Community Track meet

We hosted a community track meet Monday at McPherson. We had a decent turn out for our first ever meet. And we are looking to grow the meets. We are having a second meet Monday Aug 3 and we plan to host many more in the summers to come. So please keep an eye out for these meets. All ages and ability levels are welcome.

Mission Statement

To be successful and work hard each day toward team, and individual, goals that will ultimately lead us to our goal of competing to the best of our ability during each championship season.

Waiting for students

As the summer winds on I am getting anxious for the year to start and have the athletes back on campus. I am getting tired of just having papers to shuffle all day. Things are almost set for them to be back. I am excited for camp and to see how hard everyone worked over the summer.

Bulldog Blueprint Intro

From time to time I am going to post parts of our team handbook which we call the Bulldog Blueprint. In this book contains all things related to the team and building a successful program. They will all fall under the label bulldog blueprint. I hope you enjoy. This will give you a very inside look into the program and what we are all about.

INDIVIDUALIZATION:

All of you will be trained differently. For instance, if you ran 40 miles per week in high school, you will be train at 45-50 per week freshman year. If you trained at 60 miles per week, you will train at 65-70 miles per week freshman year. Ideally, you will go up about 10-15 % each year. For example, you may go 65 miles per week as a freshman, 73 miles per week as a sophomore, 80 miles per week as a junior, & 90 miles per week as a senior. This is all peak mileage weeks. I do not believe in a very big taper when training for distance or mid distance races. You may drop down from 70 miles to 50 miles for the championship meets, but nothing too drastic. Some of you may not taper at all. We will always address the two important variables in our training: Volume & Intensity. In order to develop and perform well during a championship season these variables are crucial in our training. Again, everything will be individualized to your specific running needs (Group & Team Training still a part of our training culture!).

- As a general rule, our training philosophy focuses on AEROBIC DEVELOPMENT and becoming a more HOLISTIC ATHLETE.
o Gradual increases in mileage, gradual increases in tempo on daily runs, and workouts that are at or below the lactate threshold. Being able to work increasingly close to your maximum oxygen consumption without suffering from high accumulations of lactic acid in the blood.

start of 2010 recruiting class

The NCAA official recruiting start date was July 1st. Due to my anniversary being on that day and being out of the office and a few other things I had to get done this past week July 6th will be the official start day of calls for us this year. We have already had a few recruits on campus. But the big push for first phone calls will start today. This is an exciting time for us. This will be the first full year of recruiting and I am excited to see what I can do with that big of a time period.

Top 3 on campus, one signs

This past week we had our top 3 recruits on campus. Two are now comitted to McPherson College. Kyle Smith from Junction City and Mike Baxter from Cuyahoga Falls Ohio. Mike is a new addtion as of friday when he signed his letter of intent.



Baxter has run 15:37 for 5k xc and 4:35 for the 1600. He will be a great addition to the team.

I am just waiting on Ruben Martinez for his decision. He seemed to like his visit and I hope he will join the team next year. He would be a great leader for the team. Only time will tell. So far things are looking good for the Bulldogs this fall.

400 training get sent out

This week marked the start of our Long Sprinters workouts. Our workouts are a variation of Clyde Hart of Baylor's workout. This summer will be spent doing some fartleks or varying distances and paces. We also have lifting 3 days a week and plyometrics two days a week. We have a very strong group coming in for the long sprints and we want them to be ready for when we come back in the fall for our strength and conditioning sessions. Here is a little taste of what they will be doing this summer.



Lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3 set of 8 reps
Core- Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Plyos, Tuesday, Thursday
(see summer training handbook)

Monday
Hang Clean
Squat
Shrug
Front Dumbell raise
Side Dumbbell raise
Skull crusher
Lat pull down
Flys

Wednesday
Bench
Military press
Dumbbell curls
Push ups
Leg curls
Dips- 3x failure

Friday
Incline
Decline
Standing bar rows
Calf raises
E-Z bar curls
Lunges
Pull-Ups- 3x failure

June-8-14
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 3- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 10 5 min cd
Lift/plyos
5 wu- 2 min, 90 s, 60s, 30s, 15s, 30s, 60s, 90s, 2 min- 5 CD
5 min wu- 1 mile in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
20 min easy
OFF

June-15-21
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 3- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 10- 5 min cd
Lift/plyos
5 wu- 2 min, 90 s, 60s, 30s, 15s, 30s, 60s, 90s, 2 min (1 min recovery jog between each)- 5 CD
5 min wu- 1 mile in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
20 min easy
OFF

June-22-28
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 4- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 11- 5 min cd
Lift/plyos
5 wu- 2:30, 2:00, 90s, 60s, 30s, 15s, 30s, 60s, 90s, 2:00, 2:30 (1 min recovery jog between each)- 5 CD
5 min wu- 1 mile in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
25 min easy
OFF

June-29- July 5
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 5- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 12- 5 min cd
Lift/plyos
4e, 4h, 3e, 3h, 2e, 2h, 1e, 1h, :30e, :30h, :15e, :15h- 5 CD
5 min wu- 1 mile in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
25 min easy
OFF

July 6-12
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 5- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 13- 5 min cd
15 min easy Lift/plyos
5e, 5h, 4e, 4h, 3e, 3h, 2e, 2h, 1e, 1h, :30e, :30h - 5 CD
5 min wu- 1 mile in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
30 min easy
OFF

July 13-19
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 5- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 14- 5 min cd
15 min easy Lift/plyos
5e, 5h, 4e, 4h, 3e, 3h, 2e, 2h, 1e, 1h, :30e, :30h - 5 CD
5 min wu- 1.5 miles in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
30 min easy
OFF

July 20-26
5 warmup- 3 min on 1 min off x 5- 5 min cool down
5 min wu- 30 sec on 90 sec off x 15- 5 min cd
15 min easy Lift/plyos
5e, 5h, 4e, 4h, 3e, 3h, 2e, 2h, 1e, 1h, :30e, :30h - 5 CD
5 min wu- 1.5 miles in’s and out’s (100 stride straights (90%), 100 walk turns) 5 min CD
35 min easy
OFF

July 27- August 2
2x800 @+35 10-15 minute recovery- 3x300 @+15 5 minute recovery
20x200@+20 2:00 Recovery
4x350 @+16 5 Recovery-3x200@+11 3:00 Recovery
Ladder-600(+31)-400(+21)-200(+11)-400(+21)-600(+31) 5 Recovery
2 mile xc run timed
35 min run
OFF

Busy Weekend

This was a busy weekend for me. We had a group run Saturday morning, the group was still small but we had people show up so I hope the word keeps spreading about http://www.mcphersongroupruns.webs.com/.

Andy Woodward of Topeka finally signed this weekend. He had verbally committed a while back and just found time to come down and sign. Got to spend some time with Andy his sister Amanda and his mom. They are great people and I am very excited to have him in the program.


We also added Jessica Becker who just graduated from Bethany College this spring to our coaching staff. She will join us as Throws coach. Jessica just finished off her illustrious career.with a national championship in the shot put. She is going to be a great addition to the coaching staff.


Up next will be Mike Baxter and Ruben Martinez visit to campus. They will be arriving on Wednesday. I am very excited to have both of them here and show them around.

official training started

Yesterday marked the first day of training for the cross country team. This month will be spend on just building miles July will be the start of workouts. Intensity is at its lowest point of the year......153 days left to the conference meet.

Meg and Izzy's wedding

Was honored to be invited to Meg and Izzy's wedding this past weekend. It was a great day. I am so happy for the both of them. They were both glowing all day. I am excited to see them grow together. I wish them all the best.

Pangburn named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete

Amanda Pangburn, junior from Albertville, Ala., and a 2006 graduate of Geraldine High School, was recently named NAIA/Daktronics track and field Scholar-Athlete for the 2009 season.

This was Pangburn first season competing in track and field for the Bulldogs after being part of the volleyball team the past three seasons.

