Ohio State Looks to Win Fourth-Consecutive All-Ohio Title – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State men’s cross country team will compete Friday in the All-Ohio Championships on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio.
ALL-OHIO INVITATIONAL
The men’s race will start at 2:45 p.m. at the Methodist Theological School and the race will be on an 8-kilometer course.
Meet Information: http://bishops.owu.edu/alohxc07.html
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes ran in the Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore., Sept. 28. The Buckeyes posted a Top 10 finish behind a 36th-place time by Alex Bailey and a 45th-place finish by John Ealy, both seniors.
Bailey clocked a 24:11 and Ealy crossed the finish line in 24:22. Junior Jeff See, who won individual titles in each of Ohio State’s first two meets this season, claimed 61st at 24:40 and sophomore Chad Balyo posted 24:46 for a 64th-place showing.
COACH GARY ON THE BILL DELLINGER INVITATIONAL
“I thought the meet went fine, we really wanted to get out extremely hard and we definitely did that. We fell apart over the last three kilometers, but as we gain even more fitness and add in some rest, we will be ready to roll for championship season. We will be much better-prepared at pre-nationals because of it.”
BUCKEYES LOOK TO CONTINUE IN-STATE DOMINACE
The Buckeyes head to the All-Ohio Championships this weekend and look to take the team title for the fourth consecutive season. No school has won the All-Ohio title four years in a row since Malone College did it 1989-92 seasons. A team title for Ohio State would also give the Scarlet and Gray their longest winning streak in school history at the All-Ohio Championships
Senior Alex Bailey has led Buckeyes the last two seasons at the All-Ohio Championships finishing second in 2005 and third in 2006. Bailey is hoping to become the first Buckeye to win the individual title since Brian Olinger in 2004. Bailey has received Big Ten runner of the week award the last two seasons following the All-Ohio Championships.
BUCKEYE JEFF SEE NAMED CO-BIG TEN RUNNER OF THE WEEK SEPT. 4
Jeff See was named the co-Big Ten runner of the week Sept. 4 and shared the award with Penn State’s Brian Fuller.
See, a junior from Middletown, Ohio, led the Buckeyes at the Short Course Open Aug. 31 on the campus of Kent State as he took home the individual title in a time of 15:14.5. The mark was a collegiate career best time for See on a 5-kilometer course.
The award was the first career runner of the week honor for See and the Buckeyes’ first R.O.W. since Alex Bailey took home the honor Oct. 10, 2006, following the All-Ohio Championships.
The award rounds out a solid summer for See as he became the first Buckeye to break the four minute mark in the mile competing unattached June 2, during his redshirt season at the Music City Distance Classic.
See is the eighth Big Ten R.O.W. the Buckeyes have claimed in the over the past four seasons – more then any other Big Ten team in that span.
FAST START
The Buckeyes started season with wins at the Kent State Short Course Open race Aug. 31 and the Tennessee Twilight Invitational Sept. 14. Ohio State has now won the opening race of its season in three consecutive years. The Scarlet and Gray were led to victory by junior Jeff See in both meets. The win for See at Kent State was the first individual title of his Ohio State career. See won the race in a career-best time on a 5-kilometer course, 15:14.5.
See was tightly followed at Kent by senior John Ealy who finished second overall and came in at a time of 15:15.5. Sophomore Chad Balyo came in third in time of 15:16.7 as the Buckeyes ran away with the team title in a sweep of the Top 3 overall positions. At Tennessee once again Ealy came in second and Balyo third.
2007 CROSS COUNTRY OUTLOOK
A veteran squad that has been a part of some of Ohio State’s finest men’s cross country teams has established its goals to remain in contention for a Big Ten championships and continue to climb the ladder among the finest teams in the country. Now in his 11th season as head coach, Robert Gary has led the Buckeyes to the NCAA meet in six of the last eight seasons and looks to the 2007 Buckeyes to add on to the impressive run.
“I am looking forward to this year’s cross country season,” Gary said. “I look for our team to again return to the NCAA Championships and to give a great performance as we host the Big Ten Cross Country Championships in Columbus.”
The 2007 edition of the men’s team will rely on two main components depth and experience. Seniors Alex Bailey and John Ealy will serves as the leaders for the Buckeyes. Ealy was the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and has made multiple appearances at the NCAA meet. Bailey also has been a team captain and posted back-to-back solid seasons in 2005 and ’06.
“It is difficult to point out key people because we will truly need everyone,” Gary said. “I purposefully kept a small team so that our great freshman class can redshirt to get used to the training together.
