Competing at the Next Level: Josh Sabo

Apr 25, 2013

<p> It’s been a pleasure having the opportunity to interview some of Ohio’s and the Nation’s best Cross Country and Track & Field Athletes.  Most have moved on to pursue their educations and to compete at the next level.  We reached out to our interviewee’s and asked them what their experience has been at the next level.  Many have gotten back and shared their athletic experiences to date, as well as what their expectations were, some recommendations and also the realities of competing at the next level.</p>

Josh Sabo (2011) Revere

Ohio State University (Middle Distance)

•3rd Midwest Meet of Champions 1600 4:17.26

•2nd OHSAA D1 1600 4:12.48

•PR 800m High School OHSAA Regionals 1:52.08

MileSplit: Josh, How is everything going right now?

Josh: Everything is going alright. Had to redshirt this indoor season due to injury which is unfortunate, but besides that everything is going well.

MileSplit: What's the biggest difference between high school and college, both schoolwise and track wise?

Josh: The one thing that I think is the biggest difference between high school and college in general is the amount of coursework that is assigned. Throw in being a student-athlete and traveling almost every weekend and it's almost impossible. This is why my proudest accomplishment to date is the 3.8 GPA I currently have. Another big thing is obviously the level of competition. In high school, I got the opportunity to compete against Colby Alexander and Brannon Kidder, two amazing milers. Both of these races were billed as a "Me vs. Them" type scenario (although as we all know, both destroyed me). In college, suddenly the whole field you're racing against is full of "Brannon Kidders" and "Colby Alexanders." I remember my roommate, Michael Brajdic, telling me that in the BIG 10 the 25th best time in the 3k this year was 8:12. Getting used to running in a pack as opposed to leading the whole race is certainly a hard thing to do.

MileSplit: What has been your favorite collegeiate track memories so far?

Josh: I have two, the first is running 24:23 in the 8k at Notre Dame in cross country this past year. It was over a one minute PR. And the second, being the freshman that got to travel out west (Seattle, Palo Alto, Tucson) with guys like Cory Leslie, Jeff See, Chris Fallon, and Dan White. I ended up running 4:07/3:49 and hope to build off of that and hopefully break four next indoor season.

MileSplit: How has training differed from high school to college?

Josh: Hardest thing is for sure being asked to workout 3 times a week instead of 1 or 2 times in high school. Plus the intensity is insane sometimes.

MileSplit: Ohio State has had a bit of coaching turn over in the last year, what do you feel the goals are of the new coaching staff?

Josh: Obviously everyone knows that Coach Gary left last year. This was obviously not really the way I had envisioned my first year of college ending up. However, we luckily were able to hire Coach Bethea who in turn hired Coach Brice Allen. Both coaches are committed to turning Ohio State into a regional power, conference contender, and national player every year. I came to Ohio State to help build something, I'm confident that we are on our way.