Runner excels early in college career

by Jonathan Kane
Staff Writer

Ohio men's cross country runner Andrew Frum has high expectations for his first season with the Bobcats.

Frum, a highly recruited freshman from Poland Seminary High School, finished fifth at the Ohio District II Championships in 1999 and 2000 and claimed the regional championship in 2000. He qualified for the state meet twice in cross country and three times in track.

Frum's best time in the 5,000-meter run in high school is 15 minutes, 52 seconds. The transition from high school to college, however, is a jump from 5,000 to 8,000 meters.

Frum said training with new teammate Justin Kempe throughout the summer helped him make the transition from high school to collegiate competition.

"He helped explain what to expect in the college workouts before we got here," Frum said.

Armed with the newfound knowledge, he said the workouts turned out to be much harder than high school.

"We've been doing long mile repeats and four- and eight-mile tempo runs almost at our race pace," he said.

Frum has experienced early successes in his first two races for Ohio. Along with Kempe, Frum finished first at the Sept. 1 Ohio Relays with a time of 39:28.

In Ohio's second meet of the season against Bowling Green, Frum was Ohio's second best finisher behind teammate Steve Krajenski. Frum posted a time of 27:01,which earned sixth place overall.

Ohio cross country coach Elmore Banton said he expects Frum to emerge as a top runner on the team.

"He is coming out after an outstanding high school career, and we expect him to be an impact performer for us," he said.

Banton is not the only one with great expectations. Frum said he wants to be one of the top freshman runners in the Mid-American Conference this season.

"I'm going to try to run in the 25 minute range for the 8,000 (meters)," he said.

Frum said his type of race is one in which he is a front runner, thus setting the pace for the followers. Although he did not place first against Bowling Green, he said he plans on reverting to the front-running style in future meets.

Frum gets his next shot at first place this weekend when Ohio heads to the William & Mary Invitational Saturday in Williamsburg, Va.