughout the whole trip; the emotional smorgasbord that those not running had to work through as we watched our brothers run one of the most prestigious Cedarville has raced; the nervous anticipation as we nibbled the hotel breakfast; the increasing wave of excitement as the start time grew closer; of the raw adrenaline as we met to exhort and pray before the race; of the sheer ferocity of our cheering as we watched our “Magnificent Seven” stampede to the front of the race; the absurdity of watching Brooker break into a goofy smile, before the half-way point (!), as he literally ran away with the race; the crisp, cold air and rolling, forested hills veritably intoxicating us, turning us each into an “inebriate of air” and “debauchee of Dew;” the joy of watching Brooker cross the finish line with hands raised in triumph; the pride of being the first sport in Cedarville to qualify for the NCAA II National Championship; the twisted feeling of tying for fourth in a region you hoped to maybe, possibly, win (probably more wishful thinking on my part).
Yeah, we qualified for the National Championships in Joplin, Missouri. Yeah, Brooker won the actual race by over 30 seconds. Yeah, as of this point Cedarville Men’s XC is the most successful team at Cedarville in terms of the NCAA. And it feels pretty good. Each of these men (Brooker, Jozie, Toots, Scneil, Gus, Walters, Clay) deserve to be praised and remembered throughout CUXC history as the first group to go to Nationals. They have set the standard for years to come by which to measure ourselves for success or failure.
The need to deeds immortalize,
so we sing praises day to day;
give the runners their victor’s prize
and see the foes that they did slay.
Fear was conquered, their hearts held fast
their goal wavered not from their eyes.
The gun is fired, fate is cast,
they would not listen to the lies.
Pride, too, arrogant and boastful,
fueled by the praises of the past,
tamed and tempered by the humble,
none of it mattered since the blast.
Pain reared her ugly head, with ire
tried to cause these men to stumble,
not thwarting their strong desire.
Vices, of their cause resentful;
Falsehood, that turns a man away
from the Truth that he knows - liar!
Sloth, which wasteth a man through play
now shall be destroyed through fire.
These mighty men, these few brave souls
who ran the race with feet ablaze,
Quickly! Bring them the victors’ bowls,
bring them that which victory pays!
Their praises we sing, of their deeds
now shown beneath Sun’s mighty rays.
For truth, they have now sown the seeds
and perform acts worthy of praise.
Cry “All to the glory of God!”
He will fulfill all of our needs.
Lest we forget, come from the sod,
the mighty Shepherd who, us, leads.
Last week I mentioned that I just finished “The Cup of Gold” by Steinbeck, and that I would talk more about it, and for good reason. One of the ideas found in this book is that only ‘children,’ someone not scarred and aged by life, not defeated, can dream and achieve seemingly impossible things, someone who actually believes he can do anything and will work until he achieves that goal....we have a whole team of men like that. We believe we can do impossible things, we believe we do impossible things, and we then achieve the seemingly impossible things. Pray that we keep this innocence, this desire to do great things, to glorify God in our exploits and actions, that we would not listen to the voices that threaten to tear us apart and trample us into the dust.
Now, this weekend was a mixed bag, emotionally, for some of us. Be it injury, freak accident, whatever, it was not easy to watch, as a spectator, those guys toe the line, to think of the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘how comes’ lurking in our minds, but these went away as we lost sight of ourselves and focused on those running, on exhorting and encouraging, on being part of something bigger than oneself. This is what good cross country is all about. This is what it means to be part of a team.
This coming weekend is the NCCAA National Championship, and we will not be running those who raced at regionals; this gives an opportunity for the rest of us to show what we’ve got, to score points and make a difference. The weather is looking good, as it always does for this race. We’ll see how it goes!
Everything else: Disney bought Lucas Film! New Star Wars in 2015! We are excited for this!... the extended editions of LOTR are ridiculously long, but they show how much Peter Jackson actually did take from the books. As such I have a new-found respect for him and greater anticipation for The Hobbit trilogy....I was very excited to to see the parents who came out to Wisconsin to cheer our guys on - it really means a lot to see you!... I discovered the small movie section at Cedarville’s library, and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the movies that I found there....Coach O-ism: “Remember this moment. Enjoy it for what it is. We don’t know what the future holds, but we can celebrate the now.”
October 30, 2012
I’m going to be honest with you, dear reader. I have a terrible burden which I must get off of my chest, a truth that will either set me free or condemn me. I don’t really like this time of year; at least, not the way Ohio does it. The weather does not make any sense, there is no rhyme or reason to it. For example, most of this past week had highs in the mid-70's until the end of the week and this weekend, which have had highs in the mid-40's and rain and wind. And this is before Hurricane Sandy gets even close to us. I love fall, but not the erratic fall weather patterns of Ohio. Now that I’ve gotten that taken care of, let’s see talk about this week.
As I mentioned earlier, most of the week was absolutely gorgeous, the kind of days that make you curse your physical limitations and inability to run forever. Coming off of the G-MAC race, whether a success or disappointment depending on each individual, we now have our eyes set on the NCAA II Region meet in Kenosha this coming weekend, and our training is now gearing towards the post-season competition. What this means is that we are beginning to run shorter, faster efforts using the strength and endurance we have been building since last May. Our total mileage is beginning to drop in order to maximize recovery and to racing-sharp by the time these last few races come about. That’s all we have left - three more races: NCAA Regionals, NCCAA Nationals, and then NCAA Nationals (Lord-willing). For some, there’s only one race left, for others two; some may even be done by this point; but no one has three races left.
The plan as of now is to have the Top 10 go to Kenosha for Regionals (7 runners + 3 alternates), rest the Top 7 and run, maybe, #8-14 at the NCCAA meet, and then run the Top 7 at NCAA Nationals in Joplin, Missouri (yes, THAT Joplin). Regardless of where the individual is at this point in the season, we make it a point to all train together for as long as we can, providing the support for each other that makes this thing called running bearable.
