At first glance, Craig Leon and Toni Turowski seem to have nothing in common. After running together for nearly a year, though, the two Ohio distance runners are more similar than they ever could have imagined.
Although Leon and Turowski competed against one another for four years while running for Van Wert and Big Walnut high schools -respectively -neither would have guessed that the other was a Chicago Cubs fan, or that their fathers -both named Bob -had run against one another nearly 30 years before in the same conference in northern Illinois.
Toni and I are very similar
Leon said. We're almost going along the same paths. In junior high and early high school we were at the back of our varsity teams and during our junior year we were mid-17s. Then all of a sudden our senior years
we both got pretty good.
Neither runner was recruited heavily out of high school, and both came to Ohio as much for academics -Turowski is a civil engineering major, Leon a telecommunications major with an interest in journalism -as they did for athletics.
After a full year of cross country and track and field competition, Leon remains marginally faster than Turowski, consistently crossing the finish line just a few seconds earlier.
(Craig) was a little bit ahead coming in and just stayed there
coach Clay Calkins said. Toni's right with him
though. You can't mention one without the other.
Trailing Leon in competition drives Turowski, but having trained according to nearly the same schedule every day since September allows the runners to play interchangeable roles during practices.
It's a big motivation chasing him and trying to catch up all the time
Turowski said. If he's not feeling good that day
though
I can lead a repeat or hold the pace on a tempo run. It's not like he's just pushing himself. We work together.
Another motivation for both runners is the Bobcats' finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships. In November, the Ohio men's cross country team finished eighth of 12 teams for the second straight year.
One of our goals is to place a lot higher and beat some teams
Turowski said. We've never been on bad teams before
and we never want to be on a bad team again. That's our motivation.
Teammates also have recognized the two freshmen for qualities beyond their running, including the attitude they bring to practices.
It's not so much how fast they're running; it's the attitude
