Running with the Mustangs: A Homecoming of Sorts
By David St. Louis / October 25, 2009 10:08 AM
A Homecoming of Sorts
The Mustangs headed north of the Mason-Dixon Line for their September 26th meet to be hosted by Xavier University at Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati, Ohio. The meet was the inaugural meet for the Queen City hosts, but unfortunately was run in the slop, as it had rained all week. For coaches Drew LaMaster and Matt Weingardt, it was a chance to visit their old stomping grounds in more than one respect, as both had run Cross Country and Track for Xavier for all fours years, with LaMaster graduating in May of 2005 and Weingardt in May of 2008.
The trek was laid out on a fairly flat course, heavily guarded between woods and the paved trail. As mentioned before, it had rained all week, so the course was soaked, and turns were to be navigated with extreme caution. An added twist to things was the discovery of a massive beehive on the course which unfortunately laid out sophomore Steve Terkula before the race. It would turn out that the beehive was a little more than a mile into the race, and would actually sting several runners into the race and steer others around the visible swarm. The bees were finally subdued after the race and all runners were safe after the race. The boys were told to simply go out and compete, regardless of the conditions. Despite six of their top seven boys being rested for the Midwest Meet of Champions, the Mustangs still expected to finish in the top 3-4 of the race as a team, and they did that in placing 4th, led by sophomore Taylor Sanders in 10th place. Following Sanders to the finish line were junior Jeremy Rice (21st place), Alec Horn (34th place), Troas McWilliams (40th place), Matt Dombrosky (44th place), Ryan Kalmey (46th place), and Erik Krohn in 50th place. In what proved to be a very close battle for the title, Elder (OH) won the meet with 43 points, followed closely by Anderson (OH) with 49 points, Oak Hills with 52 points. The Mustangs beat out Roger Bacon (OH) 111-120 to place 4th out of the six team field. Rounding out the field for the Mustangs were Austin Wilkins (55th place), Jack Murphy (57th place), Zack Mitchell (61st place), Brayden May (69th place), Andy Powers (83rd place), and Austin Roberts in 103rd place.
After the race, the team was led on an expedition to pay homage to the campus of Xavier University located off of the Dana Avenue exit off of Interstate 71. On the trip, the boys were led to the newly renovated and very sharp looking Cross Country locker room, the O’Conner Sports Center, the Gallagher Student Center, the Cintas Center, and finally the “Grassy Knoll”. Inside the Cross Country locker room were leader boards for every distance run in Cross Country and Track, as well as various pictures from races throughout the years. Of special note was the picture of the 2004 Cross Country team at the Atlantic 10 Championships, in which LaMaster and Weingardt helped lead their team to a school-best 3rd place finish. Onto the newly renovated O’Conner Sports Center, the boys were led around to admire the new weight/work out room that is completely surrounded by windows. This was built to encourage sunlight in and to maintain a positive attitude in your workouts. After the tour of the freshly polished gym floor and the locker rooms, the boys moved onto the Gallagher Student Center. The Student Center was finished in 2002 and is a state-of-the-art facility. In its several levels include a bank, business offices, bookstore, coffee shop, pub-style restaurant to hang out in before basketball games, a Subway, a Chinese Restaurant, Kinko’s, auditorium, and several other beautiful and convenient stores. Each level is built so that it is wide open and you can look down to each level to see what is going on. The boys also made sure and collected some XU gear so they could score some brownie points with the coaching staff.
The second to last stop would be the Cintas Center, which is where the Xavier basketball and volleyball teams play their games. The boys were particularly interested in this spot, as they often get to run their mouths to their coaches during basketball season about whether or not Xavier is a mid-major school, despite making the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of the NCAA Men’s Tournament three of the past six years. Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt still have season-tickets as well, so they showed the boys where they get to sit and enjoy their beloved Musketeers. The Cintas Center is a beautiful facility that was finished in 2001, and contains approximately 20 luxury boxes, and holds 10,250 screaming fans, in what is almost always a sell-out crowd. The Musketeers are part of the Atlantic 10 Conference and play against the likes of Dayton, Charlotte, UMass, St. Joseph’s, Temple, and several other perennial powers. The boys were also led around the facility to see the well-kept and very up-to-date weight room, pictures of current/former athletes throughout the building, concession stand facilities, and to also peep down on the gorgeous and very tasty cafeteria. Also, Xavier recently added a Hall-of-Fame exhibit, which houses pictures and memorabilia of some of Xavier’s finest student-athletes over the years.
Last but not least, the boys were led down to the “Grassy Knoll.” Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt spoke of blood, tears, sweat, and hard work in general on the hallowed ground. The area is an 800 meter trek with rolling hills, a very sharp hair-pin turn, many trees, and a parallel trek to Victory Parkway. It can be particularly tricky to navigate in snow and rain as well. Of particular interest to the guys was the “Shoe Tree”. Dozens of shoes by current and former XU Cross Country runners are tied together and thrown into the tree to give a picture of the tree almost growing the shoes as they hang down from various branches sticking out in all directions. To answer the burning question and intrigue, yes the boys have created their own shoe tree at an undisclosed location somewhere in Oldham County.
All in all, it was a day to get a race in against some stellar Southeast Ohio competition, but also to realize that there is more to life than running, and it never hurts to go back and pay respect to the things that have so positively influenced our lives, and will continue to play a huge part of our lives in the years to come, and to never forget the positive memories of the past.
See you at the Midwest Meet of Champs.
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