Rebels finally reel in relay title

Following third-place finish last year in distance medley relay, Mississippi relies on experience of Domanic, Engels and Tobin to capture historic indoor championship for rising program

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

When Ryan Vanhoy recruited Craig Engels, Robert Domanic and Sean Tobin to come to college in Oxford, Mississippi, it wasn't just about selling a promising future to a North Carolina State transfer, a Texas high school standout and a rising young Irish star.

It was about building a distance program, a winning culture and a proud tradition.

It was also an opportunity to make history on the track, which Nick DeRay, Engels, Tobin and Domanic did Friday for Ole Miss in the distance medley relay at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

With 16-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek not running the anchor leg for Oregon after capturing the 5,000-meter title less than 30 minutes earlier, the mustachioed quartet for the Rebels took advantage and relied on an impressive closing kick from Domanic to prevail in 9 minutes, 31.32 seconds and capture their first national title in any relay.

"Honestly I was hoping he was going to race. I was hoping that he was going to anchor because I wanted a shot at him, but it's OK," said Domanic, who covered the final 1,600 meters in 3:57.81.
"He wasn't there, so it made it a little bit easier for us."

Domanic received the baton from Tobin in third, then moved up to second behind Indiana's Kyle Mau entering the last lap. Indiana (9:34.17) wound up placing fifth, with Virginia Tech (9:33.35), Georgetown (9:33.42) and Oregon (9:33.52) taking second through fourth.

"I just knew I had to control my first 400 meters and not try to make up all the ground at once and just slowly chip away and once I catch up just hang on him until I can outkick him," Domanic said. "You fall in love with a vision of actually building up a program. It's nice going into a program like Oregon where you can be good right away, but taking a risk on a program where you don't know how it's going to go and really making it your own and really stepping up and working hard and making your own traditions.

"That's what we all bought into and we're loving every minute of it."

Following a third-place finish last year in 9:31.82, with Cheserek anchoring Oregon to victory in 9:27.27, a more experienced Domanic, Engels and Tobin returned from that lineup to team with the freshman DeRay in the highly anticipated rematch with the Ducks.

"We can only control what we can control. We went out there against the competition that was dealt to us and we came in here looking for a title and that's what we came away with," Tobin said. "We're confident enough that Robert is the kicker of the group. We know that when he is behind anyone, he can take anyone on a kick. We've seen him close in 51 on the last lap of the 1,500, so we know he's got foot speed.

"The only leg we really had set was (Nick), but we had the three of us and two other guys that we could have put in on any leg, so we were able to switch it up any time we wanted and we're very lucky to have that sort of range."

Engels showcased that range at the U.S. Olympic Trials by placing fourth in the 800 and fifth in the 1,500. But the opportunity to lead the Rebels to their first men's indoor national title in any event since 2005 was his motivation throughout the season.

"We came into this indoor season looking for everyone to qualify individually and run the DMR. The season didn't go completely as planned, but luckily we qualified for the DMR, which is basically the cornerstone of our program," Engels said. "We came out here not looking for second or third, we came out here to win it because that's what our program is all about is the DMR and working together to win something big."

With Raven Saunders winning her second shot put crown in three years, it marked the first time in Rebels' program history that athletes captured two indoor national championships in the same meet. It was the sixth men's indoor national title for Ole Miss overall.

"We bought into an idea that a program could be great. Before any of us came in there wasn't much success before, but we've all come together as a group," Tobin said. "You just take a visit and it's a hidden gem. We know we have that support from our coaches and teammates and we couldn't ask for more."