She was a graduate assistant cross country and track & field coach for two years (2019–2021) at the University of Florida, where she earned her MBA. She was a volunteer assistant coach at Georgia Tech from 2018–2019 and of men’s and women’s cross country at 91����Ƶ in 2017. As a student-athlete at 91����Ƶ, Chappell-Dick was one of 30 NCAA Women of the Year Honorees, a five-time NCAA DIII All-American and held school records in seven events.

“I’m very excited to begin the next chapter of the Brown Women’s XC Program as the new head coach,” Chappell-Dick said. “The women on this team have always had a strong, inclusive culture. We have been fostering a new level of dedication to the pursuit of competitive excellence. Every woman on the roster plays an important role in both maintaining the supportive culture that they have built and challenging each other to pursue higher goals. Women who trust each other will fight for each other, and that’s our vision for this team.”

Along with the second-place finish, Chappell-Dick broke her own 91����Ƶ and ODAC records with a time of 4:54.32.

Senior thrower (Staunton, Va./Riverheads) finished 14th in the shot put, landing his best throw at 15.38m (50-5.50ft).

A record-setting performance

Chappell-Dick, meanwhile, beat her season best time of 4:59.10 by nearly five seconds, while also breaking the ODAC record of 4:56.37 which she set last year. She also finished second in the mile at the 2015 NCAA meet.

This is the fourth All-American award for Chappell-Dick, continuing a streak she started at last year’s meet. The senior finished third in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring before coming in 17th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships earlier this fall.

After finishing second in her heat in Friday’s preliminaries with a time of 5:00.23, she sat in her seeded position of fourth for much of today’s finals in Grinnell, Iowa. Over the final lap, Chappell-Dick burst past two other women to take over second. She finished just ahead of MIT’s Maryann Gong, a friendly rival on the national stage, who took third in 4:54.67. Emily Gapinski pulled away over the final lap to win in 4:52.28.

Rising to new challenges

With his appearance on the national stage, Heizer closed out his senior season in impressive fashion. In just his third season ever of throwing, Heizer was also the ODAC Champion in the shot put and weight throw. In the shot put he threw an outstanding 15.81m (51-10.75ft) and improved his national standing to No. 25. Then in the weight throw he landed at 15.06m (49-5.25ft). Both PRs improved on his No. 2 spots in the 91����Ƶ record books.

He qualified for the national meet at the Tufts Final Qualifying Meet in Medford, Mass., where he set yet another PR in shot put by throwing a 16.26m (53-4.25ft). This bumped Heizer up to No. 15 in the nation and gained him a spot in the NCAA Championships.

For an athete who entered 91����Ƶ as a basketball player, Heizer’s performances in his second sport are remarkable. For the first two years of his career, Heizer was taught by former throwing coach Carissa Eichmeyer. This year however, he is being coached by first-year throwing coach Branden Vock.

Last week, Heizer and roommate Richard Robinson were named . “We’re roommates and we’re best friends, we’re like brothers,” Heizer said, after returning from the Tufts meet.

At the Tufts meet, Robinson narrowly missed qualifying for the national meet, completing preliminaries of the 60m hurdles in 8.30 seconds. He could not finish the final race due to stumbling on a hurdle. Robinson was ranked No. 19 nationally. The top 15 in the nation earned a spot at Nationals.

At the ODAC Championships, he broke the championship and overall conference records by running a career best time of 8.28 seconds in the finals. He is the repeating 60m hurdles champion after also winning the 110m hurdles from last spring’s outdoor season.

All three senior athletes will compete in outdoor track.

Senior (Staunton, Va./Riverheads) thoroughly dominated the throwing events, easily winning the shot put and weight throw. He was named the Athlete of the Meet, the first 91����Ƶ male since Michael Allen in 2011, and the first male to win the title at the ODAC’s Indoor Championship.

Classmate (Broadway, Va./Broadway) bettered his prelimary qualifying time with a first-place finish of 8.28 in the finals. His time broke both the ODAC conference and championships records.  It was also Robinson’s third ODAC Champion title of his career, repeating as the 60m hurdles champion after also winning the 110m hurdles from outdoor season last spring.

Lagging team health hindered the women, who finished sixth, despite a pair of individual championships for senior (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) who defended her titles in the 800m and mile. Bridgewater edged Washington and Lee 135 to 133 for the team title.

Two Royals also won scholar-athlete awards. Junior was voted the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Scholar-Athlete.  A biology/pre-med major with a minor in business administration, Denlinger holds a 3.98 GPA is also a four-time All-ODAC honoree.  This is the second straight indoor scholar award for Denlinger.

Chappell-Dick also earned her fifth consecutive ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Scholar-Athlete award.  She is a biology major with minors in coaching, exercise science and honors.  Chappell-Dick holds a 3.84 GPA and has won every scholar-athlete honor possible from the ODAC since the beginning of her junior season.

Men’s results

Heizer PRed in the shot put and the weight throw, while also claiming the three best throws in each at the meet.  In the shot put, Heizer’s best landed at a monster 15.81m (51-10.75ft), not only winning gold but also vaulting him to No. 25 in the nation.  Then in the weight throw, he landed at 15.06m (49-5.25ft).  Both improved on his No. 2 spots in the 91����Ƶ record books.

(Lynchburg, Va./Heritage) claimed fourth behind teammate Robinson in the 60m hurldes race in 8.68, while (Winchester, Va./Millbrook) took sixth in 8.73.  It was a PR for Faint.

Jumper (Bristow, Va./Patriot) had a great first effort, as the freshman took All-ODAC Third Team honors in the triple jump at 13.61m (44-8ft).  His PR distance was the third-best effort in 91����Ƶ history.

Amoateng then cleared 1.79m (5-10.5ft) in the high jump to claim seventh.  The freshman also grabbed seventh in the long jump, landing his best at 6.36m (20-10.5ft).  Both efforts were PRs, with the long jump distance putting him No. 8 all-time at 91����Ƶ.

(Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock) earned third place in the 800m for All-ODAC Third Team status.  The junior crossed in 1:57.24, behind only a pair of Bridgewater runners.

Running partner (Mount Sidney, Va./Fort Defiance) had a similar finish in the mile, settling for third in 4:25.98.  He then took fifth in the 3000m with a time of 9:03.55.  Thibodeaux was five seconds behind four runners clumped within just over a second of each other.

The 4×400 relay team staked a third-place.  The foursome of Faint, (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass), (Salem, Va./Salem) and Denlinger finished in 3:27.32. Faint had a great all-around individual effort, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 400m, clocking in at 50.83.  The sophomore’s PR also bumped him up to No. 8 in the 91����Ƶ’s record books.  Sampson also grabbed two points for taking seventh in the event at 51.47.�� He comes in at No. 9 in 91����Ƶ history.

The distance medley relay team added two points towards the team total with a seventh-place finish.  (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg), (Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle), (Dayton, Va./Ben Logan) and (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) came in at 11:52.21.