“We are very proud of Amanda,” said Joe Eby, McPherson head coach. “This is a great honor to receive and it is nice to see her hard work in the classroom pay off.”

Pangburn competed in the javelin throw for the Lady Bulldogs this past spring.

Pangburn is an agriculture science major and is scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2010.

Recipients of the Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete award must have a minimum grade point average of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale, be a junior or above in academic standings, and been in attendance at the nominating institution a minimum of one full school year.

Setting up summer training

Before I left for nationals I wanted to have everything set up for summer training. Summer training for cross officially starts June 7th. Until then everyone is supposed to be building up or taking down time depending on when there season ended. We have several recruits that are still competing so they will need a short break before they get back into things. It could make the season very long if they do not take any down time. This summers program is a little less aggressive. I took some pages from the previous schools I worked with. They both had a lot of success during cross and I feel it will work well with our team as well. I am very excited for August 21st when we have our 3k Time Trial to see how things have played out over the summer.

Next up on my list is to put together a summer program for sprints, jumps, and throws.

Back from Traveling

Started my traveling off by heading out to San Francisco, California for the State Community College Meet. Got to see a lot of recruits talk to a lot of coaches and make great contacts. So all in all it was a good trip.

The day after I got back it was off to St. Louis for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National meet. It was a good meet and we had a great view from our hotel of the arch. On Friday Antwoine competed in the high jump. A miss at 6'7" cost him a spot on the All American stand. He would have been about 4th or 5th place. He was 7th place with a height of 6'9".



Saturday it was Andreas turn. She set a school record and made the finals for the first time at the national meet with a throw of 44'6" or 13.56m. She was also 7th place.

Both competed well so there is no complaints.

Now my attention shift totally to try to find some more recruits and finish up this years recruiting class strong. Things have been going well and I think I will sign a few more before its all said and done.

Few updates

Recruiting has been going well. We got a verbal commitment from Mike Baxter from Cuyahoga Falls Ohio. He has run 15:37 for 5k XC, 4:35 for mile and 9:46 for 3200. He will be a great addition to the team.


Last weekend we went to a last chance meet at Emporia. Lamb jumped the best he has all year he cleared 6'9" and i still don't know what he knocked the bar down with on his 6'10 3/4". Andrea Swanson set the school record at 13.28m and had a great overall series with all of her throws on the 13 m line or further. Leterius Ray ran in the 200 in 23.50, he had a bad start which did not help because he was in a fast heat. He ran even with the guys coming down the straight he just lost too much ground on the start. Megan Meyer went after the school record in the 5k, coming up a bit short but still ran her second best time of her carer. I am excited to see what she can do next year with more consistent training under her belt.

So now we wait a week till nationals. This weekend I will be off to San Francisco to do some more recruiting and hopefully seal the deal with some of the California Community college athletes. I leave Thursday, and arrive back home on Monday. Then I will turn around on Tuesday and leave for the National meet. Should be a fun filled couple of weeks.

Catching up

So it has been a while since I have posted last. Been busy trying to get recruiting and the team going. We are hosting the conference meet here at McPherson this weekend. I feel that the team is ready to go. We should have some individuals that will be competitive within the conference and will score us some points.

On the recruiting end of things we have had some good days and bad. Last Tuesday we got commitments from Garrett Sharp a 6'6" High Jumper and Andy Woodward who has vaulted 13'6". These will be a huge boost to the track team starting next December. I was also able to watch Jacob Jantzen run a PR in the 200 last Tuesday night. He ran 23.1. I have been talking with some good distance runners but they are all still in the midst of the admissions process. I hope to get them through this process soon and get them there packages so we can see where they stand for next year. If I were able to get one of them they would make a huge impact on the team.

I am going to try and do a better job of updating things on here from now on, hopefully after the season is done I will have time to stop and think for a few mins on a daily basis.

Good weekend

Antowine Lamb

McPherson Track and Field had a good weekend. We had an auto qualifier for nationals in Antowine Lamb who jumped 6-9.5 in the High Jump which currently leads the nation and is the new school record. Andrea Swansons throw of 41-08.75 in the shot also provisionally qualified her for the national meet.