We moved up in the national rankings this week to 11th overall; or was that last week? I don’t remember; but we are still ranked third in our region. These rankings, however, do not really have any actual effect on our post-season; they are merely a formality, a way of knowing how you stack up against the rest of the nation. This is fundamentally different from the NAIA rating system, which used the rankings to determine who actually got to go to the national meet. Needless to say, we like the NCAA system better because we can focus on running rather than rankings. Oh! I almost forgot - the Top 5 teams in our region will qualify for the the national meet, so things look like they are in our favor.
Of course, what week would be complete without a team bonding activity? I know, we just had one of those last week, but this one was mandated by tradition! The annual Cross Country Halloween Party is a must, and the only time we could do it was this past Friday. No, there were no flaming jack-o-lanterns or stories by the fire (it was cold and raining by this point), but there were costumes and music and some rhythmic bodily movements, which may or may not be interpreted as dancing. This year it was especially memorable because we were able to host it in a barn at Scootsie’s “Estate,” because there was no Sick House this year. The Sick House! One of the more hallowed of Men’s XC traditions, one that has sadly been lacking for the past two years, one that can work wonders in bringing a team together, the Sick House (no one really knows where the name came from) is an apartment or house owned/rented by some of the upperclassmen guys; we have not officially had one since my freshman year (shout-out to S’moores, Weezie, and Country!) and for now the “Estate” has been a relatively suitable surrogate. Best costume/couple goes to Birdie and Dubie, the Old Men!
Everything else: John Steinbeck, for now at least, is my all-time favorite author; I just finished his book The Cup of Gold (I might talk more about it next week)...for some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to store all of our spikes in a sealed bin (which happened to have some rotting fruit in it) - now THAT was a smell...when running in cold, rainy, and windy conditions, it might be a good idea to wear suitable clothing...Ron Sider, chapel speaker: At 73, it’s still pleasurable (excuse me?!)...Coach O-ism: “You’re not gonna let a little rain get to you, are you?” (or something to that extent)...
October 23, 2012
Where do I begin? Where do I end? If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a movie worth? Is a movie a thousand pictures? So then a movie is worth a thousand thousand words, which might be able to contain this week. But I won’t write a million words. I guess the main question everyone wants an answer to is whether or not we won the first-ever G-MAC Championships. Don’t worry, we most assuredly did, sweeping the top eight spots and also taking 11th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, and Coach O being awarded G-MAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, with All-Conference Awards going to “Brooker” Brooker, “Jo-Z” Bragg, “Toots” Tuttle, “Walters” Walter, “Nemo” Niemiec, “Schneil” Klinger, “Gustofwind” Gustafson, “Cwat” Watson, “Germany” Burrell, “Forrest Gump” Thayer, “Dandelion” Dannelly, and “Jonvandyke” Van Dyke, ultimately achieving the ultimate goal of any team: the perfect score. That’s right, we scored only 15 points, because we got the top five places.
To be honest, we were expected to do that. The tragedy would have been for that not to happen. Speaking of tragedies, we had a couple this week...For the past few weeks, “Cheeks” Cheney has been having acid-reflux like problems, usually occurring during races or hard workouts. No one was able to pinpoint what the problem was until this week, and on Thursday morning he was diagnosed with a shifting hiatal hernia, which basically means there’s a hole in his stomach to his esophagus. While not life-threatening, it is painful enough that he can’t run with it. After attempting to race this past weekend, Cheeks has decided that it would better to get it fixed as soon as possible rather than try to drag it out; remedies include medication and surgery. While there was a collective sigh of relief at finding out what the problem was and how to treat it, we are still upset about the untimely end to what was looking to be a successful season.
But the worst part about this week was that Cheeks was not the only one to be waylaid by a misfortune beyond his control: “Dubie” Dubie also fell prey to the vicissitudes of running: while out for his usual Monday morning jog, he tripped and landed heavily on his knee; as the day wore on the pain become increasingly intolerable, to the point that he had to leave classes and go the hospital. Fast forward a few days and a few tests later, and Dubie was diagnosed with a fractured knee cap, summarily curtailing his final season of cross country, and one that was coming around quite nicely at that.
Neither of these are truly “running-related” injuries; we can deal with the fact that we got hurt from running too much or training too hard, but to be taken out by an accident or twist of fate like these two...it just doesn’t make any sense, there’s no rhyme or reason to it, and all of us are pretty upset about this. Coach O gave us a good talk, something along the lines of “Life isn’t fair. It isn’t fair that Jacob broke his knee or that Matt has a hernia. It’s not fair that these guys put so much work into getting to the point that they were, the countless hours spent and miles run, just to be told ‘You’re done.’ No one ever said that life would be fair, and the only thing we can do about it is to keep moving forward. It doesn’t change anything we’re doing, it doesn’t change our goals and our plans for the season.”
I think that was one of the best talks we’ve had as a team, and this is what I took away from it: Life isn’t fair, and it is absolutely terrible that these guys got hurt, but that isn’t the tragedy. The tragedy would be for us to give up, to be beaten by a couple accidents; by moving forward, we become stronger both as individuals and as a team, preparing for life beyond running and college. Our faith is being tested and tempered, God preparing us for a lifetime of service and faith to Him, regardless of our circumstances.
We did have fun this week, though. It wasn’t a moody, depressing sob-fest. It was Fall Break, and as such we had two extra days of weekend. Because we had the G-MAC race this weekend, we had to stay on campus; that wasn’t too much of a problem, because it felt a lot like camp week, just running and eating and hanging out with each other. I believe the highlight of our week was Thursday night. We had a fantastic Guys and Girls team dinner at “Scootsie” Gardner’s “Estate,” burgers and chili and apple crisp galore. After dinner we carved pumpkins, stuffed them with leaves and needles, and set them on fire. Now THAT is a scary way to light up a jack-o-lantern...If you can find them, there are pictures of these flaming pumpkins on Facebook. We ended the evening with a roaring bonfire, telling stories as we stoked the fire to burning intensities...I believe that was our best team-bonding activity that we have had in years. A special thanks to all who were involved.
