Much More Than a Signature

Well before I knew which college I would attend, I decided that I wanted to run at the collegiate level. I could not imagine myself giving up what I have come to love so deeply. At that time, I was hoping that I would eventually have a signing day so that I could write about it on the Milk Table.

That long awaited day was today—Signing Day at DeSmet. About a month ago, I accepted a scholarship to run cross country and track at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. At the same time I signed my formal National Letter of Intent which commits me to Drury for a year. Today, I signed a ceremonial letter to recognize and celebrate the continuing of my running career with the DeSmet community.

Drury is Division II and member of the Great Lake Valley Conference. This means that I will be conference rivals with two Spartans running at the collegiate level—Zach Boyle (‘10), Maryville & Andy McWhorter (‘09), Belermine. And maybe a third, depend ingon Scherping’s final decision. Drury made it to the national meet this past year, but is losing a handful of seniors. I’m excited to be a Panther, and hope to be part of the squad that brings them back to the biggest stage in college cross country. Here’s to 4 great years of college running.

It was a cool event that I really enjoyed. Mr. Fober and Mr. Luecke organized the signing which took place in the Emerson Lobby. In the presence of my family, friends, and teammates, Mr. Luecke talked about my accomplishments at DeSmet, running and non-running. He blew me away with all the good things he had to say. I just wasn’t expecting anyone to get up and talk about all I have done. It really meant a lot to me. Very special. I signed my letter and then the photo session began.
I want to thank my parents who have helped and supported me. I want to thank my teammates who make it all worth it. I want to thank my coaches who have made it all possible. I want to thank my friends, especially those who attended the signing. I want to thank everyone else who has support me during my career. I want to thank you to Mr. Luecke & Mr. Fober for organizing the great event. And lastly I want to thank DeSmet for everything this wonderful place and community has given and done for me. You guys all rock!!! Thank you so much!

As for practice, I was Team Kevin so had a 75 minute free run. I started it off by running with the sophomores and freshmen who had either a Mosley or Mailbox before their meet or time trail tomorrow. It was a lot of fun to get out there with the younger guys.

The guys who went long yesterday had a workout today. Scherping and Potter were doing a specialized 800 workout. Martini, O’Connor, Seiler, and Waller had cruise intervals and 4x200s. Word on the street was the Nick and Matt had their best workouts of the year.

Quote of the Day: “Did you guys text each other last night and plan to wear inverse colors?”- Coach Poelker. I had a black shirt and red tie. Coach Traughber had a red shirt and a black tie. He asked me in the hallway if we planned it. We didn’t, but that doesn’t make it not awesome.

Best Dressed: Austin. For starters, he got in on the well executed theme of Drury black and red for today’s practice. Also he went “flower power”—dandelion on the ear for the run. It’s the next big thing. Bigger than tapped wrists. Many guys were against it, but Austin wore it with pride and understood that you have to be different to look good. On top of all that, Austin went out of his way to touch the sign today. A true Spartan move.