Women’s results

Chappell-Dick broke the ODAC Championships record in the mile, registering a time 5:03.54.  She was more than four seconds better than the previous best at the ODAC Indoor Meet, beating Carmen Graves’ time of 5:07.84.

Then in the 800m, she edged Marissa Combs of Virginia Wesleyan in 2:20.62, just ahead of Coombs’ 2:20.80.  She has now won the last four indoor and outdoor 800m ODAC titles, as well as the last two miles, which are only an indoor event.

Sophomore (Dover, Ohio/Dover), who won the 3000m and 5000m last year, took fifth in the 5000m with a time of 19:36.21.  After finishing runner-up last year, (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) also didn’t run the 3000m.

The distance medley relay team just missed defending last year’s title, coming in second.  (Goshen, Ind./Goshen), (King George, Va./King George), (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield) and Paden put together a time of 13:14.36, finishing nearly four seconds behind Bridgewater’s winning foursome.

(Bedford, Va./Liberty) finished fourth in the triple jump.  Her first two jumps each landed at 10.57m (34-8.25ft), but Lynchburg’s Shanice Clarke edged her with one late jump at 10.66m (34-11.75ft).  Kittrell then settled for eighth in the long jump, sticking her best at 4.78m (15-8.25ft).  She was less than an inch from seventh place and 3.5 inches from sixth.

The 4x400m relay team of Williams, Yoder, Chappell-Dick and Schirch took fifth, combined for a time of 4:13.85.

(Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) claimed sixth in the 60m dash, crossing in 8.15 in the finals.  The freshman’s PR improves her No. 2 time in the 91����Ƶ record books.

In the 400m, Williams also finished sixth.  She was second in her heat, clocking at 1:02.54.  Pole vaulter (Denton, Md./North Caroline) was another of the women who finished sixth, as she cleared 2.22m (7-3.25ft).

(Portsmouth, Va./Churchland) finished seventh in the shot put, with her best toss landing at 10.10m (33-2ft).

For the men,  (Mount Sidney, Va./Fort Defiance) took nearly six seconds off of his indoor PR in the 3000m, coming across in a time of 8:43.68 to re-break his own school record of 8:49.20 from the CNU Holiday Open in December.

A foursome of  (Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock),  (Winchester, Va./Millbrook),  (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and Thibodeaux destroyed the program record in the distance medley relay.  The foursome crossed in 10:29.09, topping the 2013 record of 10:37.15 by more than eight seconds and bumping the Royals to the No. 11 spot in the nation this season.

The 4x400m team of Faint, Denlinger,  (Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle) and  (Salem, Va./Salem) had the seventh-best time in 91����Ƶ history at 3:28.34.

Denlinger set his indoor PR in the 800m, stopping the watch at 1:56.50.  He moves to the second-best time in the event in 91����Ƶ history.  Luke Yoder set the record of 1:55.84 in 2007.�� Denlinger also sits at No. 23 in the nation so far this season with the time.

A pair of young runners made a splash in the 400m.  Faint, a sophomore, clocked at 51.41 to win his heat and earn 21st overall.  Faint PRed with the effort and moved up two spots to No. 8 in the 91����Ƶ history books.  Sampson, a freshman, knocked 0.01 of his PR to take sole possession of No. 9 in the books at 51.65.

 (Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) had a successful re-entry to the track season, as he punched an ODAC spot in the 5000m.  The 2014 S/SE Region Athlete of the Year in cross country, Gehman finished his race in 16:18.61.

 (Staunton, Va./Riverheads) improved upon his 91����Ƶ No. 2 distance in the weight throw.  His best toss landed at 14.87m (48-9.5ft), an improvement of more than two feet.  Nathan Turner holds the 91����Ƶ record at 15.77m (51-9ft).  In the shot put, Heizer landed at 14.18m (46-6.25ft).

For his efforts, he was named ODAC Field Athlete of the Week.

In the 60m hurdles,  (Broadway, Va./Broadway) crossed in 8.78 while  (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage) came in at 8.96.

 (Charlotte Court House, Va./Randolph Henry) punched an ODAC ticket in the 200m, winning his heat in 23.69.  He also participated in the long jump, sticking his best landing at 6.07m (19-11ft).

 (Bristow, Va./Patriot) made just one of his three attempts in the triple jump, but it was good enough to tie him for No. 7 in 91����Ƶ history at 12.83m (42-1.25ft).

Meanwhile on the women’s side,  (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) put herself fourth in the nation in the mile run with her time of 5:02.05.  The All-American was the top D-III runner at the meet and took fifth overall. Chappell-Dick broke the finish line seventh overall in the 800m with a time of 2:16.02.  She is ninth in the nation with the time. She was named ODAC Athlete of the Week for her win.

Three other women ran in the 800m, with each earning an ODAC-qualifying time.   (King George, Va./King George) had a PR of 2:30.74, jumping herself to No. 6 on the all-time 91����Ƶ charts.  �������󳾲����� (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield) shaved more than a second off of her first collegiate race with a time of 2:31.21 to take No. 8 in 91����Ƶ history, and  (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) came in at 2:33.60.

In the 3000m,  (Dover, Ohio/Dover) crossed in 10:34.38.  ����Ծ��ǰ��� (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) was 12th overall in the 5000m, clocking in at 20:19.51.

The distance medley relay team of Chappell-Dick, Williams, Yoder and Schirch had a solid time of 13:42.21.

In the field events, sophomore  (Bedford, Va./Liberty) was the lone 91����Ƶ representative.  She just missed her indoor PR in the triple jump, landing at 10.55m (34-7.5ft).  In the long jump she measured at 4.44m (14-7.0 feet).

The Royals head to Selinsgrove, Pa., next Saturday for the Crusader Challenge hosted by Susquehanna University.

These 10 headlines drew readers’ attention in the past 12 months:

1.

By far the most viewed story of the year, with 15,000 reads and nearly 600 Facebook likes, was President Swartzendruber’s December reflections on attacks in San Bernardino, Paris, South Carolina, and elsewhere. “Our campus community continues to prayerfully discern what the peace position means to us in a world beset by violence,” Swartzendruber said. He called everyone to practice Jesus’ command to love one’s enemies and to engage in dialogue with those who come from different backgrounds, while pledging that 91����Ƶ would work locally and regionally at Muslim-Christian dialogue and continue to train students and others with world-changing tools and principles.

2. Amish teacher, 98, returns to alma mater

Amos Yoder ’54 waited a long time for this trip. Yoder, who is Amish and lives in Minnesota, spent his career teaching and farming in the Midwest and Great Plains and never returned to Virginia—until daughter Rebecca Barbo brought him to campus last year. A group of former classmates and 91����Ƶ alumni relations representatives greeted Yoder on his visit. Yoder said the campus looked very different, but he treasured the opportunity to return to a place so important to him, calling his years at then-Eastern Mennonite College “one of the high points of my life.”

