By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Several people congratulated Villa Madonna senior Eric Baugh after he won three events at the Class A regional track and field meet on Wednesday at the Walton-Verona Sports Complex.
Baugh smiled and thanked each of them as he walked off the track, but he wasn’t satisfied with his winning times in the 1600, 800 and 3200-meter runs.
“I wanted to run a little bit faster in all three of them, but it wasn’t the day for that, I guess,” he said.
The day for that will be Saturday, May 23, when Baugh competes in the Class A state championship meet. His goal is to become the first Villa Madonna athlete to win three individual events in the small-school state meet. Baugh nearly did that last year when he won the 800 and 1600 races, but then he placed ninth in the 3200.
He’s determined not to let that happen again.
“I didn’t do very well last year in the 3200 and my goal was to win all three, not two, all three, ” he said. “Since the beginning of this year there’s been workouts tailored towards winning all three. If I just win two I won’t be as happy as I’d like to be.”
The 17-year-old Edgewood resident is an exceptional student in addition to being a highly successful athlete. He scored a 35 on the ACT and was named a National Merit Finalist. He will attend Butler University in Indiana, but he hasn’t decided on a major yet.
Baugh is mainly looking forward to competing in cross country and track while he’s in college. He thinks his best years as a runner are still ahead of him because he’s only been involved with the sport for four years, joining the Villa Madonna cross country team when he was freshman to get in shape for basketball. Running became his passion.
He gave up playing basketball after his sophomore year to devote himself to it.
“He loves life when he’s running,” said Villa Madonna track coach Joe Cordonnier. “Sometimes we have to scale him back in (training) mileage because that’s what he does for fun.”
Brian Rapien is the Villa Madonna cross country coach who also works with the distance runners on the track team. He and Cordonnier have been amazed at the work ethic Baugh shows in practice.
“We sit down and try to come up with a workout that would really push Eric and we haven’t found one yet,” Cardonnier said. “I mean, he just has no limits. At least, we haven’t found it yet.”
Last fall, Baugh won the Class A regional cross country meet and placed second in the state meet. He holds the school record in that sport with a time of 15 minutes, 21 seconds for 3.1 miles.
On the track, Baugh set new school records this season in the 1600 (4:10.43) and the 3200 (9:13.81) distance event. His best time in the 800 is 1:56.28, which is a fraction of a second behind 2009 Villa Madonna graduate Corey Stoll.
“It’s always been one of my goals to get all of Corey’s records,” Baugh said. “I’ve still got one left.”
Baugh has one last chance to break Stoll’s school record in the 800 at the Class A state track meet on May 23. His ultimate goal, however, is to claim gold medals in all three of the distance races. He said winning the 3200 has been the most difficult because it’ll be his last event of the day.
“There are a couple guys who just do the 3200 and they’ll be super fresh, but I’ll come in with two races already under my belt and pretty worn down already,” Baugh said. “That been the challenge so I’m working very day to try and get my strength up for it this time.”
Working hard is what made Baugh a successful distance runner. He takes a week off after the cross country and track seasons end, but that’s the only break in his year-round training schedule.
“I wish I could tell you there’s some secret thing you can do and go out and start winning races, but there’s not,” he said. “It takes years and years of waking up every day before everybody else, running more miles than everybody else and running faster (in races) than everybody else. That’s the secret if there ever was one.”