Miami Ohio University Athletics
Captains' Corner
9/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Sept. 8, 2011
Captains' Corner is a weekly update from a captain or leader of one of the RedHawks' 19 teams that will run every other Thursday throughout the academic year. Today's update is from men's cross country's David Eichenberger, a redshirt junior from Plainfield, Ind., who prepped at Plainfield High School and is a double major in exercise science and history. Check back on Sept. 22 for the next edition of Captains' Corner.
This year the Miami men's cross country team is an even mix of fresh faces and a group of experienced, albeit young, returners. This is perhaps most apparent looking at the seven men who ran our season opener at Dayton, five of whom have freshmen or sophomore eligibility. Despite the youth even in our returners, we do have some experience in that we return four of our top seven from last year's MAC meet as well as two men who were MAC Runner of the Week last year.
We opened the season at Dayton last Saturday with a 5K race. This is shorter than our usual 8K (5 mile) races and allows for a smoother transition for the freshmen, something especially important for our team this year. Getting a team victory and the individual win from Jarrod Eick was a great way to start the season. It will get the younger guys excited and let the older guys reap the rewards for all those summer miles.
Heading into our home meet this Saturday (Sept. 10 at 10 a.m.) is exciting because it is the one chance we get to compete at Miami all year -- the course is right on Western Campus. The meet will also feature RedHawk alumni returning to compete on their old course and it is a great opportunity for the younger guys to meet some stars of the past.
With our mix of returning runners and fast freshmen, we are very optimistic for the future of the season, especially as some injured upperclassmen return to action.
Hope to see you at our home meet on Saturday!
Players Mentioned