Everything else: Nemo, Scootsie, and I beat three computer players set on ‘hardest’ in Age of Empires over the course of two days - it was not easy...but Nemo, Scootsie, Birdie, and I could not beat four computer players on ‘hardest,’ though...the best meal is a home-cooked meal...Colonial Pizza has much better wings than Buffalo Wild Wings...I wish I could have gone home to the Farmers’ Fair in Dillsburg...political discussion is picking up on the team and becoming more heated...again...went mountain biking with Gustofwind on Thursday and got two flats in a row; it just wasn’t meant to be, and turns out my rear tire has a hernia...the slim pickings of Chuck’s over Fall Break have left us anxious for school to start tomorrow, if only for food...Coach O-ism: “It would be a huge tragedy for us not win the G-MAC race this Saturday.”
October 16, 2012
I’m back! Well, I really didn’t go anywhere (literally), but I think you get the idea. I thought Birdie did such a great job for last week that I was half-tempted to let him write for the rest of the season...but then I remembered I actually like doing this.
I may not be the fastest runner, or even in the Top 10 for that matter, but as Coach has been saying all season long, “Everyone is contributing to this team, one way or another. Everyone is a part of this - it’s not about just one person, it’s about you guys training together and supporting each other in order to get better.” While he may not have said that verbatim, that’s the essence of what he has been telling us. I’m not trying to downplay what our Top 10 is doing; perhaps I’m only trying make myself feel better. But really, truly, the days where we all run together or do workouts together, those are the days that I enjoy. Our Top 10 is doing a great thing, training hard and running fast, but the rest of the team is training hard too - and contributing in his own way, adding a unique element to the team that would be missing without him.
It’s not even just the guys who are running who contribute, but our injured and sick teammates as well. Some people have been injured for a while, namely Birdie and Sergei, and others have gotten really sick, Waters and Kilgore come to mind, but even in their injury and sickness they are still a part of the team, encouraging and serving us, and we shouldn’t forget about them. And then there’s the injuries that sideline us for just a few days, be it a sore joint/muscle/tendon, strain, pull; these things happen, and sometimes there’s nothing we can do about it but wait for it to heal. Those days are perhaps the hardest mentally, feeling guilty for not training, thinking that we’re gonna get out of shape or lose a significant amount of fitness in a few days that took months and years to attain; those days are hard. It’s not something we like to talk about, but we do get injured, we do get sick, sometimes we just need a day or two off. We are human, after all, no matter how much or how fast we run. And as humans, we can get a little caught up in the performance side of things, losing focus on the big picture in light of our day-to-day performance.
Where am I going with this? What I think I’m trying to say is that ten years from now I doubt that I’ll look back and say, “Boy, I wish I could have run 90 seconds faster; I wish I had gone to Nationals; my life was ruined because of that.” No. Instead, I can almost guarantee that looking back on this time of my life the only thing I can truly say is “Wow, I am so glad for the relationships I had on that team. Those guys had a huge impact on my life and my faith, stretching me to grow and mature, to discipline myself and become a man; but we also had so much fun together. My life has been better because of that.” Again, I’m not trying to disparage anything that we are doing, but instead I am trying to focus on the aspects that will have a true, lasting impact on all of our lives.
Before I get too carried away philosophizing, let’s talk about this week. Coming off a solid team performance last weekend in Wisconsin, we resumed normal practice on Tuesday. Mile repeats on Wednesday, which may have been the physically/mentally hardest workout we have had yet, simply by virtue of the weather: Cold and wind, which very few of us are entirely ready for, yet came together to batter and bruise us. Friday we did 2 1/4 mile repeats, but the weather was much better; however, we were still a little fatigued...But that’s all right, because we still have a few days or so until the G-MAC Championships, which of all the things it stands for, most importantly determines who will be running at the regional meet in Wisconsin. I’ll explain this in more detail next week, but the G-MAC race seems like it will be more of a team time trial rather than an actual race against other schools...
Everything else: This week was the Fall College Career Fair at Cedarville! Everyone needs internships and jobs! Unless you’re not an engineer...Just kidding. But seriously...Finally seeing some frost on the ground in the mornings consistently - it’s getting cold!..The Yellow Springs Street Fair was this weekend, and it was fun to take Saturday afternoon to walk around and check it out. This past Saturday was also the Ironman World Championships, so I spent a good bit of time watching that (it’s an eight-hour race).
Also, WOLOLO at Nemo’s place!...Eat real food...
Coach O-ism: “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.”
October 9, 2012
JJ: This week’s blog is brought you by our spectacular team manager James “Birdie” Niemiec (whose insights and unparalleled helpfulness have made him an integral part of the team) as I and the rest of the team remained in Cedarville to enjoy the Homecoming festivities while the rest traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin...
Birdie: Well? Let me dive right in. This past week, the top ten runners along with coach, Matt Cheeks Cheney and I got the privilege of traveling to Kenosha Wisconsin for a weekend of team bonding as well as what we do best. Run, Race, Win. All to the glory of God. Earlier last week, coming off of the All-Ohio, some of the men were tired and physically exhausted. And when the body gets tired, injuries are prone to happen. This was the case for Matt Cheeks Cheney. With this trip looming around the corner, and him dealing with a calf injury along with strained abs, racing was not an option for him. Which is a bummer seeing that he is a Top 7 runner. But none the less he was my assistant to the regional manager for the duration trip. After much anticipation and excitement, Thursday rolled around and by 2:45 p.m., we were on the road. With jokes being cracked, spirits high, and the smell of cooked salmon, we hit the road. When reality set in that we would be in a bus for seven or so hours, we turned to Rudy to inspire us even further.
