Hoffert Hoping For State C.C. Berth
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Just 4200 meters.
That's the difference between 800 and 5000 meters (3.1 miles). For Warsaw's David Hoffert it isn't really all that much.
And he will put that to the test Saturday along with four other area runners (Valley's Jenny Day, NorthWood's Brooke Tobias, Wawasee's Katie McCauley and Manchester's Jeremy Stacy) at the Manchester Cross Country Semistate.
Hoffert, who ran at the state track meet last year, is trying to get back to state at a distance significantly longer than what he ran around the oval last spring.
"Physically, he is built to run," Warsaw boys cross country coach Jeff Grose said. "Some of the track coaches believe that he is an 800 meter man who is running cross country."
Maybe so, but he has adjusted well to his "second sport." After picking up cross country as a sophomore, the Tiger senior has emerged as the team leader as well as one of the best cross country runners in the area.
"I started out as a no-running guy; I pretty much didn't run at all," Hoffert said. "A friend got me to come out for it. I liked it and have been doing it ever since."
Since he has gotten going in the sport, it has been full-speed ahead. He has done everything a top long distance runner should do - including the offseason work.
"You have to run in the offseason," Hoffert said. "It is not a sport where you can come in during the season and just start running. You have to run year round and go to camps."
"He decided at the end of last year that he was going to do everything he could possibly do to be a great cross country runner," Grose said. "He seems to have this inner desire to do well. I could see in the summer and early fall that he was a different kid."
You could say Hoffert is a track runner getting in shape through cross country or vice versa. Whichever way it goes, Hoffert is excelling at both sports.
"It is pretty much the same thing," Hoffert said. "With cross country you use different muscles, and you have to pace yourself a little more. Where with track, you just go out and do all you can."
The strategy of the race is a little different, though.
"He has come a long way this year racing-wise," Grose said. "He has really watched his pace. Last year, he made some mistakes going out to fast at times, and maybe just not running his race."
Hoffert has established himself this year as the best cross country runner in the Northern Lakes Conference. He won the NLC race three weeks ago and after shaking off an illness that caused him to slip to 17th at the sectional a week later, he once again beat the NLC crowd while finishing 13th at last week's regional.
"It has been up and down," Hoffert said of the last month. "It started out real good, and I was happy with NLCs. I knew going into sectional I was going to have some problems, and then it faded off and died. I didn't know what to expect for regional."
It will be that tough field that Hoffert will be once again go up against at Saturday's Manchester Semistate. The top teams and the top runners at the Elkhart Regional will be the same at the semistate.
"I am not kidding myself, it will be very hard to make it on," Hoffert said. "It will be really tough with 160 runners and seven teams that are in the top 20 in the state being there. The best runners will be the ones who came out of our (Elkhart) regional."
The semistate will be run on a course that is significantly different than that of Ox Bow Park in Elkhart, where the NLC, sectional and regional are held. Where Ox Bow has runners going through ditches, up hills and through the woods, Manchester will be a flat "around the school" type of course, which could fit right in with Hoffert's track experience.
"It is pretty much like a flat track," Hoffert said. "All you are doing is going around in loops. It is consistently 30-45 seconds faster than Ox Bow, the course we have run the last three weeks. You don't have to worry about pot holes. It is a little easier on the body."
The top 15 individual runners will move on to the state meet next Saturday at Indiana University. Hoffert sees himself at about the No. 25 spot as far as times go, and that means he will have to move up at least 10 spots to get out.
"He just wants to make sure he is prepared and ready to run that way if something does happen, if he has a great day and other guys falter, he will be there where he might be able to qualify," Grose said.
Hoffert sees a 16:20 as the time it will take to get onto the state meet, and his best time was a 16:22 earlier this year at NorthWood, a course similiar to Manchester's. [[In-content Ad]]
Just 4200 meters.
That's the difference between 800 and 5000 meters (3.1 miles). For Warsaw's David Hoffert it isn't really all that much.
And he will put that to the test Saturday along with four other area runners (Valley's Jenny Day, NorthWood's Brooke Tobias, Wawasee's Katie McCauley and Manchester's Jeremy Stacy) at the Manchester Cross Country Semistate.
Hoffert, who ran at the state track meet last year, is trying to get back to state at a distance significantly longer than what he ran around the oval last spring.
"Physically, he is built to run," Warsaw boys cross country coach Jeff Grose said. "Some of the track coaches believe that he is an 800 meter man who is running cross country."
Maybe so, but he has adjusted well to his "second sport." After picking up cross country as a sophomore, the Tiger senior has emerged as the team leader as well as one of the best cross country runners in the area.
"I started out as a no-running guy; I pretty much didn't run at all," Hoffert said. "A friend got me to come out for it. I liked it and have been doing it ever since."
Since he has gotten going in the sport, it has been full-speed ahead. He has done everything a top long distance runner should do - including the offseason work.
"You have to run in the offseason," Hoffert said. "It is not a sport where you can come in during the season and just start running. You have to run year round and go to camps."
"He decided at the end of last year that he was going to do everything he could possibly do to be a great cross country runner," Grose said. "He seems to have this inner desire to do well. I could see in the summer and early fall that he was a different kid."
You could say Hoffert is a track runner getting in shape through cross country or vice versa. Whichever way it goes, Hoffert is excelling at both sports.
"It is pretty much the same thing," Hoffert said. "With cross country you use different muscles, and you have to pace yourself a little more. Where with track, you just go out and do all you can."
The strategy of the race is a little different, though.
"He has come a long way this year racing-wise," Grose said. "He has really watched his pace. Last year, he made some mistakes going out to fast at times, and maybe just not running his race."
Hoffert has established himself this year as the best cross country runner in the Northern Lakes Conference. He won the NLC race three weeks ago and after shaking off an illness that caused him to slip to 17th at the sectional a week later, he once again beat the NLC crowd while finishing 13th at last week's regional.
"It has been up and down," Hoffert said of the last month. "It started out real good, and I was happy with NLCs. I knew going into sectional I was going to have some problems, and then it faded off and died. I didn't know what to expect for regional."
It will be that tough field that Hoffert will be once again go up against at Saturday's Manchester Semistate. The top teams and the top runners at the Elkhart Regional will be the same at the semistate.
"I am not kidding myself, it will be very hard to make it on," Hoffert said. "It will be really tough with 160 runners and seven teams that are in the top 20 in the state being there. The best runners will be the ones who came out of our (Elkhart) regional."
The semistate will be run on a course that is significantly different than that of Ox Bow Park in Elkhart, where the NLC, sectional and regional are held. Where Ox Bow has runners going through ditches, up hills and through the woods, Manchester will be a flat "around the school" type of course, which could fit right in with Hoffert's track experience.
"It is pretty much like a flat track," Hoffert said. "All you are doing is going around in loops. It is consistently 30-45 seconds faster than Ox Bow, the course we have run the last three weeks. You don't have to worry about pot holes. It is a little easier on the body."
The top 15 individual runners will move on to the state meet next Saturday at Indiana University. Hoffert sees himself at about the No. 25 spot as far as times go, and that means he will have to move up at least 10 spots to get out.
"He just wants to make sure he is prepared and ready to run that way if something does happen, if he has a great day and other guys falter, he will be there where he might be able to qualify," Grose said.
Hoffert sees a 16:20 as the time it will take to get onto the state meet, and his best time was a 16:22 earlier this year at NorthWood, a course similiar to Manchester's. [[In-content Ad]]