Distance races traditionally have not been the strongest part of Ball State's men's track teams, but last weekend in Athens, Ga., the distance runners left the biggest impressions.
Led by Junior Brian Runyon and Freshmen Steve Schilling and Jesse Davis, the young group of distance runners showed mounds of potential at the Spec Towns Invitational.
"We're really young in distance," coach Jim Sprecher said. "It's just a group that is really inexperienced, and it's nice to see them contributing."
Runyon and Schilling finished first and second in the 1500-meter run, respectively. Both runners broke the 4-minute barrier and finished less than four-tenths of a second apart. Schilling also ran the 800, where he finished sixth.
Another impressive performance was put forth by Davis. In his first 5000-meter race of his college career, Davis won in a time of 15:33.59.
"We red-shirted him in both indoor and also in cross country, so this really was his debut," Sprecher said.
"I had never run that race before,but I really liked it," Davis said. "Right now I'm just trying to get as many good races in as I can this year."
Davis also placed 11th in the 1500.
According to Sprecher, the distance team lost its biggest leader after the indoor season. Fifth-year senior Matt Bliss has already competed in track for four years, leaving the role of "leader" vacant.
"We've had guys step up," Sprecher said. "Steve Samuel has been a strong leader for us. The one thing about leadership is that you hope it's more than one guy and it's contagious."
There was one other winner for the Cardinals. Senior Wil James captured the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.69 seconds.
Ball State will be in action again this weekend. The squad will split and compete in the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn., and the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.
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