These films themes inspired us, as well as inspiring the random outburst of the chant Rudy, Rudy, Rudy! After this, the manly movie Indiana Jones inspired us to…..be manly and awesome just like Indiana Jones. Of course during the ride, FIFA 2013 and homework were scattered throughout. What diligent pupils. Oh! And how could I forget. We runners get hungry.
And there is only one pre-pre-race food we can eat that fuels us for the crucial task of running…Chipotle. The team’s favorite place filled with burritos weighing more than a small infant. Anyways. We arrived at around 10 p.m. to our place of lodging. From there we dispersed to our rooms. I had the ultimate pleasure of rooming with Clay Clay Watson and Teddy. Yes I do sleep and travel with my teddy bear. One of seven. Anyways...Friday morning rolled around and a day full of excitement was in store for us.
First, we had to go see our battle ground. The place where we shed blood, sweat and tears. All for the glory of God. The course was absolutely stunning. The majority of the course was through woods. Mix that with fall and the changing of seasons....God is Amazing. After this, we got hungry. What a surprise. This is when lesson number one came up. It states: never ever ever ever ever mention to go to Jimmy Johns over Subway. You will immediately get shot down and yelled at. Don't even think it for that matter. Scott Scootsy Gardner experienced that first hand. So just don't.
Lesson two soon followed. It states: never take Jacob Dubie Dubie or Matt Brooker Brooker on a date or any runner for that matter. They eat too much. Price you pay for being fast I guess. Anyway... After going to Subway and showering, we set out on a quest to learn more about the location we were running. Where did we go? That's right. A museum. Two actually. In the first, we learned about how to take care of the earth with how we build our homes and also witnessed the remains of a huge woolly mammoth. Kenosha was first inhabited by Indians. In the first museum, it was the home to the world’s oldest arrowhead found to date. Amazing. After this museum, we head out to our second location. A dinosaur museum. In short, I'm glad I wasn't alive back then. With our energy running low, we set out once more to eat once again. What better place to go than Olive Garden. Unlimited salad and pasta that makes your eyes cry. Perfecto.
Did I forget to mention it was coaches birthday? Yes we got cake. After stuffing ourselves once again, we went shopping....For food. Picture this; a huge building filled with every possible fruit, veggies, and other items....Fresh from the farmer himself. That's where we went. We bought pomegranates, eggnog, apples, apple cider, bananas, oranges, peaches, plums and lots more. With all this food, we were all content and happy. And thus returned to the hotel to strategies and sleep for the race.
RACE DAY! We woke up at the crack of dawn, 6:30 a.m., to eat, talk, and get our bodies up and running for our 11 a.m. race time. We cracked jokes and read the newspaper to try and hide our nerves and the excitement for what was to come. We left the hotel, to which we would not return, and set off for the battle field. Waiting, stretching, waiting, running, waiting, waiting, waiting. Bang! The small cannon was shot and the long awaited start, started.
Welcome to pain. Your brain pounding and yelling at you. Stop! No don't stop! Wait, we are going fast! And just like that you’re done. As a team we start and end together. Three out of the ten runners had a fantastic race. Jacob Dub Dubie and Clay Clay Watson PR’ed by a huge margin. The other seven had not personal best races, but fast enough to win the race. Yes. We won the meet. By a mere 30 points! Praise God! With our fuel drained, it was time to leave. We quickly packed up and hit the road for Ryan Gust of Wind Gustafson’s house for more food. Shout out to Mr. and Mrs. Gustafson for the phenomenal meal! And just like that, we were on the road again.
Thanks to Frodo, we had Lord Of The Rings to keep us company all the way home.
Merry: "It was a short cut."
Sam: "to what!?"
Pippin: "mushrooms!"
Now two serious quotes for you to apply to your life.
Frodo - (upon seeing Golum) "I wish Bilbo had killed him when he had the chance."
Gandalf - "Many who live deserve death, and some that die deserve life - can you give it to them? Do not be so quick to deal out death and judgement. For even the very wisest cannot see all ends."
Frodo - "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened"
Gandalf - "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
And thus our adventure was over. Our goal for going on this trip was to see the course for the upcoming regional. Shout out to coach for allowing me, James Birdie Niemiec, to be manager this year and to travel with the team. (I'm red-shirting due to ankle surgery back in May).
Also a quick shout out to Greg JJ Johnson for giving me the privilege of writing this week’s blog.
Cheers,
Psalm 115:1 (our team motto summed up)
Birdie Niemiec
JJ again: Also, this past week we finally gained a spot in our regional rankings, jumping from unranked to third; more importantly, we are now ranked 14th nationally; we are ranked as the 14th team in the entire NCAA Division II! And I would not be surprised to see our rankings
improve this week...
October 2, 2012
One of the greatest difficulties that I have found in writing this blog is removing “myself” from the narrative , that is, trying to accurately portray the way things are for the team as a whole instead of how I personally view them (granted, I did narrate our first race from my own point of view....but that’s beside the point). This focus outside of myself has made me appreciate so much more the relationships we have with each other, the encouragement and camaraderie that comes as a result. This has been a great experience for me to really take time and see the team as a whole, paying attention to the ebb and flow of emotion, picking up on the little idiosyncrasies that you can only know when you get to really know someone, things like tone, accent, attitude, inflection, nervous habits....and nothing really brings these out like waiting for a race, especially important ones. Especially All-Ohio.
Traditionally, All-Ohio has been held on a Friday afternoon, usually the weekend of Cedarville’s homecoming. I was never a fan of having to go to classes the day of a race, so I was somewhat relieved to discover that this year’s edition would be on a Saturday. Looking back on it now, I don’t think it was the classes that got to me before the race. It was the anticipation. Every other race we run is in the morning - there is really no time to be anxious before the race. When a race is held in the afternoon, we spend the day in a limbo of excited anxiety, unable to focus on homework, jumpy, jittery, uneasy - we don’t know what to do with ourselves. Needless to say I spent most of Saturday morning walking around with knotted-up butterflies in my stomach, as did many others I’m sure.
