Nov. 29, 2005

By Tom Acox - Special to sjuhawks.com

A butchered version of the Counting Crows song, "Colorblind", is being played in the background on a piano when Saint. Joseph's junior cross country standout Teddy Meyers enters the room. The song's straining chorus echoes "I am ready, I am ready..." over and over. Meyers six foot three inch frame looks relaxed as he sits down across from a boisterous match being played on the pool table twenty feet behind him. The music matches Meyers demeanor even though less than forty eight hours earlier Meyers suffered a painful injury and his team suffered an almost as painfully disappointing finish in the IC4A/ECAC Championships in New York.

Meyers speaks with a surprising sense of acceptance about the recent race in New York. Due to scheduling conflicts the college race actually ended up being run at the same time as a large high school race on the same course. "At one point we were running on this part of the course that could only fit three people across," says Meyers "that's when I got tangled up with another runner and fell in a hole."

Meyers explains there was confusion because not only was the course more crowded than normal but you also didn't always know if you were running by other college runners or if it was the high school runners. Due to falling in the ditch Meyers ended up with a strained abductor and a sore groin. "It was disappointing alright but we all knew we ran the best we could - we ran our best all season," says Meyers.

Injuries are nothing new to the resilient Meyers. Last year he had problems with his calf muscle and as a high school junior suffered and even more life changing accident. "I was hit by a car after my first season of cross-country my junior year and because of that I was unable to play basketball and I never went back to basketball after that," says Meyers.

After some encouragement from his high school basketball coach Meyers decided to run indoor winter track. "I just ran at first. I really didn't know about the strategy of kicking and grinding out races when I first started," says Meyers. After realizing he had a knack for running and with all the free time without basketball Meyers focused in on track and cross country. "It was after my first full year of running junior year that I looked at running as a real sport but I still missed basketball."

Currently, Meyers runs full time at St. Joe's and loves it, although he admits it can be challenging. "The hardest part for me is that I really don't have an off season because I compete year round in cross country, and indoor and outdoor track," says Meyers. Meyers can be particularly swamped on weeks like the one leading up the championship where he had three quizzes, two tests and a paper all due over the course of the week before the race on Saturday.

A typical day starts around a quarter to seven in the morning for Meyers. He jogs ten blocks from his Lancaster Court apartment to the Fieldhouse where he lifts weights every morning. Meyers then runs back to Lancaster Court to get ready for class. After lunch with his team and some more classes Meyers typically has practice from four to six every day. He winds his day down with dinner in the cafeteria with his teammates or depending on his mood possibly some Easy Mac back at his apartment.

This might seem pretty regimented already to a non-runner. However, compare a school day to a race day for Meyers and it's not even close. After waking up four to five hours before race time, Meyers and his teammates observe a steady routine consisting of several different types of warm ups as well as stretching.

Fellow St, Joe's runner Zack Houck says "Teddy is a strong force - he's really helped bring a lot of new blood into the program. He's not just a good runner, he's got that positive attitude that others feed off." Teddy admits he was happy about the role he played in bringing Bobby Staten on board. Staten's also been a strong runner for SJU and Houck adds "when Teddy got Staten on board it was pretty instrumental in Quenton [Boyer] coming into the program."

This positive trickle down affect of new runners is largely attributable to Meyers - though he is quick to share the credit with his teammates and coach. "Coach Glavin is amazing. The amount he helps kids improve is remarkable." Meyers also shares a story about his coach being approached by another school's coach. "He [the opposing coach] said he was really impressed with us this year, everyone thought we would just fade away," says Meyers.

In the future Meyers has big hopes. He's currently trying to get another year of eligibility due to injuries suffered earlier in his career. Should this request be successful he intends to double major, adding an International Business degree to his current math major.

"He's a team player and you can tell he knows how to be part of a team by the way he runs cross country," says Houck. However, Meyers also has high expectations for himself running. Meyers says "I want to break fourteen for the 5K and get close or maybe even break the school record - that 10K record would be nice to."

This competition with himself might be why he seems so relaxed after suffering so many injuries. "Track is a more individually focused competition against yourself. You're always trying to improve - put the pain out of your head," says Meyers. "Besides," adds Meyers, "running is really fun."