Athletes are supposed to get better as they get older and more experienced with their sport. That seems truly logical and makes sense to me. However, there are many cases of athletes who just can’t adjust to the stress that college sports entail. Balancing class and practice without parental guidance is quite enough, but add on a major increase in workload, both academically and athletically, and you have an issue. It seems so common with athletes at the college level, especially in running, to hit a plateau when they enter the college ranks from high school. I can attest to this sentiment as my times in college haven’t dropped too much from my high school running days. I’m only a Freshman so I can attribute this lack of improvement to the adjustment period of college.

I know I’m not alone as many of my teammates have also had trouble adjusting to the increased mileage and academic workload. This is only at the Division 3 level, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for Division 1 runners who are required to miss a lot of class time for out of town meets, have to invest more time in their training, and probably attend more mandatory meetings for their sport. Centre is no joke of a team, we just won our conference meet, but UK is on another level. The caliber of athletes is higher and there is simply more talent on the roster. With all of that talent on the roster, you have to wonder the origins of this talent. Did a certain athlete come from being a high school stud, or did he/she transform him/herself into a high caliber runner despite being a mediocre talent in high school.

From my days in the Kentucky High School Track Circuit, I see a few names on the UK roster that stand out to me. Stacey Eden and Matt Hillenbrand are prime examples of athletes that have taken off since entering the college level of running. I remember the two guys from high school track meets and I don’t remember ever being particularly blown away by their times. Granted, I never once beat either runner, but I am amazed at how much better each guy has gotten since arriving to UK. Some runners crumple under the increased stress of college but some thrive in the high pressure, grand stage environment. Here is a comparison of the two athletes’ high school and college times.

Stacey Eden (Sophomore) : Shelby County High School

High School             College

800 Meter:      2:00.96                      2:00.28

1500 Meter:    4:10.13                       3:58.76

One Mile:        4:28.45                       4:17.71

3000 Meter:    9:06.32                       8:35.61

5000 Meter:    15:18                           14:47

     8000 Meter:    N/A                             24:53*

*This pace for roughly a 5 mile race almost equates to the pace he ran for a 5k in high school.

Matt Hillenbrand (Sophomore) : St. Xavier High School

                                                           High School          College

800 Meter:                                          1:54.31                    1:50.83

One Mile:                                             4:25                          4:03

3000 Meter:                                        8:57                       8:34

5000 Meter:                                        15:58                    14:51

Truly tremendous how much both of these athletes have improved under the guidance of Coach Weber and Morgan. Both are just sophomores and have already dropped absurd amounts of time in their events. Stacey suffered from illness and injury this season but has still managed to crush his high school times all the while. Most of his times listed come from his Freshman Track and Sophomore Cross Country season. Matt has blown away all of his times as he went from a rather average caliber runner to a national contender at any meet. Shout out to these guys and the rest of the UK Track Team that constantly does their thing day in and day out. It’s not easy.