All-Ohio is kind of a big deal. As the largest sporting event that Cedarville hosts, this meet is attended by pretty much every college and university in Ohio, a perfect chance to see how you stack up against an entire state’s worth of collegiate runners. I believe this year’s edition was attended by about 50 schools and roughly 1,500 runners, split among four races: Women’s Varsity, Men’s Varsity, Women’s Open, and Men’s Open. Do the math, equally split that’s 375 runners per race. For XC, that’s pretty big, pretty exciting, pretty frightening and awe-inspiring. The starts of these races are literal stampedes - the ground actually thunders underneath the soles of your feet.
By this point, if you haven’t already heard, I’m sure you are wondering “Well, how did the team do?! What were the results?!” Well, I’ll tell you this. Last year, we placed 10th overall, which is not too bad. You know, 10th in a whole state. Well this year we did a bit better than that. Actually a lot a bit better than last year. This year we placed third overall, losing out to Cincinnati and Miami. Third, in the state of Ohio. That is no small feat. We were hoping to snag a win this year, but Cincinnati showed up with a chip on their shoulder from the other week, and Miami always has a strong team. But, we did beat Malone and Shawnee, which we have not done in a very long time. So overall we did pretty well as a team.
Remember what I said about individual experiences and the team as a whole? One of the things that I was trying to get at was that team performance and individual performance are only somewhat related; we ran well as a team, but there were also individuals who may not have raced as well as they would have liked. For example, I didn’t have a bad race; I PR’d by a couple seconds. On the other hand, my brother had a very rough race, and could not run as swiftly as he had intended; this mix of emotions makes it very hard to find the appropriate tone for a day like Saturday. Overall, though, I would say that team spirits are still high, we’re still excited and enthusiastic for what we are doing, and most importantly we are excited for our ROAD TRIP to Wisconsin this coming weekend to preview the course the that Top 7 will be running for the NCAA II Regional meet in November.
Everything Else: Rest is good, sleep is better. Whiteboards are fun and we have a big one in our locker room, therefore we have fun. Earplugs work wonders, especially at night. Running in the rain is nice, as long as it isn’t raining everyday. You can’t wear unofficial gear in a big race: no hats. We finally beat Malone! And Shawnee! Coach O-ism: “You can do so much more than you think you are capable of doing. Don’t limit yourself in what you think you can do.”
September 24, 2012
It is always a strange weekend, a strange week, even, without a race on Saturday; we become so accustomed to racing on Saturday mornings over the years of our respective running careers that when we have a weekend officially “off” no one really knows what to do with themselves.
Racing takes more than just the time spent at the meet; good racing requires proper preparation in the days leading up to a race, resulting in early-ish bedtimes both Thursday and Friday night, an early wake-up Saturday, the rest of Saturday spent in a daze from the race, and Sunday spent playing “catch-up” with all manner of work and studying. On a non-race weekend, however, Thursday and Friday nights are cleared up, Saturday can be better utilized for studying or relaxing, and Sunday can almost be a true day of rest, if you manage your time wisely. Emphasis
on time management.
However, these weekends can also be a time of community and team bonding, providing opportunities to not only run with each other but to enjoy each other’s company. For example, part of the team spent Friday evening at Nemo’s house, some of us playing Age of Empires 2 while the others simply relaxed; Saturday morning a good many of us met for a run at John Bryant State Park, ending at the famed Clifton Mill Restaurant, known for its outlandishly large and delicious pancakes. Saturday evening some of us went over to Scootsie’s house and cleaned out a barn in preparation for some traditional XC get-togethers, for which we are very excited; Sunday morning a handful of us woke up before dawn in order to get our run before church, basking in the glory of a frost-bitten sunrise, ultimately heading over to Grace Baptist for church while others attended the Jags/Colts game. These weekends are neither exceptionally exciting nor notably newsworthy, yet I believe they may be even more important than racing, because they provide a much-needed mental and physical break from the demands of racing.
This week contained the first day of fall, and the weather is surely beginning to show. It is significantly colder than it was even two weeks ago, as we are now waking up to frost on the ground. This is a bittersweet time, as we are sad to see the days grow shorter and the nights longer, the trees grow barren and the birds fly south and await the icy embrace of winter; yet we are glad to be rid of the heat and humidity, bugs and sweat. As the seasons change, so does our training; our mileage is beginning, on average, to go down and our workouts are shorter and faster, preparing for the races ahead: All-Ohio, Pre-Nats, G-MAC, NCCAA, Regionals, and ultimately (hopefully) Nationals.
But for now, we are only looking forward to All-Ohio this coming weekend; this is the race that can/will show how we stack up against the rest of Ohio, and the competition will be steep.
Everything else: It’s harvest season! The cornfields will soon be empty!; did I mention we have actual yellow jackets (should’ve gotten a small) for the team? It’s funny because we are the Yellow Jackets. Irony at its finest; I don’t know what I would do without these guys, probably be a lonely individual. There’s more to life than running, however, there is a time and a place for everything and right now it is our time to run; Coach O-ism: “That great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, ‘I didn’t get into this for the money; I did it because I wanted to be the best. I knew the money would follow.”
September 17, 2012
Another week, another race, another post.
I believe this week could rightly be called the Cedarville Coughing Epidemic. Everyone was sick (okay, maybe not EVERYONE, but it was pretty close), the campus veritably ringing with hacking and wheezing all hours of the day and night. No one knows where it came from, no one knows when it will end, but I do know that in my few years this is perhaps the most widespread cold I have ever seen. I wish I could say that our team, the paragon of aerobic health and fitness, remained unscathed by the phlegmy virus, but such is not the case. I can’t give specific numbers, but it seemed as if most of the team was sick at some point this week. I for one woke up with it Wednesday morning, perhaps the height of the spread, and am only now getting over it.
