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Friendly rivals Ben Veatch and Zack Snider of Indiana - Parker West - DyeStatPublished by
Friendly Rivals: Zack Snider and Ben Veatch
By Parker West for DyeStat
When Ben Veatch finished fifth on Saturday night in the 3,200 meters at the Arcadia Invitational one of the excited webcast viewers back home in Indiana was Zack Snider.
The two runners, Veatch and Snider, are Indiana's best and part of a strong tradition within the state. Although they attend different schools, they live in the same city (Carmel) and share a history of close races.
 Snider, a senior at Brebeuf Jesuit High School, and Veatch, a junior at Carmel High School, have been competing against each other since they were in middle school. And even back then, they were rivals pushing each other for local supremacy.
“We were pretty close (in talent) in middle school," Veatch said. "Throughout his eighth grade and my seventh grade year we had some pretty close cross country races, especially in the city meet (among) the three Carmel middle schools. I believe we were only a second apart."
Back then, and for the first couple of years in separate high schools, Snider and Veatch were rivals more than they were friends.
"I wouldn’t say we became friends until, really, this past cross country season (when we went to) the national meets," Veatch said. "I never really had hung out with him before. He was just a really good runner that I wanted to beat. Now that we’ve actually hung out, we're friends."
One of the most notable of Veatch-Snider clashes came at last fall's Indiana state cross country championships, where Veatch caught Snider in the final strides and outleaned him for a .07 seconds margin of victory. From there, both of them qualified for Foot Locker nationals.
"It was always pretty clear to me that Ben was going to be very good well past middle school,” Snider said. “We both had a highly decorated local role model in Carmel's Chris Walden (now at Cal-Berkeley). Now, nothing seems all that different. We both are trying to run as fast as possible and win while doing it. We’re just slightly larger now."
Some have wondered, "What if Zack Snider went to Carmel, one of the nation's cross country powerhouse programs?"
In a city of 85,000 located north of Indianapolis, it's unusual to have two runners this talented at the same time.
“Carmel is a big city, so we rarely see each other outside of running, but the thought of him going to Carmel has crossed my mind a few times, especially with the national championship implications,” Veatch said.
Snider doesn't give it a second thought.
"I'm happy where I am," he said. “(Living so close) makes for better competition, not only between Ben and I, but between Brebeuf and Carmel. Our whole teams know each other."
Athletes from both schools utilize the same strengthening and speed development work at St. Vincent’s Sports Performance. Snider and Veatch use the facility sometimes and it gives them one more common bond when they see each other at national races like NXN, Foot Locker, or New Balance Nationals.
But it's the head to head history that tends to bring out the best in both of them. Here's a look at some of those results in cross country races:
- 2012 Carmel Semi-State: Snider 6th place, 16:03. Veatch 10th place, 16:06
- 2012 IHSAA State Meet: Snider 16th place, 15:47. Veatch 27th place, 15:58
- 2013 Terre Haute Savings Bank Inv.: Snider 1st place, 15:50. Veatch 3rd place, 16:05
- 2013 Carmel Semi-State: Snider 2nd place, 15:36. Veatch 8th place, 15:48.
- 2013 IHSAA State Meet: Veatch 5th place, 15:44. Snider 10th place, 15:50.
- 2014 Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational: Veatch 1st place, 15:08. Snider 2nd place, 15:13.
- 2014 Carmel Semi-State: Veatch 1st place, 15:10. Snider 2nd place, 15:30.
- 2014 IHSAA State Meet: Veatch 1st place, 15:09.30, Snider 2nd place, 15:09.37.
- 2014 NXN Midwest Regional: Veatch 3rd place, 15:05. Snider 6th place, 15:13.
- 2014 NXN National Championship: Veatch 7th place, 15:28. Snider 53rd, 16:09.
- 2014 Foot Locker Midwest Regional: Veatch 5th place, 15:11. Snider 9th place, 15:18.
- 2014 Foot Locker Nationals: Veatch 14th place, 15:33. Snider 23rd place, 15:53.
That list shows quite a few wins in a row for Veatch.
But at New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York last month, they both ran in the next-to-fastest section of the boys 2-mile. And it was Snider who stepped up big with a victory in 8:58.40. Veatch was fifth in that race with 9:12.29.
A few weeks later, Snider was ill and unable to make the trip to Arcadia, Calif. But Veatch performed admirably and ran a new personal record, good for No. 7 all-time in Indiana history. (Behind the likes of Futsum Zeinasellassie and Rudy Chapa).
These recent results are raising excitement in Indiana for the 2015 outdoor season and another clash between Veatch and Snider in the state track finals -- along with the possibility of additional sub-9 performances by the end of June. More news |
