Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
Seven final runs for the indoor track and field season were completed by Western on March 9 and 10, as seven Wolf individuals took away all-American honors in the NCAA DII Indoor National Championships. Junior Dustin Nading ran to first place in the men’s mile, while his distance-medley-relay team also ran ahead of the field for first in the relay final.
The DMR win is a repeat of last years championship — a .001 photo finish victory. This year’s championship run was won by a few more strides.
“Emotions were put aside and we knew for a fact we were capable of doing it again. Physically we knew we were fit, capable and ready,” said senior David Ribich, who also finished third in the men’s 3k.
Emotions, last year’s win and other relay teams were all set aside. With seven runners out in front, Ribich led the Wolves’s anchor leg in a mile time of 3:55 and slowly picked off each runner ahead of him. In the miraculous climb from eighth to first, Ribich rallied his team of Nading and seniors Aaron Whitaker and AJ Holmberg, to the finish in 9:41.40 — just a few feet ahead of runner-up Colorado State-Pueblo.
After crossing the finish line, Ribich immediately ran over to hug his teammates who were ecstatic.
“Winning a national championship is one thing but defending it is a whole lot harder. We knew that so going into this weekend we tried our hardest to stay composed and confident because we had the targets on our back. Crossing that DMR finish line has been the most surreal one yet,” said Ribich.
The flare of the DMR win set in motion several more events that followed.
Senior Kennedy Rufener ran to an all-American finish, her first in the indoors, and two school records in the women’s 3000-meter and 5000-meter. For Rufener, the personal and school records have been piling up one after the other throughout the indoor season, and she set anew yet again with times of 16:49.68 in the 5000-meter and 9:41.54 in the 3000-meter.
The Wolves team continued collecting all-American honors as senior Suzanne Van De Grift got to the line in seventh for the women’s mile and, for her third all-American run in the women’s 800-meter, junior Olivia Woods finished sixth.
“Each accomplishment my teammates earned at Indoor Nationals was incredible and to be able to be there, watching the events unfold, was unforgettable,” said Woods.
“Last years accomplishments in the 800 gave me confidence that I could do it again,” she continued. “For me, one of the greatest highlights of the weekend was watching my teammate Kennedy fight to the end to receive her first All-American honor. Seeing more WOU athletes achieve to that level just further give recognition to where it is deserved.”
“Last year,” said Van De Grift, “I thought it was pretty amazing that 6 people competed and 6 people came back all Americans. Now this year 7 people competed and 7 people came back all Americans.”
Ribich compiled another all-American run for the Wolves team in his third place finish in the men’s 3k with a time of 8:01.55
Finally, it was Nading, who stayed poised for the win in the men’s mile. After accomplishing the eighth best time overall in the prelims, it was good enough to get him into the final.
“My mile win was really about patience, running the best race in the field that day, and trusting in the things we do everyday at practice, which is run fast and enjoy doing it,” said Nading.
Nading soon picked up more speed in the final bell lap. 40 meters down the stretch, Nading paced the rest of the competition for gold in a time of 4:13.30.
“At that very track two years ago, nearly precisely where I kicked to win, Coach (Mike) Johnson and I stood and had our very first discussion — a discussion about taking responsibility and achievement here at WOU track and field, and the resounding belief that each and every one of us has the possibility of great achievements and that it lies within our grasp to accomplish,” said Nading.
“Both DMR championships mean an incredible amount and this one specifically because it remains proof of the possibilities yet to come.”
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo by: wouwolves.com
