Ohio State Races into Kent State – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Former Olympic teammates Gary and Croghan face off as coaches for the second year in a row
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s cross country team will compete Friday in the Short Course Open to start the 2007 season in Kent, Ohio, on the campus of Kent State University.
Short Course Open
The men’s race will start at 4:45 p.m. on the campus of Kent State and the race will be on a 5-kilometer course.
Meet Information: http://www.kentstatesports.com/
Gary vs. Croghan
Mark Croghan and Robert Gary were Olympic teammates in 1996 in Atlanta, Ga., and both are alumni of The Ohio State University. Croghan still holds the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Gary is second.
Gary is now the head cross country and head track and field coach at Ohio State. Croghan is entering his second season as the head cross country coach at Kent State.
Last season they got their first chance to go against each other as coaches at the Buckeye Invitational. Gary’s Buckeyes got the better of Croghan’s Golden Flashes as Ohio State won the meet.
Gary and Croghan faced off again as they both took their teams to the Great Lakes Regional meet. The Buckeyes once again topped Kent State with the Scarlet and Gray taking ninth and the Golden Flashes finishing 12th.
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 looking for younger member 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 finshes 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 starts Aug. 31 at Kent STate. September includes two meets at the Tennessee Twilight Invitational Sept. 14 in Knoxville, Tenn., and a trip west to Eugene, Ore., for the Oregon Invitational Sept. 29.
“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.”
The Buckeyes look to defend their 2006 All-Ohio Championship Oct. 5 in Delaware, Ohio, a week before 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
With Alex Bailey’s Big Ten runner of the week award on Oct. 10 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 ROW honors following the Xavier (Sept. 12) and Buckeye Invitational (Sept. 19).
The Buckeyes have been honored with more Big Ten R.O.W. awards then any other team (seven) in the conference over the past three seasons.
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.
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 take a week off and then head to the Tennessee Twilight Invitational Sept. 14.