Rachel Leuthold also set a school record in the Pole Vault with 10-08.

There were 6 collegiate PR's from the team at this meet as well.

The team is having another great week of practice with some great weather to go along.....

Sunday we also found out that Torey Fry of Wichita East will be joining the Lady Bulldogs starting next fall with cross country. So all in all a very good weekend.

Three commit

Yesterday was a good day of recruiting. I had three people commit to McPherson. We had Sam Bolin of Kansas City MO, Paula Carpenter of Cheney KS and Brian Reed of Fort Scott all tell me they want to sign letters of intent to run for McPherson next year. I am very excited to add the three of them.

Team Dynamics

There are some team leaders that are starting to emerge from the group slowly but surely. It is nice to have people that I can trust within the team. I had a class room session with the distance people to go over why they are doing the workouts and mileage that I am having them do. There were a few questions that came up on people wanting to know. I have wanted to do this since I got here but have felt strapped for time on a daily basis to fit in the things we need to do and get them off to night class, work, dinner or wherever else they go after practice. So on Thursday we had an easy run so I decided to do it then. I went into the classroom and drew up a big calender and put all of our long runs and workouts up and talked them through the progression of everything. The exciting part about the whole meeting was that the majority of the group came out of it very excited not only for this season but for next year. I am going to do a much more in depth talk at cross country camp next summer, but I feel that the majority of them understand and buy in to what I am trying to accomplish. I am looking forward to the next few weeks. We have been able to get our miles up and for the most part people are healthy. We still have a few aches and pains but they seem like they are getting better, and everyone is adjusting to the new workouts and mileage. I am still increasing the long runs and am going to cut back to one morning run a week on Wednesday to see if they handle that better. This past week I gave them the mornings off to try and get everyone healthy again. I think that the transition next fall will go much smoother with people having put in the base work during the summer. We have a long run today and I am excited to see what they can do, each week has looked better and better, so three weeks into long runs we should look the best we have. The goal for today is 75 to 80 minutes for the top guys and 65-70 for the younger guys.

Team Goals

Yesterday we had our first team goal session. We divided up into our different event groups and talked about what we want to accomplish as a group to make the team better. Then we reconvened to talk about what we can do as a team to become better and what we want to accomplish as a team this season. The conversations were good ones and the distance runners even came back after practice to talk some more about what they want to accomplish and where they want to go with the team. I am very excited to collect all of the information and put it together. They are buying into the changes that need to be made and I feel we are turning a corner.

Talbott signs with McPherson

McPherson College has announced the recent signing of Drew Talbott of Mishawaka, Ind ., and John Adams Heights High School of South Bend, Ind., to a track and field letter of intent for the 2009-2010 school year.

Joining Drew Talbott for his letter of intent signing were (front) his mother Nancy Talbott Young along with (back, left) McPherson College head coach Joseph Eby and Drew's father Mark Talbott.

The 6'2”, 150-pound Talbott lettered in cross country and track and field under coaches Savino Rivera and Bruce Urban.

Talbott was named the Eagles' most improved in cross country, and competed in the pole vault and ran the 400 and 800 meters for Adams ' 2008 sectional champions and regional runners-up track and field team.

“We are very excited to add someone who is excited about the sport of track and field as Drew is,” said recently hired McPherson College head coach Joseph Eby. “I think he will be a great addition to the team.”

Drew is the son of Nancy Talbott Young and Mark and Sheryl Talbott. He plans to major in automotive restoration technology.

Missouri Southern Meet

The Bulldogs traveled to Joplin, Mo., on Friday and Saturday for the Missouri Southern State University Radio Shack Invitational.

Competing on the six-lane, 200-meter flat St. John track of the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, the Bulldogs came away with personal best by Mark Watson in the 60 and 200 meters, Ben Cummins in the 400 meters, David Parry in the 600 yards, Oliver Williams in the 800 meters, and season bests by Brent Bailey in the 1-mile and the 4x400 relay of Leterius Ray, David Parry, Ben Cummins, and Brent Bailey.

