With the spring sports season just about wrapped up, we will be taking a closer look at Muhlenberg’s senior student-athletes.
We conclude the senior profiles series with Part Two of men’s and women’s track and field. Part One ran yesterday.
Andrew Henry
What’s something most people don’t know about you that they might find interesting? I have a really good memory when it comes to schoolwork, so I find myself spending a little more time watching Netflix and not so much time studying. That can upset some of teammates who spend a little more time in the library than I do.
What’s your most memorable Muhlenberg track and field memory? Winning the 800 indoors at the home meet my sophomore year.
How have you been able to manage your time between classes and being on the track team to make the Dean’s List the past six semesters? I wouldn’t know what to do with myself from 3:00 until 6:00 on a daily basis if it wasn’t for track and cross country. As distance runners, we pretty much practice year round, so having such a set schedule has allowed me to manage my time very well. Every day I know I pretty much have to go to class during the day, practice during the afternoon, and then get whatever work I need to get done after dinner.
What are your future plans? I plan on applying to veterinary school this summer and working at the Lehigh Valley Zoo during my time off. My goal is to go to the University of Pennsylvania and go on to become a zoo vet.
What’s William Lowrey like off the track? Fun loving. Will is a great friend and roommate. In the last four years, Will and I have gotten to spend a lot of time together, and honestly I could not have asked for a better partner in crime.
William Lo
wrey
When did you start growing your mustache? I started growing my mustache during cross country my junior year. The cross country team always lets our facial hair grow out during championship season, however, I wanted to get a jump start on the facial hair growth because my beard does not grow overnight, to say the least. After a while, my mustache just started coming in pretty nicely, and I began receiving compliments so I just kept it.
Being from Vermont, what’s your favorite Ben and Jerry’s flavor? That’s a tough one, but I’ve got to go with Cherry Garcia. It’s great ice cream named after a great musician.
What’s the best part about running the steeplechase? It seems to go by really quickly. I’ve never enjoyed running the flat 3,000 indoors or the 5,000 because they seem like monotonous, painful slogs. Like cross country, however, as you progress through the steeple you’re thinking about new challenges that lie ahead of you. It takes your mind off of the pain your body is in and allows you to get competitive and race.
What are your future plans? I’m not sure right now.
What kind of person is Andrew Henry? Andy is just an overall great guy. He’s the go-to guy whenever anyone needs to talk or just wants someone to hang out with. There are a lot of smart, hard-working kids on the cross country team that place their education on a pedestal, and while Andy is one of them, his work is always secondary to his friends and teammates.
Alex Price
How have you improved on the track since your freshman year? I think I’ve learned to race a lot smarter and have gotten better with knowing my pace. No matter what the conditions are or what lane I get, I know how I should be running.
What’s your most memorable Muhlenberg track and field memory? It’s hard to pick just one, so I’d say our indoor home meets have been some of the most exciting. The field house is so small that having friends and family packed in there cheering you on made it very loud and a really fun experience.
What’s your best off-the-track memory from your time here? Even when I’m not running, cheering on my teammates is just as exhilarating. We’ve got some talented guys out there that are really fun to watch. I’m definitely going to miss supporting and yelling for them.
What are your future plans? Starting this fall, I’m going to be working for Deloitte at their Boston office.
What’s Eric Strouse like as a person? He’s definitely a true wildcard on and off the track. When you watch him run you can tell he’s giving more than 100 percent, so I really respect his passion and fun-loving spirit.
Peter Rice
When did you first realize that you were really fast? I realized I was fast right around the same time I realized I was really, really, ridiculously good-looking… I actually knew I was fast when I was little, but I didn’t start seriously running track until my junior year of high school. I really liked the personal challenge, and it was a lot of fun, so I stuck with it. Now I’m a huge track nerd.
What’s your most memorable Muhlenberg track and field memory? In my four years, our 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 relays have had a lot of success, winning a lot of relays at the conference meets, as well as a 4×400 Penn Relays win. I’ve had a blast running with a bunch of different guys who’ve all made Muhlenberg a sprint relays dynasty.
What’s your best off-the-track memory from your time here? My best off-the-track memories are from the week that we come back early for practice before the second semester starts. There are good stories from every “track camp,” but my favorite would have to be our captains ordering Chinese food as our team meal sophomore year. It’s become a sort of tradition, and there are few things as awesome as seeing $350 worth of catered Chinese food. Yum.
What are your future plans? After I graduate, I hope to move out west to work at a ski area for a year or two, and then I want to work in advertising or marketing research, which I’ve had a lot of fun doing in class and as an independent research study during my senior year.
What kind of person is Kyle Sullivan? Kyle Boogie… I’ve been on two conference champion relays with Kyle, but he hasn’t always run track. He started out playing lacrosse, and ran track outdoors during our sophomore year. After a year off, he came back and ran all season this year. I think he brought a refreshing attitude to the track team. Oftentimes, runners are too willing to be hurt. Kyle doesn’t have a lot of background in track, so he never seemed to care about how his legs felt. If you asked him to run a race, he did it, no questions asked. He has worked his tail off this year, and has made a huge impact on a team that he was only a member of for a year and a half. Plus he’s going to Columbia next year, so I guess he’s got to be smart…
Eric Strouse
What’s the best part of being on the track team? I get to run alongside a handful of handsome men wearing short shorts while having engaging conversations about science and life on a daily basis.
What’s your most memorable Muhlenberg track and field memory? Winning the freshman time trial and watching Stuart Udis run a 1:52 in the 4×800 to win conferences my freshman year.
How have you been able to manage your time between classes and being on the track team to make the Dean’s List the past four semesters? It’s not that I am smarter than most people here at Muhlenberg… I have been able to utilize a time machine to balance my incredibly hectic and stressful schedule.
What are your future plans? If marrying softball star Jennie Finch and being a stay-at-home dad does not work out, I plan on going to dental school
What’s Alex Price like away from the track? Alex is a great guy with a kind soul, trying to match Mike Baer grade for grade.
Kyle Sullivan
How does it feel being a part of the fastest 4×100 team in school history? We’re all athletes and have that competitive edge to us, or else we wouldn’t be here. So with that disclaimer, it feels good to be the best at something. There’s no doubt in my mind that that record will be broken very soon. That’s just what happens. If it’s not broken soon, I’ll probably have to swing by and have a small chit chat with Coach Hackett to see if everything’s OK. I also feel lucky that I just so happen to be on the team at the same time as three other very fast sprinters. It was the luck of the draw.
What’s your most memorable Muhlenberg track and field memory? Probably the cross country regional meet tailgate party we had. Good times. Face paint, body paint, loud music, Italian sausages and running around yelling at our teammates to run faster. All at 10:00 in the morning.
What are your future plans? I have a civil engineering/land development/surveying internship on Martha’s Vineyard this summer where I’ll mostly be doing drafting on a computer. For the next two years I will be going to Columbia University under the 4-2 engineering combined plan where I’ll be doing civil engineering. After that I’ll have a bachelor’s in math and physics from Muhlenberg as well as a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Columbia, which will hopefully contribute towards the probability of me getting a job.
What kind of teammate is Peter Rice? I couldn’t ask for a better teammate. Pete’s a funny guy, always cracking jokes, laughing loudly, engaging everyone in his antics and never in a bad mood. It’s great because he’s also one of the hardest-working teammates I’ve ever had. He’s always the one leading the workouts, pushing the other guys, including myself, to go faster and do an extra hill run or two after we’ve already done eight of them. I think I speak for the whole team when I say Pete is an inspiration for all of us.