“We should be led by Ealy and Bailey – both have been near the top throughout their time at Ohio State. Add Jeff See, Ohio State’s mile record-holder, Chad Balyo (4:04 miler) for his second year, and I think we’re very strong through four positions.”
Gary is looking for younger members of the team to step up as well.
“Filling in should be Taylor Candella, Christopher Olinger and one freshman who won’t redshirt Andy Arnio. I am confident we can reach our goals. We have four guys who have all been inside the Top 20 at the Big Ten Championships. If they can match that and can add a fifth, we’d be all set.”
A LOOK BACK AT 2006
Ohio State opened the 2006 season with victories in each of their first three events. The team used that momentum to post a Top 10 finish at the Great Lakes Regional. Individually, Ealy came out of the gate with a pair of wins in the first two meets of the season while Bailey had Top 3 finishes in each of the first three events of the year.
“Last year was tough on the team because I had just begun the head track job,” Gary, who took over the track and field team in August, said. “Our program relies on being extremely individualized when it comes to training plans and we are already very focused toward this.”
SCHEDULE
Ohio State welcomes the best in the Big Ten conference Oct. 28 at the OSU Golf Course. That meet highlights a strong schedule, which started Aug. 31 at Kent State with a first-place finish. At the Tennessee Twilight Invitational Sept. 14 the Buckeyes won their second consecutive meet in Knoxville, Tenn. A trip west to Eugene, Ore., for the Bill Dellinger Invitational was a tough test for the Buckeyes Sept. 28 but the Scarlet and Gray came always with a 10th-place finish.
“The Big Ten cross country championships should be a great event,” Gary said. “Not only do I feel our team will respond to the great opportunity of being at home, but I have a feeling there will be a ton of both former and present Buckeyes out there cheering. I have organized the first OSU cross country reunion for the evening beforehand and the response has been what you can expect from Ohio State student-athletes.”
This week Buckeyes look to defend their 2006 All-Ohio Championship next week in Delaware, Ohio. Next week the Scarlet and Gray head to the NCAA Pre-Championship Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Oct. 13.
In November, Ohio State will return to Bloomington, Ind., to run at the Great Lakes Regional Meet Nov. 10 in hopes of gaining a bid to the NCAA Championships Nov. 19, again in Terre Haute, Ind.
“After opening up with a low-key meet at Kent, we will start our long pre-season with a trip down to the North Carolina mountains training center – it is a great opportunity to get the team together and get in some fantastic training,” Gary said. “Our biggest checkpoints will be the Oregon Invitational and the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Oregon will give the team a chance to be out where the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials will be as well as being able to race the best west coast teams that we usually don’t see until Nationals.
“Then obviously, the focus of our season is the Big Ten meet on our beautiful Ohio State University golf course, the Great Lakes Regional, and NCAA’s. All of those meets take place in just over a 3-week span. Ultimately, the NCAA Championships is where our team expects to measure itself every year. That was the main ingredient to our 2005 Big Ten runner-up and third-place regional finish.”
COACH GARY ON THE 2007 NEWCOMERS
“We had a very strong distance group this recruiting cycle that I am very excited about,” Gary said. “Led by Jake Edwards’ fantastic spring on the track with a 4:07 mile that ranked No. 5 in U.S., Brian Gallagher (9:10 two-mile), Daniel White (1:52 800-meters), Taylor Williams (9:21 two-mile), and our lone out-of-state recruit Adam Green (1:52, 4:14, 9:14), I am very excited to have them together as a group.
“They made up the majority of the Ohio Mideast Cross Country team that really dominated. I am hoping that a couple years from now they’ll be doing the same at the Big Ten and NCAA level.”
BUCKEYES PULLING IN BIG TEN AWARDS BY THE BOAT LOAD
Jeff See added another runner of the week award to Ohio State’s collection as he was named co-Big Ten runner of the week on Sept. 4. Ohio State now has won eight R.O.W. in the last four years more then any other Big Ten team in that span.
Alex Bailey won the award on Oct. 10, 2006 following the All-Ohio Championships, the men’s team took home the conference honor in each of its first three meets a year ago.
John Ealy won R.O.W. honors following the Xavier (Sept. 12, 2006) and Buckeye Invitational (Sept. 19, 2006).
Ealy has taken most of the awards as he has won three, R.O.W. over the past two seasons. Ealy also was named the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the year.
Bailey has taken home two R.O.W. each following the All-Ohio Championships in the past two years.
Ohio State has also had 16 student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten over the last three years. The Buckeyes also were named by the NCAA as the All-Academic cross country team.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes will head to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete in the NCAA Pre-Nationals, Oct. 13.