Fourth place finishes in the open section of the 1-mile by Brent Bailey and the distance medley relay of Bailey, Parry, Ray, and Oliver Williams were the Bulldogs top finishes of the weekend. Mark Watson and Leterius Ray placing fifth in the 60-meter and 600-yard dashes rounded out the Bulldogs’ top six finishes.

Andrea Swanson and Rachel Leuthold were the only females competing for the Bulldogs and both posted top eight finishes although neither met their season best set at the Kansas State Invitational.

The MSSU meet was the first time newly hired, McPherson head coach Joe Eby has had an opportunity to see the Bulldogs in a competitive situation.

"I was pleased with the overall performance of the team. I am excited for the future," Eby said.

Eby arrived on campus Jan. 31, and held his first team meeting with the indoor squad on Feb. 2. He has been holding individual meetings with the team members, who have been under the direction of assistant coaches Ryan Jilka and John Hudson since the beginning of workouts for the indoor season.

The next action for the Bulldogs will be their trip to Warrensburg, Mo., for the Central Missouri Classic on Feb. 20, where they will make one final attempt posting NAIA qualifying marks.

Missouri Southern Radio Shack Classic
February 6(a)-7, 2009 -- Joplin, MO
Leggett & Platt Athletic Center
(200 meter, flat track)
MEN —
60m Dash – 5. Mark Watson 7.14, 7.12p PB
200m Dash (a) – Mark Watson 23.83 PR; Jacob Kerbel 25.15; Ben Cummins 25.33
400m Dash – Ben Cummins 55.38 PB
600y Run – 5. Leterius Ray 1:16.71; 13. David Parry 1:19.76 PB
800m Run – 8. Oliver Williams 2:00.19 PB
1-Mile Run – 4. Brent Bailey 4:38.28 SB; Jason Pfoutz 5:39.25
3,000m Run (a) – Shaun Griffin 9:44.22; Josh Niles 10:40.29; Jason Pfoutz 11:51.37
5,000m Run – Shaun Griffin 17:01.32; Josh Niles 18:32.39
60m Hurdles – Jordan King 8.91p; Jacob Kerbel DQ
4x400m Relay – McPherson “A” 3:35.75; McPherson “B” 4:01.72
Distance Medley Relay (a) – 4. McPherson (Brent Bailey 3:23, David Parry 53.5, Leterius Ray 2:01, Oliver Williams 4:35) 10:53.39
High Jump – 8t. Seth Williams 6-00.75 (1.85)
Triple Jump – Jesse Jackson 36-11 (11.25)
Shot Put – Drew Griffin nm

WOMEN —
Pole Vault – 8. Rachel Leuthold 10-02.5 (3.11)
Shot Put – 7. Andrea Swanson 39-07.25 (12.07)

first team meeting

My name is Joe Eby, I am very excited to be here today and have the opportunity to lead this team into the future. I wanted to have this meeting to let you know where I stand from the start. I want this to be your team, so you will set the direction but I want to give you some guidelines. I not only want this to be a competitive team in the conference but at the national level as well. Everyone who is willing to put the time and effort in to becoming the best athlete they can is welcome on this team and I will do everything in my power to help you reach your goals. But remember that this is not a club sport this is collegiate athletics and I want you to treat it as such. This school and this program can be successful. I know what it takes to build a successful team and I want each and everyone of you to help shape a be a part of it. But I also want the commitment from each of you to make this the best TEAM that we can.

I am a big believer in athletics as a life style. To me this means a proper well balanced diet, at least 8+ hours of quality sleep a night, meaning going to be around the same time every night and getting up at the same time every morning. No drugs whether recreational or performance enhancing and no alcohol. Having said that I am not naive to thing that college kids do not and will not drink alcohol but there is a time and a place and in season is not that time and place. If you are under the age of 21 keep in mind that it is illegal for you to ever drink alcohol so be mindful of your decisions.