We remained undaunted, nonetheless. Spurred by our success last Friday, the team jumped into mile repeats Tuesday afternoon, hammering some very impressive times, further fueling our spirit for this past weekend’s race. Spirits high, we backed off the next few days, preparing both our bodies and our minds for the daunting task of running 8 kilometers (4.98 miles) as fast as we could.
The physiology of training is very interesting in that it is not the actual training that makes you stronger; it is the recovery after a workout, the time you give your muscles and tendons to repair themselves and become stronger in response to the stress, at this point considered eustress, or good stress, which makes you stronger and faster. However, if you repeatedly stress the body and do not allow time for recovery, the stress becomes distress, or bad stress. Thus the principle of hard and easy periods of training plays a large role in what we do and how we run. Thus we rest after hard workouts and before races, in order that our bodies may be fully prepared for the task at hand.
Friday night both the men’s and women’s teams got together to eat a home-cooked pre-race meal at Scootsie Gardner’s abode. The idea was that we, the guy’s team, were going to treat the women’s team as a thank-you for everything they have done for us, but it ended up that we only paid for the meal, while the women’s team shopped for and cooked most of the meal. That’s probably why it tasted so good.
The weather conditions for this race, the 22nd Annual Friendship Invitational, ran true to form for the third year in a row: absolutely amazing. Cool, clear, crisp, this was the quintessential fall cross country race morning; there probably could not have been better conditions. And did our team take advantage of it. We put six guys in the top 10 finishers, we had five guys run under 25:30, eight guys under 26:00, and scored 20 points (for those who don’t know, 15 points is a perfect race). If there was any thought that our win last week may have been a fluke, all doubts are now erased. What this race showed was that we are not only capable of putting some fast times on the board but that we have an unparalleled team depth - 10 guys all capable of being in the top five on a good day. This was our freshmen’s first 8k, so technically it was a PR (personal record) for all of them, but almost everyone else on our team ran lifetime PR’s; one of the benefits of racing on our home course is that we know our course is exactly 8K, as measured by course-namesake Coach King, and we can compare our times to years past; never before have that many Cedarville runners run that fast. I think everyone, especially us, were surprised at how fast we ran; if we can keep this pace throughout the season, I daresay that we have a good chance for Nationals. But the season is still young, and much can happen in the next two months.
Everything else: Special thanks to Becca Davies and Chaney Isley for their fantastic hand-made signs and loud cheering, as well as to Ivan Brubaker and Birdie Niemiec for the support they provide us; not much is so sweet as frozen custard during a long bike ride; shout-out to Brendan and Ryan Orchard (Coach O’s oldest two sons) for their PR’s in Friendship’s high school race; if you wish you may check out our “unofficial” page on Facebook: Cedarville Men’s Cross Country for pictures and mid-week updates; I don’t like reading untranslated Chaucer or anything written in Middle English; Coach O-ism of the week (one that I have heard quite a lot): “There’s more to life than just running.”
September 10, 2012
What a week. The ups, the downs, the in-betweens; I don’t even know where to begin. Well, actually I do. But before I get there, allow me to give a very brief history lesson: Cedarville is the birthplace of Labor Day. Literally. The man who helped make Labor Day a national holiday was born and raised in the town of Cedarville; as such, Cedarville takes its Labor Day celebrations seriously, leading to an entire weekend of activities known as Cedarfest, beginning Saturday morning and ending Monday night, with activities ranging from pancake breakfasts, food vendors, a parade, bingo, tractor pulls, culminating Monday night in one of the biggest and best firework productions I have ever seen. It’s almost like Christmas or something. That might be a bit of a stretch, but I doubt anywhere else takes Labor Day as seriously as Cedarville does. A true image of good-old down-home small-town Americana. So the week started on an up.
That up continued into Tuesday morning, where a portion of chapel was set aside to recognize Cedarville’s athletic teams and to pray over them. It’s not very often that we are recognized as a team in front of the student population. However, by Tuesday night, we as a team hit a low. Tuesdays are generally workout days, long enough after a weekend race for us to be recovered but far enough before a race the coming weekend to be rested and sharp. This Tuesday, however, was hot and humid, exacerbated by the fact we were doing 1,000 meter repeats on our course in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day. Needless to say, most of us were not happy with how that workout turned out, which was not a good place to be, mentally and physically, considering the fact that most of the guys contesting the “Top 7” were going to have their first race Friday afternoon.
The next two days were spent in breathless anticipation, knowing that nothing could be done except rest up and store energy for the race that could define the course of our season. Wednesday, Thursday; easy running for those racing. Thursday night, a pasta dinner was hosted for us by the Women’s XC team at senior Tabby Moore’s house. Those girls are forever spoiling us, and we love it.
Before I get to the race, let me give special thanks to God. One of our freshmen, Philip Dannelly, was having complications concerning NCAA eligibility and transcripts, and we were not sure if he would able to race or not. It was frustrating, to say the least, but God worked it out and Dannelly was eligible to race on Friday.
There’s only one thing I can say about Friday’s race: Cedar-who? Cedar-VILLE! To say it was exciting is a dangerous understatement. This was without a doubt one of the best races Cedarville has ever run, as well as one that I have ever witnessed in person. We did not only win, but conquered by a significant margin, beating DI schools such as University of Cincinnati, Xavier, and Wright State, and future G-MAC member Georgetown (Kentucky). Cedarville took control of the race early on and put six guys under 16:10; the average time for our top five was a blazing 15:57. Congrats to Brooker Brooker, Jozie Bragg, Gus Gustafson, Schniel Klinger, and Nemo Niemiec for being our top five, as well as placing in the Top 20. They were followed closely by Tuts Tuttle, Swat Clayson, Dubie Dubie, and Cheeks Cheney.