3. Jackson and Katie Maust with the Harrisonburg Rescue Squad

Titled “Married alumni couple spends spare time saving lives,” the story of Jackson and Katie (Lehman) Maust was one of the top five most-read of the year. They work as a physical therapist and emergency room nurse, respectively, but spend much time away from work among the ranks of the 160 HRS volunteers (including many other 91����Ƶ alumni). Katie says it’s a calling. “It’s a way that we serve God,” she says.

4.

Loren Swartzendruber began the end of an era in April when he announced he would retire at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year. 91����Ƶ’s eighth president, Swartzendruber will have served for 13 years in the role and 33 years total in Mennonite higher education. A national search for 91����Ƶ’s next president began in June.

5. The Yutzy family and their dairy’s new solar installation

Sustainability on campus and off are always popular reads. The Yutzy family, which includes several 91����Ƶ alumni, was featured by the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record for innovations at their Windcrest Holsteins farm in Timberville, Va. This past year the farm’s barn and milking parlor were covered with nearly 1,800 solar panels. The $1.3 million system, made possible via a grant, tax credits, and depreciation allowances, is expected to pay for itself within five years and eliminate the farm’s power bill. It is Virginia’s largest privately owned solar installation.

6. Articles honoring faculty of note and moments of historic importance

As we approach the Centennial celebration of 2017, 91����Ƶ readers enjoyed and shared articles about former faculty members Abraham Davis, who started what is today Multicultural Student Services, and ’59, who spent a quarter-century teaching at 91����Ƶ before retiring in 2001.  Articles on Park Woods Cabin and the Bard’s Nest, as well as the radio station garnered a good number of hits. The celebrated 25 years in March.

7.��

Good news abounded in 91����Ƶ’s student numbers in 2015. The incoming traditional undergraduate class included 257 students—up from an average of 205 in the previous decade and increasing in diversity, as well. Graduate enrollment jumped, with the master’s in education program showed the most growth. A total of 1,908 students were registered across all 91����Ƶ programs, including 91����Ƶ Lancaster, at the beginning of the fall semester.

8.

If you missed Konrad Wert ’01, this photo alone will make you wish you’d caught the show. Wert, performing as the one-man band Possessed by Paul James, returned to 91����Ƶ. His album There Will Be Nights When I’m Lonely hit No. 12 on the November 2013 Americana/Bluegrass Billboard charts. Wert graduated with a degree in liberal arts and now teaches special education in Texas — when he’s not on the road.

9. Harrisonburg’s new restorative justice initiative

Restorative justice articles always draw excellent reader numbers, but this article about the new Harrisonburg initiative garnered a record number of hits and Facebook shares. The new program, the first of its kind in Virginia and more than two years in the creation, involved restorative justice practitioners from 91����Ƶ and James Madison University, Harrisonburg Police Deparetment, representatives of local law practices, the Commonwealth’s attorney and the Fairfield Center.

10. Any sports story!

91����Ƶ news blog readers love their sports! There’s always great coverage available at , but sometimes 91����Ƶ news and your former sports-writer editor can’t resist the urge (with permission from Sports Information Director James De Boer) to “break” a sports story.

Whether finding articles at 91����ƵRoyals.com or 91����Ƶ News, sports fans read, like and share them, from profiles of former athletes like pitcher-turned-Mets group sales director Kirk King ’07 to features on athletes in action, such as , Hannah Chappell-Dick and Kat Lehman at the indoor track NCAA championships, and a history-making baseball trio.

The editor’s favorite in this category was coverage of a charity basketball game that resulted in the photo above and the following headline: “Black Student Union fundraiser game pits the (victorious) Streetball Kingz against the hometown Wreckin’ Royals.”

Here’s wishing you happy reading in 2016. Send news tips to editor Lauren Jefferson at lauren.jefferson@emu.edu.

ABS is a convenient acronym, then, for the weekly Athlete Bible Study that’s begun meeting over lunch on the 91����Ƶ campus this semester – and just one manifestation of senior cross-country runner Jolee Paden’s efforts to enrich the spiritual lives of her fellow athletes and classmates.

Last January, she also helped launch a monthly event called Athletes Speak, during which students gather over pizza to hear athletes and coaches talk about their lives and faith. Both events are affiliated with 91����Ƶ’s chapter of the (FCA), in which Paden has been a leader since she was a first-year student.

At the time, FCA didn’t have a particularly large or active presence on campus, and so, just as she’d done previously at her high school in St. Joseph, Illinois, Paden threw herself into the task of building it up.

“FCA is for athletes and coaches to have the opportunity to encounter biblical truth and authentic community,” said Paden, a double-major in and . “Over the last three years and going into the fourth, it’s just done a complete 360 in terms of getting people involved.”

One of the ways she’s promoted the ABS and Athletes Speak events was dropping any reference to FCA from their names. She decided to do so after discovering that some student-athletes didn’t understand the purpose of the group or had developed negative impressions of it in high school.

This decision, said 91����Ƶ athletics director , “demonstrated her sensitivity and creativity” as a leader.

“Jolee has provided the most critical ingredient for any successful program aimed at student athletes – student leadership,” King continued. “Sustainable programs have quality student leadership and Jolee has provided that.”

Paden is also a pastoral assistant with 91����Ƶ’s , and spoke in chapel in late September. (Audio of her talk is available .)

“Jolee brings energy and focus to spiritual life on campus. She is always noticing and discerning opportunities for ministry among her peers,” said campus pastor . “She presents with confidence and poise. There’s no doubt that she will continue to develop as a keynote speaker and preacher.”

In addition to her work on campus, Paden is an intern at Grace Covenant Church in Harrisonburg, and helps lead the congregation’s ministry for college students. She has also published a running-themed devotional book, , writes , and begun accepting more public speaking invitations.

“I think God has just really blessed me with the capacity and the grace to do so much, because I still find time to relax and have a weekend sometimes. It’s kind of amazing,” said Paden.

As the fall semester slips by, she’s thinking more and more about life after 91����Ƶ. Perhaps she’ll enter seminary. Maybe she’ll go back to Washington D.C., where she lived last summer and loved working for , a nonprofit that uses running to empower people experiencing homelessness. As she weighs those options, she’s also intent on making sure that the FCA and affiliated events that have been so important to her time at 91����Ƶ will continue to thrive after she’s gone.

“I’ve put a lot of my heart and hopefully the Lord’s heart into this,” said Paden. “Building up other people who are passionate about it is really, really important to me.’”

As a practical matter, that’s meant handing over more and more responsibility to students who will return next year. One of them is Amanda Williams, a sophomore soccer player who helps schedule speakers for the Athletes Speak events. Williams hopes that she and her peers will continue building on Paden’s efforts to enrich the spiritual lives of 91����Ƶ athletes.

“I think Jolee has an authentic relationship to God and displaying her faith just comes naturally to her,” Williams said. “She has a different perspective on the Bible – it’s refreshing to me, just to hear the things that God reveals to her.”