For most of you I am not going to intervene in your training. Your event coaches are the experts in there area and it is going to stay that way. There will be a few minor tweaks to some procedures but not major changes. The distance and mid distance and long sprints will see the greatest change and we will talk about that in a few minutes.

Eby named to lead Bulldog track & harriers

McPherson College has announced the hiring of Joseph Eby as head coach for cross country and track and field.

A 2004 graduate of NCAA D-III Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, where he received NCAA D-III All-American honors at 1,500 meters, Eby has spent the last 2 ½ years as assistant coach of middle distance and long sprinters, and recruiting coordinator for cross country and track & field at NCAA D-III Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

“I am pleased that Joe has chosen to join the McPherson College staff and athletic department,” said LaMonte Rothrock, McPherson College dean of students and athletic director, in making the announcement. “It is exciting to find a young man of the caliber and character of Joe to head our cross country and track programs. He comes with the highest of recommendations from Coach (Bill) Ross at Allegheny (College).”

“Joe brings a history of success in cross country and track, not only as an athlete but also as an assistant coach with two successful programs. Joe continues to run competitively and will bring a new level of enthusiasm to our programs.”

“Joe impressed the interview groups with the recruitment materials he has developed for DePauw and Allegheny and his expertise in recruiting solid student-athletes.”

“Joe will be moving to town and begin recruiting immediately. His focus will be on recruitment of student athletes for the fall if 2009.”

Eby plans to be on campus full-time beginning February 2nd.

“I am very excited about becoming head coach at McPherson College,” said Eby on accepting the McPherson position. “I was impressed with the people, the facilities, and the community on my visit to campus.”

“I’m excited about the student-athletes I had the opportunity to meet, their desire to get better and their goals, which were in line with what I believe is possible for them.”

During his time at Allegheny, Eby helped head coach Bill Ross direct the Gators’ cross country program to three NCAA D-III top 10 national championship team finishes, topped by a third place finish in 2006. In 2006 and 2007, both the Allegheny men’s and women’s teams qualified to the NCAA national championships. Under the directon of Ross and Eby, the Gators have won three consecutive North Coach Athletic Conference (NCAC) men’s cross country team titles along with the 2007 women’s crown.

On the track, Allegheny swept the 2007 NCAC men’s indoor and outdoor conference titles, and the women’s 2008 outdoor championship.

Eby tutored three Allegheny harriers to NCAA D-III All-American status. On the track, he coached three track and field All-Americans, five automatic and seven provisional NCAA national qualifiers.

Following his graduation from Mount Union College, Eby spent two successful years as a graduate assistant coach at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, while competing his Master’s degree at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

At DePauw, he coached three NCAA D-III All-Americans in cross country and helped direct the Tigers’ men and women to top 15 finishes at the D-III National Championships.

During his time there, DePauw swept the 2004 and 2005 men’s and women’s Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) team cross country titles in addition to winning the 2005 and 2006 men’s and 2005 women’s SCAC outdoor track crowns. He coached DePauw athletes to seven men’s and nine women’s SCAC event titles as well as two NCAA D-III All-Americans, four automatic and six provisional qualifiers to the NCAA D-III National meets in indoor and outdoor track.

Joe received his Bachelor of Arts in physical education from Mount Union College in 2004 with minors in health education and exercise science.

As an undergraduate student-athlete, he received All-American recognition following his fifth place finish in the 1,500 meters at the 2002 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. He would go on to be a four-time All-Ohio D-III champion at 800 and 1,500 meters under coach John Homon, winning four Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) titles and receiving all-conference honors 13 times including twice in cross country. He was named the MVP of the 2002 OAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. In 2003, he was D-III’s top ranked runner at 1,500 meters before injuries brought his season to a premature end.

With a personal best of 3:45.30 at 1,500 meters, Eby was the 2005 USATF Club Champion.

Still an active runner, Eby finished 82nd at the 2007 USATF National Cross Country Championships.

A USATF Level 1 certified coach, Eby has worked in all capacities of meet administration in both cross country and track.

