A pile of running shoes on the porch would indicate to anyvisitor this house is inhabited by several athletes. Three of themare Ball State men's cross country runners, and the other threewere athletes in high school. But unlike so many who lost thataspect of their lives, they kept it.
The six men moved into the house in May. Aaron Hoover, ZachScherer and Kyle Hinkelman are all members of the cross countryteam while Kris Scholtes, Zach Ruble and Craig Neidlinger make upthe rest of the house's tenants.
Neidlinger and Ruble both competed in swimming and track andfield in high school. Neidlinger has been competing in triathlonsfor two years and has raced in the Muncie Endurathon. Ruble hasbeen running marathons for three years. Both Neidlinger and Rublecompeted in four races this past summer.
"I got a bicycle senior year and started riding it and just putone and one and one together and just started racing triathlons,"Neidlinger said. "It's a lot of fun."
Scholtes competed in track and field in high school. He went toIndiana University, but wasn't able to run there, so he transferredto Ball State his sophomore year. After competing in cross countryand track and field here his sophomore and junior years, he iscurrently taking a semester off because he is taking 19 credithours and has time conflicts.
Hoover, Scherer, and Hinkelman were very active in high schoolathletics as well. Hinkelman competed in cross country, track andbasketball. Hoover, whom others acknowledge takes charge of thehouse and is considered a father figure, participated in crosscountry, track and swimming. Scherer participated in cross countryand basketball all four years. He also played baseball for twoyears before deciding to run track his final two.
Six male athletes all living togehter might raise a fewquestions as to how the house is run.
They have a system that works when it comes to cleaning. Theplan involves chores being divided into five categories: sweeping,kitchen, bathroom, trash and general tidying duties. With six guysliving in the house and only five categories, every week one ofthem has a "bye week."
They use the same plan when it comes to cooking dinner. Eachperson cooks dinner once a week, Sunday through Thursday, againallowing one to have a "bye week." Everyone says the food is good,and if it isn't or there is too much, Ruble is called the "fooddumpster."
"We try to at least get some food groups into our meals,"Scholtes said.
When you walk in the house the first thing you notice is notthat the six guys have trouble with household duties, but that theyhave fun.
Two small basketball hoops hang on one wall with an NCAA bannerbetween them. The couch can be moved back to reveal two whitestrips of tape on the carpet, resembling a "free-throw line."Competitions between two guys can happen without warning in theliving room. Unless, of course, you've been suspended for threegames for poor behavior, like Hoover was.
Those newly added hoops make the living room their favoriteroom. Other favorites of the house are the TV show "The Price isRight," and, in a very close second, "Newlyweds."
Just down the street stands the original cross country housewhich allows the guys the opportunity to go hang out with fellowteammates in a matter of seconds.
"I think that's the nicest feature of this house," Hooversaid.
One tradition that takes place in the house is "pasta parties."Every night before a cross country meet, the team gets together ateither their house or the other cross country house to have a pastadinner.
After spending just a little time in the house, it is obviousevery guy clicks really well together. Running is sometimesconsidered more of an individual sport, but these guys have astrong team in their house.
"One really good thing about having six athletes in the house iseverybody understands how busy of a schedule an athlete has,because everybody's been through it," Scherer said. "We understandthe whole athlete world."
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