Regardless of what, exactly, next year might bring for her, Paden plans to continue on the same general path she’s followed through 91����Ƶ – sharing, speaking, encouraging and nurturing the spiritual lives of the people around her.

“My dream would just be to tour and talk to young people and athletes,” she said. “But it’s just a matter of how the Lord is opening those doors.”

She becomes the first Eastern Mennonite harrier to win an ODAC championship since Hall of Honor member won her second straight title in 2002. The last winner for the men was Lynn Stoltzfus in 1994. Including Chappell-Dick, the women’s team landed three all-conference finishers and took third place.  The men had one all-conference runner and were fifth overall.

Chappell-Dick has also won four of the five official races she has run this season.  After her Oct. 19 performance at the CNU Invitational, topping a field of mostly D-I runners along with the D-III regionally-ranked Christopher Newport squad, she garnered her fourth ODAC Runner of the Week award.

The squad totaled 70 points as a team, finishing just behind second-place Bridgewater at 64. Washington and Lee won the team title with 46 points. Rounding out the scoring were (Dover, Ohio/Dover), (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden), (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg), (Goshen, Ind./Goshen), (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula), and (King George, Va./King George).

Not just running honors

Chappell-Dick is a senior majoring in with minors in , and . She plans on spending a year after graduation working with an intentional community/service program called (through the DOOR program) in Atlanta, Georgia, where she’d also continue training and competing with the Atlanta Track Club.

Her decision after that depends on how her training is going, she says. She may enroll in graduate school for a master’s in public health or an MBA. Chappell-Dick says she’s also interested in coaching.

She talks about her choice to attend and compete at 91����Ƶ, as well as future plans, in .

Chappell-Dick was a two-time All-American in track and field last year, finishing second in the indoor mile and third in the 1500m at those respective NCAA D.III championships in 2015.

For now, though, there’s the regional and national meets to finish out the cross country season and an indoor and outdoor season of track to look forward to, as well as juggling the demands of the classroom and her extra-curricular activities.

Giving back

A leader in the classroom as well as on the field, Chappell-Dick is serving as a student representative on the  throughout the 2015-16 academic year.

She is also working with the athletic department to rebuild the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at 91����Ƶ, in which student-athletes are able to give feedback on proposed NCAA legislation, advocate for student-athletes on campus, and serve the community through various projects.

With teammate , Chappell-Dick started a track club called “FLASH” for 10 to 12-year-olds, which meets twice a week in the spring. She’s also active in Big Brothers Big Sisters and at Shalom Mennonite Church.

Working around her athletic schedule, Chappell-Dick completed her cross-cultural requirement during a summer 2014 trip to Guatemala. “We stayed with host families and attended language and cultural lessons during the day at CASAS, a program through Semilla Seminary in Guatemala City,” she said.

This semester, she is living in an intentional community theme house on campus. The goal of residents of “Bridge House” is to “bridge the gap” between first-year students and seniors with twice-monthly social gatherings.

Royals Athlete of the Week (Mount Sidney, Va./Fort Defiance) of the has a rigorous workout schedule and strong support system, and now these factors have gained him the success he has always dreamed of.

In May 2015, Thibodeaux won the 800m run at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Track and Field Championships. Now in cross country season, the junior has taken to new heights and proved himself capable of running against D-I athletes.  Yet he is determined on accomplishing more.

“I want to be an Academic All-American and cross country All-American (top 35 at nationals),” he revealed.

Unlike many athletes who have played their sport since they were little, Thibodeaux started running competitively his sophomore year of high school.  Now in his sixth season of cross country, he accepts that running is an innate talent he must craft and perfect.

“Nowadays, most of my race paces in high school are now my workout paces in college,” Thibodeaux noted.  “Sometimes I am a little bewildered by my improvements this year, but it would be foolish of me to say I don’t know how it happened.  I am ecstatic with how my mentality and fitness has progressed, but I’m not where I want to be yet.”

At the CNU Invitational, Thibodeaux finished in third place of the 8k run behind two runners from William and Mary, a respected D-I school.  He set a new personal record with a time of 25:28, finishing 19 seconds before the nearest D-III runner, CNU’s Grayson Reid.

Many may wonder what a runner like Thibodeaux thinks as he’s running such a strenuous race.

“The typical things you would think someone running as fast as they can for five miles would be thinking,” he answered.  “‘Is it over yet?  Where’s the fourth mile at?  Why do my feet hurt so badly?  Where’s coach?’”

Before taking over as the men’s No. 1 this year, Thibodeaux was the No. 3 runner and had the privilege of training with and running behind former All-Region runners Ryan Gehman and Jacob Landis.

“It was phenomenal,” Thibodeaux said. “The opportunity to have people on your team that are currently training and racing at a place you’re trying to get to is something that can’t be taken for granted; especially those two guys. They were terrific role models for me, showing me what putting in the work actually meant and looked like day in and day out.”

Thibodeaux’s experience of running with Gehman and Landis heightened his discipline. He explained that in order to be a great runner you must work on a daily basis and days off are unacceptable.

“If you want to be a serious runner, or athlete in general, your work ethic cannot be questioned,” he explained.  “This summer I put in 12 weeks of continuous work.  That includes runs every day and specific lifting workouts two or three times a week.  That is the ideal summer for a runner as it takes 24 weeks to fully develop.  Right now, I am in week 21 of training so over half of my season was completed in the summer.  If runners do not put in work during the summer, they cannot expect to fulfill their full potential or be in racing shape until the last couple of weeks of the season.  A lot of runners that don’t get enough training in during the summer can also struggle tremendously with nagging injuries throughout the year.”

Teammates who are “willed to win” like Thibodeaux have made his experience at 91����Ƶ even greater; he acknowledged that without them the season would not be as fulfilling.  In the spring Thibodeaux and his teammate (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) coach a Harrisonburg area youth track club.  Last year they coached nine middle school girls twice a week and they’re hoping to expand and develop their program further this year.

Thibodeaux’s advice to other athletes is very simple: if you’re consistent and hardworking you’ll gain the success you want.  One, two or three weeks of training will not excel your game; it has to be a daily effort.

“The biggest piece of advice I can give other runners is that no one workout will make you great, but a lot of good workouts over time can make you great,” Thibodeaux explained.  “As for athletes in other sports, it’s the same concept.  One or two weeks of fantastic training and effort does not make you a great athlete.  It has to be day in and day out.  I’ve only taken one day completely off from training since August 1.  It’s all about consistency.”

Those honored from 91����Ƶ were:

(Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton), Jr., Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Biology, 3.87 GPA.  Chappell-Dick, also a Capitol One Academic All-American, reaped the benefits of her first fully healthy season, heading to the national meet in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.  The junior finished second at nationals in the indoor mile, and then added a bronze medal in the outdoor 1500m.  She claimed All-America status both times, becoming the first 91����Ƶ track and field athlete to do so since 2007.�� Chappell-Dick was the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, and earned six All-ODAC First Team honors this year in the three sports. The South/Southeast Region’s coaches also voted her Region Athlete of the Year twice.

(Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock), So., Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Biology/Pre-Med, 3.98 GPA.  Denlinger was a point-scorer for the men in the middle distances, taking third place at the ODAC Championships in both the indoor and outdoor 800m.  He earned the men’s ODAC Scholar-Athlete title for the indoor track season and was also Capitol One Academic All-District.

(Sterling, Ill./Sterling), Sr., Men’s Cross Country, Congregational Ministry/Biblical Studies, 3.94 GPA.  Landis capped his collegiate career with a trip to the NCAA National Championships in cross country.  He earned All-ODAC and All-Region honors along the way and was also voted the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for cross country, to go with a spot on the Academic All-District Team.  Landis missed his final track season by studying in the Middle East during the spring semester.

(New Paris, Ind./Bethany Christian), Sr., Women’s Volleyball – Defensive Specialist, History, 3.98 GPA.  Lehman returned to the court this year after missing her junior campaign to study in Spain and Morocco.  She stepped into a role as a defensive specialist and racked up 178 digs, averaging 1.98 per set.  Lehman also had 17 service aces.

(Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite), Jr., Women’s Basketball – Forward, Nursing, 3.95 GPA.  Rheinheimer exploded in her first season as a full-time starter, averaging 20.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.  She was named the ODAC Player of the Year and Virginia State Player of the Year.  The versatile forward also landed on the All-South Region First Team and All-America Fourth Team.  Rheinheimer was the ODAC Scholar-Athlete for women’s basketball and became the second junior ever to win the Jostens Trophy, an award based on excellence on the court, in the classroom and in the community.

(Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite), Sr., Men’s Soccer – Keeper, Accounting/Economics, 3.95 GPA.  Yoder joins Landis as a two-time Academic All-State honoree after completing one of his best statistical seasons on the pitch.  A three-year starter in goal, Yoder had a career best .795 save percentage, allowing 1.37 goals per game.  He was also the ODAC Scholar-Athlete for men’s soccer, the Royals grabbed a school-record seven such awards from the conference in 2014-15.

To earn VaSID Academic All-State honors, a student-athlete must have achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average and be at least a sophomore.  Each school in the state is allowed six nominees.

VaSID is comprised of sports information or athletics communications professionals from intercollegiate institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Membership is open to any individual affiliated with one of the state’s institutions at the NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, USCAA and community college levels, provided that individual’s area of responsibility lies within the realm of sports information.

“One of the most important tasks of the [91����Ƶ and MEA] boards is the appointment of a president,” said MEA board chair Judy Miller. “The charge to the committee is to create a presidential position profile informed by multiple perspectives including existing statements of strategic direction for the university. The committee will review the position profile with both the 91����Ƶ and MEA boards and promote the position in order to generate a broad range of candidates. Committee work will culminate in recommendation of a candidate of choice to the 91����Ƶ and MEA boards.”

Andy Dula, president of the 91����Ƶ Board of Trustees, said, “I am grateful for the diversity of life experiences and perspectives represented by this committee. I am confident that the search committee, led by trustee Evon Bergey, will recommend a president ideally suited for leading and expanding 91����Ƶ’s mission to educate students to serve and lead in the global context.”

The committee includes:

• Evon Bergey, current 91����Ƶ board member and chair of the search committee, Perkasie, Pennsylvania. Bergey is Vice President, Operations Public Sector, .
• Shana Peachey Boshart, 91����Ƶ board member, Wellman, Iowa. Boshart is conference minister for Christian formation, youth ministry, congregational resources and communications for .
• Steve Brenneman, founder and CEO of , Goshen, Indiana. Brenneman is a graduate of 91����Ƶ and parent of an incoming 91����Ƶ student. Brenneman previously served on the board of and as an 91����Ƶ associate trustee.
• Hannah Chappell-Dick, 91����Ƶ student, Bluffton, Ohio. This fall, Chappell-Dick will be a senior in the 91����Ƶ Honors Program with a major in biology.
• , PhD., professor at 91����Ƶ and former academic dean, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Heisey served as president of Mennonite World Conference from 2003-2009.
• Basil Marin, MEA board member, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Marin is a graduate of . He serves as a pastor for , a member congregation of .
• Cedric A. Moore, Jr., chief executive officer of the , Richmond, Virginia. Moore is an 91����Ƶ graduate and serves as vice-president of the 91����Ƶ Alumni Council.
• J. Richard Thomas, superintendent of , Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Thomas is a former 91����Ƶ board member and former moderator for .
• , PhD., 91����Ƶ professor of , Harrisonburg, Virginia. Sawin is the director of the 91����Ƶ Honors Program and serves as a member of the Regional Chapters Committee of the American Studies Association.
• Roy Williams, MEA board member, Tampa, Florida. Williams is a retired bank executive, the pastor of and former moderator of Mennonite Church USA.
• Carlos Romero, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency, Goshen, Indiana. Romero is an ex-officio member of the search committee.

The Presidential Search Committee is responsible to both the 91����Ƶ board and the MEA board. “The 10 search committee members, selected by MEA and 91����Ƶ board with faculty and student nominations were selected to ensure a wide representation of the voice of the stakeholders,” said Evon Bergey, chair of the search committee. “The committee will work to discern the leadership needs for 91����Ƶ, keeping closely in mind the unique contributions that 91����Ƶ as a church institution has made – past, present and future – to the church, the local community and the world.”

Carlos Romero, executive director of MEA and ex-officio member of the search committee, said, “I believe the committee is well-equipped to search for and recommend a president for 91����Ƶ who will help lead the institution into the future. The breadth of experience and deep commitment to 91����Ƶ and Mennonite Church USA is a precious gift that each of the committee members brings to the endeavor.” Romero noted that at the first meeting in July, the committee will lay the groundwork for the search process and refine the presidential profile.

Editor’s note: Anne Kaufman Weaver ’88 was added to the committee after publication of this article. Weaver is from Brownstown, Pennsylvania, and works as a leadership coach with Coaching Connection. Weaver has served, along with her husband, Dr. Todd Weaver, on the Science Campaign Steering Committee. She will graduate in 2016 with a master’s in divinity from Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Senior (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) and sophomore  (Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock) each claimed their first Academic All-District honor, in a vote done by the district’s College Sports Information Directors of America members. Junior (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) earned a spot on the women’s side, also a first for her.

Landis holds a 3.94 GPA as a double major in congregational and youth ministries along with biblical studies.  He was named the ODAC’s Scholar-Athlete for men’s cross country, earning All-ODAC and All-Region honors en route to a trip to the NCAA National Championships.  Landis has also been a Ministry Assistant at 91����Ƶ before missing the indoor and outdoor track seasons when he studied in the Middle East during the spring semester.