He has developed and instituted strength, conditioning, and dynamic flexibility programs at both DePauw University and Allegheny College.

Eby graduated from Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is married to the former Becky Zink.

Tracksters compete well at K-State

A contingent of Bulldogs journeyed to Manhattan on Saturday to participate in the KSU Invitational and came away with a solid set of performances in their season opening appearance.

Leading the way with school records were freshman Rachel Leuthold in the pole vault and junior Mark Watson in the seldom run 300 meter dash.

Leuthold’s fourth place clearance of 10’6” (3.20m) in the vault, behind three Kansas State University vaulters, bettered the old school record of 10’2” by Terra Simouneau, set in 2003.

Two Bulldogs just missed hitting the necessary mark to qualify for the NAIA National Indoor Championships.

Sophomore Andrea Swanson threw the shot a collegiate personal best 40’7.5” (12.38m), just four centimeters (1.5”) short of the necessary provisional qualifying mark, to finish third behind two Oklahoma State University throwers.

Senior Jordan King’s time in the 60-meter hurdles of 8.67 was only 0.17 second off the provisional national qualifier as his finished sixth.

Also, placing in the top were Oliver Williams, sixth in the 1-mile run, Brent Bailey in the 800 meters, and the men’s 4x400 relay.

“I was really pleased with our performance as a whole today,” said McPherson College interim head coach Ryan Jilka. “It’s a little scary, the first meet back from Christmas break, to see where the kids are at.”

“I thought Leterius Ray ran a great 800 for this early in the season and came back and ran a heck of a split leading off the 4x400.”

“We had a new school record, Rachel (Leuthold) in the pole vault, with a vault of 10’6”. Rachel looked really good today. She has been working hard with (assistant coach) John (Hudson) on getting onto a 13-foot pole for the last few weeks and came ready to compete today.”

“Andrea Swanson was close to a provisional mark in the shot put. Andrea had one of her best throws of her career today and can use this momentum to help her in the upcoming meets.”

“I was also pleased with David Parry’s 600-yards and Jordan King’s 60 high hurdles. Jordan was 0.17 seconds from a provisional mark.”

“We are off for a couple weeks and will be able to get some solid weeks of training in before we compete next at Lincoln on Feb 6th.”

Next on the Bulldogs abbreviated three-meet indoor schedule this winter will be a trip north to Lincoln, Nebr., on Feb. 6 and 7, for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on the banked, 200-meter oval of the University of Nebraska.

In addition to Saturday’s meet at Kansas State, the Bulldogs will travel to Lincoln, Nebr., for the University of Nebraska Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on February 6-7, and to Warrensburg, Mo., for the Central Missouri Classic on Feb. 20.

Events at the Husker Invitational will begin at 12:00 noon on Friday, with Saturday’s schedule set to being at 9:30 a.m.

McPherson Results
KSU Invitational
January 17, 2009 -- Manhattan, KS
Ahearn Field House
(200 meter, flat track)
MEN —
60m Dash – Mark Watson 7.22 PBi
300m Dash – Mark Watson 38.57 SR; Jacob Kerbel 41.85; Evan Gurschick 43.77
600y Run – David Perry 1:20.14; Ben Cummins 1:22.85 PB
800m Run – 7. Brent Bailey 2:01.14 PB; Oliver Williams 2:01.77; Laterius Ray 2:03.80
1-Mile Run – 6. Oliver Williams 4:40.98; Shaun Griffin 5:08.47
60m Hurdles – 6. Jordan King 8.67; Jacob Kerbel 9.97
4x400m Relay – 7. McPherson 3:40.95
High Jump – Seth Williams nh
Triple Jump – Jesse Jackson 38-03.5 (11.67)
Shot Put – Drew Griffin 31-3.75 (9.54); Ben Denton 30-9 (9.37)

WOMEN –
Pole Vault – 4. Rachael Leuthold 10-6 (3.20) SR
Shot Put – 3. Andrea Swanson 40-7.5 (12.38) PR