This was the kind of dominating performance that can only result from the hundreds, nay, thousands of miles these guys put in over the summer, and the future looks bright. Perhaps even DII National Championships bright. This is exciting. This could be the type of season of which legends are sung and verses composed to commemorate our success. I would almost rather not race and just watch these guys compete throughout the season. Watching these men race left me with a sense of awe that will not soon be forgotten.
I would also like to congratulate Dandelion Dannelly and Jon Van Dyke on their first collegiate race, as well as welcome back Scootsie Gardner for his first race in almost a year.
Of course we went to Chipotle after the race (there really is not much better post-race food out there), and topped it off with some frozen yogurt.
I keep coming back to this, but the Women’s XC team is simply amazing. Not only did they feed us Thursday night, but they drove down to Cincinnati Friday afternoon to watch a 16-minute race. A total of over two hours of driving to cheer us on for just over 15 minutes. As I have said before, we are absolutely blessed by them.
In other news: Dubie, Walterzzz, and I spent some quality time with Squints Waters Sunday afternoon, and that’s all I’ll say about that; heat and humidity are our enemy; the best Saturday, other than a race day, has a long morning run followed by brunch in Chuck’s; likewise, the best Sunday has an early morning run before breakfast; there are two types of people in this world: those who like the movie Rocketman, and those who don’t; Coach O-ism of the week: “Before the race, someone asked me if I thought we could win it. I was hesitant to say anything... but I had a strong feeling we could.”
September 3, 2012
This was it! The Cedarville men’s cross country season officially began this weekend with a bang, some sparks and sputters and a couple misfires, but it began nonetheless, and from the looks of it, it’s going to be a good year. This weekend we (we as in the young(er) part of the team: Nathan Kilgore, Joel Dennison, Dylan McKevitt, Forrest Thayer, Erik Johnson, Nathaniel Burrell, Thomas Waters, and yours truly) raced at the University of Dayton’s course for the Dayton Flyer 5k (which was in the city of Dayton), which happened to be where we raced our season opener last year, and in the spirit of a year ago, it was oppressively hot, humid, generally uncomfortable.
Granted it was twenty degrees cooler than last year, but when I say it was humid, I mean that there was more water on my water bottle than actually in it. In light of these grievous conditions, we toed the starting line, tensile nerves quickly replacing the buoyant mood of the previous moments, awaiting the sharp crack of the gun.
I wish I could better describe the race from an objective point of view, but as an active participant I can only describe what I saw. The start was fast, too fast for me, and I slowly clawed my way through the pack, the way I like to race, passing instead of passed, coming up on the shoulders of Erik Johnson and Nathan Kilgore, with Nathaniel Burrell running with me step-for-step as we hit the first mile at around 5:10. Our game plan had been to go out in about 5:20 and try to negative split (run faster) the next two miles, but that was lost once the gun went off. I continued to reel in the runners ahead of me, the only way I could keep moving forward. We had gone out too fast, and the humidity was beginning to take its toll. My fingers were tingling, going numb, by the time I hit the two-mile mark - the fact that the race was 2/3 done providing little comfort.
If it weren’t for our non-racing teammates cheering us on I might have given up. Up and down the last hill, shoulders tight and lungs bellowing, I hear the siren call of “Half-mile left! Pick it up!” It just hurts, but you are too close to finishing to give up, and you are put in the discomforting situation of voluntary masochism. I hit the three-mile mark, just 200 meters to go, and I am numb, I want to stop, I want to throw up, I want to slow down, I want to cry, but the roar of the crowd and the sight of the finish propel me down the final stretch, and it’s over. Done. But it still hurts. Racing in this heat puts a lot of stress on the body, and my body couldn’t take it. Soon after finishing, I became dizzy and shaky and threw up, unable to cool down and nauseated by the sight of food. Grim satisfaction that I had pushed my body to its limit.
As a team we placed second in the DII/DIII division, missing first place to Wittenberg by only one point. I really must applaud the efforts of our freshmen Thomas, Forrest, and Nathan in their first collegiate race. Thomas was second man for our squad and Forrest third; as a whole, our squad ran a tight race, everyone running within a minute or so of each other. After the race we stopped for lunch at our post-race favorite restaurant, Chipotle, to consume burritos and chips, rewarding ourselves for a day well-run.
Random: Being part of our team is so much more than racing and training together; it’s about the relationships we have with each other and the time spent together that makes what we do bearable and even enjoyable, things such as Bible studies and movie nights; however, it’s so much more than just our team. We have been blessed to have such a wonderful women’s team to compete alongside with us; more than that, it is an absolute blessing to be able to hang out with them also. It’s not so much men’s and women’s cross country as it is Cedarville Cross Country collectively.
Coach O-ism of the week: “It’s like Larry the Cable Guy always says, ‘Git ‘r done’!”
August 20, 2012
Well, turns out this blog is a two-fer; two weeks for one entry, so please keep reading. This was the first “week” of school, that is, all of the students were required to be here for the Fall Bible Conference beginning Monday morning, whereas actual undergrad classes really didn’t start until Wednesday. Due to the fact that we arrive on campus about a week before the regular students, our freshmen team members have already gotten a chance to get a feel for the campus, get an idea of where everything is and how things work, get settled in, and as a whole become as battle-worn and world-weary as an upperclassman, becoming well-versed in complaining about the food at Chuck’s by the time the other freshmen arrive. I do believe this is an undeniable advantage for competing in a fall sport, and it definitely helps make the transition from summer to school much easier. That being said, I feel this is a good point to introduce our new brethren. Before I do that, however, I need must explain one of our most hallowed cross country traditions: nicknames. Nicknames are a fundamental dynamic of how our team relates to and bonds with each other, up to the point where we may not even recognize someone’s “real” name. That being said, nicknames spring from all sorts of inspiration and unfortunate incidences, but truly are terms of endearment.