Denlinger carries a lofty 3.98 GPA through two years at Eastern Mennonite as a biology (pre-med) major. He was voted the ODAC’s Scholar-Athlete for men’s indoor track & field and earned All-ODAC Third Team honors in the both indoor and outdoor 800m. Denlinger is also a Community Advisor at 91����Ƶ and is part of the school’s Student Government Association.

Chappell-Dick has a 3.87 GPA as a biology major and recently completed a stellar season with a pair of All-America titles.  The middle distance runner took third last weekend in the 1500m at the NCAA National Outdoor Track & Field Championships.  At the indoor meet she placed second in the mile.  Including cross country, Chappell-Dick landed six All-ODAC First Team honors this year and was named the South/Southeast Region Athlete of the Year for both indoor and outdoor track & field.  She was also the ODAC Scholar-Athlete for cross country, indoor and outdoor track.

Eastern Mennonite helped the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to a dominant showing on the Academic All-District teams, as the conference staked 11 of the total possible 24 spots.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

All of the All-District honorees are now eligible for the All-America teams, which will be announced on June 23.

Before the indoor meet in March, it had been 10 years since Eastern Mennonite had sent two women in the same year to the national meet.

Similar to what she did two months ago, Chappell-Dick again qualified in two events, the 800m and the 1500m, but she elected to concentrate on the 1500m and pass up a spot in the other event.  She choose the mile over the 800m at the indoor meet and ended up with the silver medal and All-American status from that effort.

Chappell-Dick enters the national meet as the No. 8 seed, claiming an ODAC-record top time of 4:30.97 from the Duke Twilight on May 6.  The preliminaries of the 1500m will be run at 3:45pm Thursday afternoon, with the top four from each of the two heats along with the next top four runners advancing.  The 12-woman finals are set for Saturday at 1:30pm, with the top eight finishers earning All-American status.

Chappell-Dick did have the No. 4 time nationally in the 800m (2:09.37) but will concentrate on the 1500m.  She participated in the 800m in the national outdoor meet last year.

Lehman punched her ticket in the 5000m, where she will be seeded No. 17 with her time of 17:08.75 from the Colonial Relays on April 3.  She is one of just two freshmen in the field of 22 women in the event.  Lehman enters nationals with an interesting dynamic, as she has not run competitively since the ODAC Championships on April 17 and 18 while she studied in Hawaii on a three-week cross-cultural program.

The 5000m has just one race, scheduled for 4:05pm on Saturday.

Both women have also been to the nationals in cross country, with Lehman going this past fall and Chappell-Dick doing it as a sophomore in 2013.

Men’s hurdler (Winchester, Va./Millbrook) just missed qualifying for nationals in the 400m hurdles.  With his best time of 53.45, the freshman had been No. 18 in the nation heading into the final week of last chance meets, but he was passed by a handful of other men and ended No. 25.  Only the top 20 finishers go to the national meet on the men’s side.  Faint was just 0.11 second off of the final qualifying time of 53.34.

And in participating in the Spring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Celebration poster session in the , Stoner practiced a few more practical skills he will need: graphic design and public speaking.

Stoner and partner Sarah Carpenter were winners of the upperclass division for their research titled “Bergton Stream Restoration: Stream Health Assessment Using Macroinvertebrate Sampling.”

The poster session, which is preceded by an informal multidisciplinary science quiz-off and pizza feast, offers students “a chance to share their research with fellow students, faculty, and the larger 91����Ƶ community in a fun, social setting,” says physics professor , who judged the contest with biology professor .

Poster sessions are commonly held at scientific conferences, in which “scientists and students present and explain their own findings to those who are interested but are not necessarily experts in that field,” said King, who is also an assistant professor in the program.

Posters were judged on quality of experimental design, quality of research analysis, and quality of presentation, said Herin, also with the biomedicine program. “The presentation included the appearance, accuracy and clarity of the poster, as well as the presenters’ knowledge and explanation of the project.”

Coursework and independent study represented

91����Ƶ’s poster session featured more than 90 participants showcasing research from a variety of courses such as electronics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, statistics for natural sciences, and environmental toxicology. Students in Herin’s advanced human anatomy class (BIO 437) also contributed 3-D visualizations of body systems.

Carpenter and Stoner were among several students presenting water quality research in the nearby Bergton area as part of . Biology professors and are supervising teams of environmental sustainability students working on water quality monitoring and stream restoration in two tributaries of the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay, with other facets of the project involving and graduate students.

Students in professor ’s general chemistry class focused on phytoremediation of a variety of plants, including carrots, forsythia, corn, cattails, and radishes.

Professor ’s statistics class explored the widest range of topics, including electronic devices owned by students; the fuel economy of cars driven by 91����Ƶ faculty and staff versus those driven by James Madison University faculty and staff; cereal shelf placement based on sugar and price at Food Lion and Kroger; sustainability effectiveness in 91����Ƶ residence halls; and a statistical analysis of the “Settlers of Catan” game.

Two unique projects with professor Steve Cessna explored the rhetoric of science and instructional techniques in the science classroom. In their plant ecophysiology course, Hannah Chappell-Dick, Eli Wenger, and Emma Beachy analyzed plant physiology research literature for changes in the “assignment of agency.” For his biochemistry research course project, Kyle Storc investigated student comprehension and retention of biochemistry topics through the use of two-dimensional tools.

Several posters were the result of independent research that students conducted with faculty members. Camille Williams worked with biology professor to analyze the effects of fermented milk supplementation on gut microbacteria in mice.

Rachel King, who will be a research assistant on this summer, worked under chemistry professor on “A Mixed Methods Approach to Green Chemistry Knowledge Gains in the Organic Laboratory.” Kishbaugh also worked with Ben Stern, who studied the effects of barium toxicity on zebrafish.

Underclass winner links research to upcoming internship

Amanda Williams and Nader Alqahtani paired up to win the underclass division with their project that compared phytoremediation between native and invasive species.

For Williams, a first-year biology and secondary education major, the research project reminded her of how much she cares about the environment.

“I live in the wetlands in Delaware, surrounded by the plants we were experimenting on, cattail and phragmites,” she said, adding that she’ll continue her research in a summer internship with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. “I think it’s important to understand the possible negative effects of invasive species, but also to know that sometimes they are just as important as native species.”

Alqahtani, a sophomore biology major who is interested in medical research, said the hands-on learning experience “was a more fun and exciting way to learn than reading and studying.”

And the presentation? That was “the exciting part,” he said, even though English is his second language. “We were confident that we knew everything about our project and we trusted each other’s ability to make a perfect presentation … when we started presenting and I saw how well we were doing, I got comfortable and started to enjoy telling our audience about our research.”

