TOPEKA, Kansas - Southwestern freshman Zach Roome highlighted the Spartans' trip to the Washburn Open this past weekend by qualifying for nationals in the 800 meters.
Roome, who had previously qualified for the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 1,000 meters, now adds a second individual event to his resume. Roome finished 22nd overall out of 43 finishers in the men's 800 Saturday night at the Washburn Open, taking fourth out of nine in heat three. The freshman from Sydney, Australia, crossed the finish line in 1:55.14, which ranks second on SWCC's all-time indoor performance list at the distance.
Roome tested out a new race strategy Saturday, getting out faster through 400 meters than he typically does. Roome ran 200-meter lap splits of 26.97, 27.89, 29.42, and 30.86.
"I know Zach was not thrilled with the end result, but I was glad he decided he wanted to experiment with his racing style a bit," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "It was a good learning experience for him. Now we have a better idea of how he needs to attack the 800 meter race distance in the future. I'm excited for the next time he gets an opportunity to rip an 800, because I know it will be a big improvement."
Roome bested the NJCAA national-qualifying standard of 1:56.16, and currently ranks 24th nationally in the event. He also ranks 24th nationally in the 1,000 meters. The Spartan 4x800 relay team of Dillon Starlin, Cam Swapsy, Brandon Briley, and Roome, which ran the previous weekend at Buena Vista, still ranks second nationally in the event.
Swapsy got his first opportunity to run a 400 meter dash this season. The freshman from Middleton, Wisconsin, ran 51.01 to rank fifth in program history in the indoor 400 meters.
"This was the first 400 Cam has run in two years," Vicker said. "I've been training him more as an 800 runner than a 400 runner, and we haven't worked on block starts much, so all things considered, I thought this was a fine result. It was good to see Cam open things up and show off the wheels a little bit. Once we spend some time working on his start, he'll see that time drop quite a bit."
The Spartans contested two events on the track Friday afternoon. Freshman Zach Thornburg started the meet by running in the 60 meter dash qualifying round. Thornburg finished 80th out of 112 competitors in the qualifying round, running 7.13 seconds. Former Spartan great, and school record holder, Justin Cunningham ran 6.80 seconds to advance from qualifying to the semifinal round.
The relay team of Briley, Thornburg, Swapsy, and Roome finished 15th in the distance medley relay Friday afternoon, running 10:45.75. That time ranks the relay team second in program history. Briley ran 3:18.99 for the opening 1,200-meter leg, followed by Thornburg's 54.43 carry over 400 meters, with Swapsy running 2:01.12 for 800 meters. Roome anchored with a 4:31.06 1600-meter leg. Currently, the Spartans rank 14th nationally in the distance medley relay.
"Taking four freshman to run on a banked track for the first time, you expect some growing pains along the way," Vicker said. "This was a good opportunity for them to experience a track like this before nationals. I think they learned a lot from this trip. For the guys to come home disappointed with two No. 2 performances in program history and a No. 5 performance in program history shows how high of expectations this group has. This was a motivating trip for the guys."
Southwestern returns to action Friday and Saturday at the Bearcat Invite, hosted by Northwest Missouri State University. The indoor regular season will conclude Feb. 14-15 at the Darren Young Classic hosted by Grinnell College before the Spartans compete in the NJCAA Region 11 Championships Feb. 21-22 at Buena Vista University.
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