Ladies and gentlemen, our freshmen (and transfer): Sergei “Ivan” Brubaker, straight from the Motherland (well, sort of, but not really, he lives in Ohio), Thomas “Squints” Waters, all the way from the West Coast Best Coast Fresh Coast (just like Dubie, but not really), James “Birdie” Niemiec, younger brother of Joe “Nemo” Niemiec (really), Philip “Dandelion” Dannelly, our replacement Floridian, Nathan “Killer” Kilgore, our Amish/Mennonite (not really) male nurse from Lancaster, PA, and Forrest Thayer, younger brother of Evan “Slayer” Thayer, who is not from Greenbow, Alabama, like another famed Forrest. Finally, we also welcome Jon Van Dyke, otherwise known as “JVD” or “Jonvandyke,” coming in as a junior transfer straight from New Hampshire, much to the joy of Dubie (who is also from New Hampshire).
It is always an exciting and rewarding experience to get to know these young men and accept them as one of us, as a member of our brotherhood, to watch as they grow and mature throughout the first year of their college career, and to anticipate what they will become in the future.
In terms of running, this week was about backing off just a little bit, as some have really been pushing the mileage, and to begin thinking about racing. Next week some of the team will be competing at the Dayton Flyer 5k Saturday, Sept. 1, and the others will be competing in a 5k the following week at Cincinnati for their respective season openers; these races will give a solid idea of who the top dogs really are, and who can begin to expect to be racing as one of the coveted “Top 7” at the bigger meets.
Now for the random: We got finally got our “new” locker room (many thanks to the Athletic Department and Women’s Basketball Team), farmer’s markets are pretty awesome, even though it has been renovated - Chuck’s may still not be big enough for all of the students, workouts in the heat take a lot out you, make sure you hydrate adequately, bedbugs are extremely difficult to get rid of, running in a group is better than running alone, some pretty awesome people work for the Cedarville Physical Plant, and I can hardly contain my enthusiasm for the literature I will be reading and writing about this semester. Coach O-ism of the week: “Maybe you should get a girlfriend and start going to bed at 9 o’clock every night.”
August 13, 2012
Dear reader, yet another school year is now upon us, and with it a time of new beginnings, a time of opportunity, a fresh start. A time of joyous reunion, a time of heart-breaking separation, a time of anxiety, a time of peace, a time of reflection, a time of planning. A time to ignore the siren call of summer and heed the drumbeat of scholastics. The days will grow shorter, the nights will grow longer, the wind will blow harder, and the rain will fall colder.
However, this is the time of the year that we as cross country runners look forward to. This is the time of the year that we are reunited with teammates who have become closer than family, the time of year that we can reap the benefits of long, lonely, sweltering summer mileage, the time of year that we return to what we may sometimes consider “home.” For us it is a time of unlimited excitement and anticipation for what lies ahead over the course of the next few months, for the memories and experiences of trips to faraway meets and countless miles spent in each other’s company.
Now that I have waxed enough poetic to put you to sleep, let’s get to the good stuff and perhaps learn a little bit about the team I am talking about. Firstly, and only somewhat importantly, I’m Greg “JJ” Johnson, and I will be your team blogger this year. I made a few guest appearances last year, and I am excited to have been given the honor of relating to you all of the grisly details that entail distance running at Cedarville University this fall. I won’t go so far as to say that I will do it better than those who came before, but I do hope that I do it perhaps a little differently.
This year’s team is roughly the same size as last year’s group, but much more experienced and motivated than it was a year ago. Last year we really had nothing to run for due to the fact that we were in a transition year between the NAIA and NCAA DII, and had no championships to shoot for. This year, though, we have been granted acceptance into NCAA DII Cross Country, and we are HUNGRY for a trip to nationals. How hungry are we? Well, this summer, as best as I remember, there was at least one week with five guys each running over 100 miles, and several more weeks with a couple of guys consistently in the 80’s and 90’s - an unprecedented event in Cedarville’s rich running history. (Quick shout-out to Matthew “Brooker” Brooker, Ben “Tuts” Tuttle, Josiah “Jozy” Bragg, Jacob “Dubie” Dubie, and Clay “Swat” Watson for breaking the 100 mile mark at least once.) With that kind of a base built, that much hay in the barn and money in the bank, we are anticipating a very successful season.
This past week we engaged in what is known colloquially as “camp week.” While the term may have caused some confusion, we do not actually camp anywhere. It is simply a time when we are allowed to arrive early on campus for the sole purpose of running, eating, sleeping, and team bonding - and what a week it was. Hands down this week is considered the best week of the school year, if not the entire year itself, and this year was no exception. I won’t delve too much into specifics about what actually happens, but let it suffice to say that we ran a lot, ate a lot, slept a lot, laughed a lot, and made a good time of it.
Coach Orchard placed a special emphasis this week on talking about the story of Samson; not just on how it relates to us as runners, but on how it relates to us as people who can make or break our lives by seemingly harmless choices and actions. That maturity and experience I mentioned earlier? I didn’t mean it to imply that it was just about running; our team has matured and gained experience spiritually as well and I am very excited for the community we have amongst ourselves for exhortation and encouragement in our spiritual lives.
Now for the random: Coach O turned 51 this week, Chuck’s has finally been renovated, we will be getting a new locker room eventually, I had a bed-bug infestation in my bed this week, hammocks are extremely comfortable, Minecraft is fun, eat real food, run a lot but not too much, recovery is paramount, listen to Coach O, and finally, the Coach O-ism of the week: “The other week I taught my wife how to do PowerPoint... PowerPoint is the perfect toy for those artsy types; they can spend hours just changing the fonts, colors, adding sound, video, pictures... there’s nothing else quite like it.”
Greg Johnson is a junior Dean's List English major from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