Poster Session Winners: Upperclass Division

1st: Bergton Stream Restoration: Stream Health Assessment Using Macroinvertebrate Sampling – Sarah Carpenter and Sam Stoner

2nd: Keyless Entry – Stephan Goertzen and Jordan Leaman

3rd: Bergton Stream Restoration: Ecological Monitoring Using Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) – Jonathan Drescher-Lehman and Ryan Keiner

Honorable Mention: An ecophysiological study determining how three different invasive evergreen vines handle the varying winter temperatures by measuring their photosynthesis, transpiration, and Fv/Fm levels – Jonathan Drescher-Lehman, Chris Miller, and Abby Pennington

Honorable Mention: The Effects of Barium Toxicity on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) – Ben Stern

Poster Session Winners: Underclass Division

1st:  Comparing Phytoremediation between Native and Invasive Species – Nader Alqahtani and Amanda Williams

2nd:  Phytoremediation in Forsythia – Tyler Denlinger and Jeremiah Robinson

3rd: Electronic Devices Owned by 91����Ƶ Students – Sammy Kauffman, Josh Miller, and Roy Ruan

Honorable Mention: Phytoremediation in Various Plants – Aaron Dunmore and Kat Lehman

 (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) helped to highlight the day as he pointed in a couple of events.  The sophomore had a short lead on a handful of finishers to win the 800m as he crossed in 1:55.02.  It was easily Thibodeaux’s season best time, although more than a second and a half off his PR from last year.  The second place runner came in at 1:55.86 while teammate  (Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock) was third in 1:55.99, earning All-ODAC Third Team honors.

Thibodeaux then came in fourth in the 1500m with a PR time of 4:02.38, putting him fourth in the 91����Ƶ history books as well.   (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) destroyed his PR and won his heat by six seconds to take sixth place in the event in 4:08.29.

�������󳾲����� (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) made a dazzling debut in the javelin, coming from the fourth seed to win gold with a PR throw of 50.10m (164-4ft).  He moves to No. 5 all-time at 91����Ƶ.

The men also had some great finishes in the hurdles.  The Royals went 1-and-3 in the 400m hurdles, as freshman  (Winchester, Va./Millbrook) claimed the gold.  Faint’s winning time was 54.23, a PR for him and fifth in 91����Ƶ history.  Junior  (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) also staked his PR, taking third place in the race in 57.04 and putting him at No. 10 in the 91����Ƶ books.

 (Broadway, Va./Broadway) pulled away at the finish of the 110m hurdles, grabbing gold and All-ODAC First Team with a time of 15.30.  His PR moved him to No. 3 all-time at 91����Ƶ in the event.   (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage) had a gritty effort to claim fourth in the race in 16.25.

 (Staunton, Va./Riverheads) earned a silver in the shot put.  The big man landed at 14.39m (47-2.5ft), crushing his outdoor PR and moving to No. 2 in 91����Ƶ history.  He earned All-ODAC Second Team honors with the throw and was just six inches short of first place at 14.54m (47-8.5ft).

The Royals had two point-takers in the high jump.   (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite), who entered as the favorite in the event, settled for a bronze finish.  He took third based on jumps, tying his season best at 1.91m (6-3.25ft).  Faint was sixth at 1.73m (5-8.0ft), setting his PR.

Faint also took a point in the triple jump, earning sixth by a single millimeter with his PR at 13.07m (42-10.75ft).  He moves in ninth all-time at 91����Ƶ as well.

�������󳾲����� (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass) took fifth in a tight finals of the 200m dash.  After standing in eighth after the prelims, Dews clocked a 22.55 PR in the finals, with all of the top six finished within 0.47 seconds of each other.

Nisly grabbed the final point in the 3000m steeplechase, leading a group of four 91����Ƶ runners in sixth place with a tie of 10:19.04.

In the relays, the 4x100m squad of  (Freeman, S.D./Freeman Academy), Dews,  (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods) and  (Appomattox, Va./Appomattox) earned fourth place with a time of 44.05.  The 4x400m foursome of Dews, Faint, Bush and Denlinger came in fifth in 3:22.50.

The men racked up 86 points to comfortably finish in third place for their highest outdoor finish since 2006.  Bridgewater won the men’s title with 154 points while Lynchburg was second with 132.  Washington and Lee was behind the Royals with 66 tallies.

Women Stand Fourth At ODACs And Win Individual Honors

Highlighted by four gold medals, the 91����Ƶ track and field women earned their highest finish at the ODAC Outdoor Championships in nine year.  The meet was hosted by Bridgewater College Friday and Saturday.

To no one’s surprise,  (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) and  (Dover, Ohio/Dover) led the charge for the women, with each winning two gold medals with their All-ODAC First Team status.

Chappell-Dick won the 800m and 1500m, breaking the ODAC Championships record in the 800m.  In the two-lap race she had a pair of Bridgewater runners hanging near her, but not enough to challenge for top honors.  Chappell-Dick won in a time of 2:13.64, breaking the meet record of 2:13.91 set by Roanoke’s Carmen Graves two years ago.

In the 1500m, the All-American was her usual self, leading the pack in 4:46.81.  While a comfortable pace off her PR, it was still good enough to give Chappell-Dick the win by more than three seconds.  Lehman actually crossed fourth in the race in 4:53.38.

Lehman was then dominant in the two distance events.  In the 5000m she broke away from the pack early and strided her way to a facility record time of 18:03.55, breaking the old mark by more than 37 seconds.  Teammate  (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) claimed the silver with a second place finish at the ODAC meet, timing at 19:02.62.

Lehman ran a great race to win the 10,000m Friday night.  The freshman ran with the pack for most of the race, before making her move with two laps to go.  Lehman made a quick pass of Roanoke’s Kerri Dalton to take over the lead, and then bolted away with more than a 19-second margin over the final 800m.  Lehman’s winning time was another facility-record 39:01.45, a comfortable win over Dalton’s 39:20.83.  Paden stayed with the lead group most of that race as well and came in fifth with a time of 40:03.77.

 (Bedford, Va./Liberty) completed a great first season in the jumping events.  She took fourth in the long jump, landing a PR jump at 5.27m (17-3.5ft), less than an inch behind the All-ODAC status of third place at 5.29m (17-4.25ft).  The distance also bumped her up to No. 3 in 91����Ƶ history.  In the triple jump, Kittrell grabbed another fourth place finish, totaling 10.72m (35-2ft).

����Ծ��ǰ��� (Strasburg, Va./Strasburg) was one of four women to break the facility record in the hammer throw.  She claimed fourth with a landing at 44.10m (144-5ft), within sight of Bridgewater’ Katelyn Senger in third with 44.18m (144-11ft).  It was a huge PR for Bane, upping her own school record, which had been 39.28m (128-10ft).  Bane added a point to the team total in the discus, taking sixth with a season best of 31.00m (101-8ft).

Chappell-Dick also earned some points in this high jump.  In just her second-ever effort in the event, the junior tied for fourth by clearing 1.51m (4-11.5ft).

