Schuler Rewriting Emporia State Record Book

By David Boyce

Three times a week during the fall semester, classes prevent junior Josh Schuler from joining his Emporia State teammates at the start of track practice.

By the time Schuler arrived, his teammates were at the tail end of practice. Instead of clocking out with half a workout, Schuler stayed and put in his time with the coaches.

"He was working out a lot by himself three days a week and that's a lot of time being away from the team," Emporia State head track coach Dave Harris said. "He did that. He had a lot of self-discipline and it is showing."

Schuler simply wanted to have a bigger impact on the team.

Harris believes part of the mindset struck Schuler as a sophomore in the MIAA Outdoor Championships when he was a member of the 400-meter relay team that placed second.

The hard work and the growing confidence led up to an unbelievable weekend for Schuler at the Nebraska Invitational.

"Some kids are overwhelmed when they go to the Husker Invite," Harris said. "We try to take the right kids to begin with. Sometimes it is overwhelming.

"From each race you could tell he was really focused on the 60 and then focused on his preliminary in the 200 and from that point on he was very, very confident."

Despite a few jitters about competing against NCAA Division I athletes, Schuler shattered the Emporia State school record in the 200 meters, clocking in at 21.47 in the preliminaries. The previous mark was 21.80 by Kenton Longberger in the 2008 MIAA Indoor Championships.

"Usually I run pretty well at Nebraska so I thought I would run OK, around 21.8, 21.9. I didn't expect to break the school record or anything like that," Schuler said.

Schuler's confidence grew more for the finals. He now knew he could run with the big boys from Nebraska, Ohio State and other Division I schools in the Midwest.

Fueled with that knowledge, Schuler broke his school record in the final, going 21.35 for second place. The time also automatically qualified him for the Division II national indoor meet. It's also currently the second-fastest time in the country.

"I was happy that I broke it again," Schuler said. "I kind of realized that wow, maybe I am kind of fast and maybe I should have a little more confidence in the finals than I did in the prelims."

Sprinters sometimes come off as brash, cocky, chest-pumping prima donnas. They need those antics to hype themselves up in races that are seemingly over in a blink of an eye.

Schuler comes from a more modest stock. He gave a sincere answer to breaking a school record.

"It means a lot," he said. "I never expected myself to be on the record boards at all, at least not now. I feel honored and privileged to be a school record holder."

Harris knew Schuler was progressing as a sprinter, but even he was caught by surprise by the performances.

A year ago Schuler didn't even score a point for the Hornets at the MIAA Indoor Championships.

"I didn't anticipate the highest level he went to," Harris said. "I probably can say I didn't anticipate a school record. I do know that he and Vincent Howze have been training together really well. They were on the verge of starting to do some good times.

"He really put himself in another stratosphere level with his performances up there. What I'm so happy with is he handled the whole weekend well."

Howze was crucial in Harris reaching a new level. Harris said Howze feels he's the fastest sprinter on the team. He wanted to run the 200 at Nebraska.

Instead, Howze ran the 400 and a day before his race he saw his running mate break the school record and wondered if that could have been him.

"He was so happy for Josh," Harris said. "Josh told him that he could set a school record in the 400 and Vincent went out and did that the next day."

Howze ran 48.80 and finished fourth in the consolation finals at Nebraska. The previous mark was 48.87 by Brent Smitheran in 2000.

"They are pushing each other," Harris said.

On Friday, some of the Hornets track and field athletes will go to Ames, Iowa for the ISU Classic.

Like the Husker Invitational, the emphasis will be on individual performances. The last few meets in February are all in preparation for the MIAA Indoor Championships Feb. 26-28 in Joplin, Mo.

Schuler said he treats the indoor season like the outdoor season.

"You run the races, you train hard and get ready for conference and compete in conference and win," Schuler said. "I really want to win this year as a team."

That's exactly how Harris wants his team to approach the month of February. A MIAA Indoor Championship is just as important as a MIAA Outdoor Championship.

"It's a championship season," Harris said. "We are trying to do well in the MIAA and trying to do well nationally. We are running in the top 10 nationally.

"We got some great individuals. But to us it is a team sport and it is an individual sport. We push our individuals at a meet like the Husker Invite. But the MIAA in three weeks we are going to push our team and not focus on these individual things. We will focus on scoring points for the team. We really try to do a good job of doing both."

One thing that almost seems certain is Schuler will score some points for the Hornets in this year's MIAA Indoor Championships.

"I think I worked really hard to be where I'm at," Schuler said. "I think my hard work got me to where I'm at right now.

"I think (the school record) has raised my confidence a lot, but I still feel there are a lot of tough competitors out there and all I can do is to keep working hard to get better. There are still a lot of things I need to work on to get better."

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.