by Alan Babbitt
Nathan Trumble tried a new track event this winter, and it has him racing in North Carolina this weekend at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
The senior is the sprinter in the Hope College men's distance medley relay that is among 12 racing for a national championship on Friday at 6:10 p.m.
"We're excited to race," Trumble said. "As a 400-meter sprinter, I got thrown onto this relay with all the distance boys, and I'm pumped to be along for the ride. I've never run a DMR until this year, and it's been a lot of fun to learn from the guys as we've put this team together."
The 2022 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships will be held on Friday-Saturday, March 11-12, at the JDL Fast Track facility in Winston Salem, N.C. The fastest 12 relays and top 20 qualifiers in individual events will compete.
On the women's side, Hope's Ana Tucker will race in the women's 5,000 meters at 4:35 p.m. on Friday. The junior from Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow is seeded sixth.
The Flying Dutchmen's distance medley relay is seeded 11th. The relay covers nearly 2 1/2 miles (4,000 meters) and is made up of a 1,200-meter leg (three laps on a standard 400 meter track), a 400-meter leg (one lap), an 800-meter leg (two laps), and a 1,600-meter leg (four laps) in that order.
Nick Hoffman is a senior from Holland, Michigan (Holland). Eli Meder is a junior from Williamston, Michigan (Lansing Catholic). Connor Vachon is a freshman from Jenison, Michigan (Jenison).
Trumble (Granger, Indiana / Trinity School at Greenlawn) praised his running mates.
"We've got Connor in the 1200, which is supposed to be one of the hardest races to pace. He's a runner with a lot of guts, and he's got a deadly kick at the end of his race that sets me up for a fast start to my 400," Trumble said. "After my leg, we've got Eli in the 800. It's hard to believe how much progress Eli's made over the last few years in his 800m race. He came in second in the conference this year, and he's got a phenomenal combination of drive and grit that will make his leg a must-watch. Finally we've got Hoff, who's probably the most experienced runner I know, and individually one of the best athletes in the nation. He's the anchor of our group, literally and metaphorically, and we've got trust in him to lead us where we need to go."
Meder said teamwork and hard work has paid off.
"I think our success this year has been thanks in large part to the work of the team as a whole and putting the work in this winter to be ready for indoor season," Meder said. "As soon as we came back from winter break our guys were ready to go and workout, and a lot of people not running with us on Friday have helped push us in practice and get here in the first place. That's really given us the confidence we need to go out there and trust our training, and from there just had the right guys in the right events step up and make it happen."
Handoffs will be critical to a fast time, Trumble said.
"When we ran in Iowa, we had some problems with our handoffs. It was also the first time we had run on a 200-meter track, which may have been part of the issue too," Trumble said. "We're going to practice our handoffs and make sure they're running smooth before Friday. Other than that, we've just got to do our best to put Hoff in a position where he can do some damage, and I think we're going to surprise ourselves at how well we perform."
Composure will be important, too, Meder added.
"Going about it as just another race is going to be big for our success on Friday," Meder said. "The nationals stage can be intimidating, so keeping our wits about us so we can just do our jobs is going to be key. Luckily. we have a guy like Nick who has been here before and knows what it's about, and his best friend Norty always gets us ready to compete come race time. It's been about trusting each other and competing all season, and Friday will be no different."