 (Peninsula, Wash./Gig Harbor) was sixth in the javelin, as the junior landed at 30.97m (101-7ft) and inched up her PR and No. 2 spot in the 91����Ƶ history books.

�������󳾲����� (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) grabbed a point in the 3000m steeplechase.  She earned sixth place with a time of 13:07.23.

The 4x400m relay team of  (King George, Va./King George), Chappell-Dick,  (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) and  (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) claimed fourth, just missing All-ODAC status, with a time of 4:04.41.  The 4x100m group of  (East Norriton, Pa./Christopher Dock), Chappell-Dick, Kittrell, and McKinsey was sixth with a time of 52.16.

The Royals had 77 points as a team, earning fourth place overall for their highest team finish since 2006.  Roanoke won the women’s side with 156 points, followed by Bridgewater at 105 and Washington and Lee at 91.  Lynchburg and Virginia Wesleyan were tied for fifth behind 91����Ƶ with 63.

The ODAC Championships meet completes the main season for the Eastern Mennonite track teams.  Now the focus turns to twilight meets and preparing for hopeful runs at the NCAA National Championships in late May.  The next meet scheduled for the Royals is the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on April 29.

Individual Awards
The Royals picked up a trio of individual honors at the ODAC Championships as well.  Kat Lehman was named the Rookie of the Year, winning two events and looking for another trip to the national meet after going in cross country and indoor track as well.

Hannah Chappell-Dick made it a sweep of the ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete awards, as she also claimed that honor in cross country and indoor track.  Chappell-Dick recently added an All-American title to her name after finishing second in the mile at the national indoor meet to go with a 3.86 GPA as a biology major.

Coach Jason Lewkowicz was named the ODAC Coach of the Year, as he was recognized for his work with the women in picking up his first ODAC award in his final season with the Royals.

Gehman, a senior kinesiology major, looks forward to running every day. When he’s running, he feels free, happy, at ease in a way that he often isn’t. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at age 4, Gehman has dealt with severe anxiety his entire life. Sometimes he can hardly make it out the door of his room. Sometimes he sits himself in the chair in Coach’s office to ride out another panic attack. Sometimes Gehman thinks that if he could just run all day, every day, that would keep things under control. But his homework won’t do itself, and he has classes to attend and all sorts of other basic life things that make that impractical.

He describes living with Asperger’s as follows: most people have buckets to hold all the little stresses and details and things that daily life throws at them. On stressful days when enough of those little things collect, the bucket overflows and the carrier is overwhelmed. Gehman has a thimble instead of a bucket. It gets full quick. When he was younger, full-blown panic attacks struck every day, leaving him breathless, terrified, stuck in place. Though he’s gotten better at fending them off, they’re never far away.

When he runs, it’s a different story. He has a bucket and it all feels easier.

‘Good but not great’ at first

Gehman was 13 the first time he went for a run – one mile from his house to the high school nearby, and one mile back. His parents made him take a walkie-talkie just in case. He didn’t need it. When he was 14, his family hosted a guest who was training for a marathon. Gehman cinched on his Velcro-strap shoes, tagged along with the guy for seven miles and was hooked.

For the next four years, he was a good but not great high school runner. After graduating from (earlier, he’d also attended a public high school), he put in another year of good but not great running at and then, transferred to Montreat College in western North Carolina. His coach there was more of a zealot for hard training and high mileage, and Gehman responded well. He qualified for the NAIA national cross country meet. In indoor track, he ran a 16:12 5k – not jaw-dropping, but certainly not pedestrian.

While Gehman’s running was going better than ever, managing his anxiety wasn’t. Transferring to 91����Ƶ, he found a more supportive environment on the track and cross-country teams for which Lewkowicz had set the expectation that “there’s a shared responsibility to care for one another.”

Lewkowicz was one of his earliest and biggest supporters. Lately, his teammates have become more and more important. Not that the thimble isn’t a problem anymore. It’s been a hard and anxious winter for Gehman. When things aren’t going well, sometimes there isn’t anything his teammates can say to fix things. What they can do, said Hannah Chappell-Dick, a standout runner on the women’s team who has qualified for nationals in both cross-country and track, is simply be present, be there, with and for him. And so that’s what they’ve done.

Overcoming anxiety and dropping time

Gehman’s performances have continued to improve. In his junior cross-country season, he made the All-Region team and barely missed qualifying for the NCAA D-III national meet. On the track the next spring, he dropped his 5k time down to 15:26. Back in cross-country last fall, he lowered his 8k personal-best to an elite 24:15 that left his good-but-not-great past in the dust. At the South/Southeast Regional meet, he took first place among the 200 best D-III runners between Virginia and Texas. It was the best race of his life. His teammates cried.

“It’s powerful to see people overcome things, and Ryan has done a lot of that this year,” said Chappell-Dick.

(On the NCAA race course the following week, Gehman felt like circuit breakers tripped inside him during the wild, stampeding chaos of the first half-mile. He finished in 237^th place, more than two minutes off his best time.)

It has been a tough and injury-plagued winter, and Gehman sat out the conference championship on March 1. But in January, he ran a very promising indoor 5k in 15:49. He’s logging miles and building up a base. He will approach outdoor track with his usual determination.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever coached anyone who works as hard as he does,” said Lewkowicz.

Sharing his hard work

Hard work is part of any good distance runner’s life. In Gehman’s case, though, the hard physical work of training follows the heavy emotional lifting it sometimes takes just to lace up his shoes and show up at practice. He works hard in order to work hard.

After graduation, Gehman plans to race longer distances – half-marathons, marathons. His biggest love is for the quiet and calm of trail running. He thinks he’ll try to go pro. When Coach Lewkowicz lets him, he criss-crosses the rocky slopes of Massanutten Mountain with Dan Nafziger ‘13, an admissions counselor who qualified for the national cross-country meet in 2011.

Since emerging as a top-flight runner, Gehman has begun tackling another difficult challenge: talking about the obstacles he’s overcome. It hasn’t come easy, but then again, lots of things haven’t come easy for him. And perhaps, he figured, his story could inspire others who face similar challenges.

Last year, with the encouragement of Lewkowicz and the athletics department, he gave an interview to the local TV station about his life with Asperger’s syndrome. In February, he was invited to speak to a Rotary club in Salem, Virginia. Talking in front of news cameras and rooms full of people was a lot to ask of his thimble, but not enough to stop him.

After the TV interview aired, Gehman received a Facebook message from a couple who’d seen it. Their 11-year-old daughter had been diagnosed with Asperger’s, and they were curious if they might meet with him to hear more about what it’s like. They came and talked with him for an hour in the Commons. Gehman was thrilled at the opportunity to help the parents understand their daughter better. It feels great, he says. He uses the exact same words to describe his running, but there’s a difference.

“Running is something I do for me,” he says. “Talking about my disability is something I can do for other people.”

Ryan Gehman has known for nearly a decade now that running makes him feel good. He’s just now finding out that telling others about why that’s the case makes him feel even better.