Butler freshman Chandler McGaha doesn’t consider himself a three-sport athlete, but his practice and travel schedules suggest otherwise.
With the 2017-18 school year winding down, the former Franklin runner has been working his time management skills like never before.
McGaha is a middle distance specialist for coach Matt Roe’s track team. He recently turned his attention to the outdoor season, having already competed in cross-country and indoor track.
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The athletic and academic workload has kept McGaha busy from the moment he arrived on campus.
“My first semester was kind of difficult,” said McGaha, who carries a 3.45 grade-point average as a pre-pharmacy major. “But this one has been quite a bit easier.”
His first collegiate competition, a 43rd-place finish in the Butler Twilight cross-country meet Aug. 1 in Carmel, started a nine-month stretch of meets that could extend well into May.
McGaha’s ability to juggle the myriad aspects of his college experience mirrors that of many other Butler student-athletes.
“One of the things that is real important to us is assimilating, which Chandler’s done very well,” said Roe, who coaches McGaha in cross-country and track. “And he’s adjusted to the training. Chandler is very studious, works hard and is committed to it.”
McGaha’s cross-country highlights included finishing 39th at the Illini Open, 36th at the John McNichols Invitational and 32nd in the Butler Open. In indoor track, Franklin’s career record-holder in the 800-meter run competed in his specialty at the Big East Indoor Championships in Staten Island, New York.
“It wasn’t my greatest meet, but I still ended up PR-ing with a 1:54.78,” McGaha said. “My goal this outdoor season is to break 1:53, which would take two and a half seconds off my personal best in high school.”
In February, Butler took part in Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational. It was there that McGaha ran the 600 meters in a time of 1:22.22 — the fifth-fastest indoor time in Bulldogs history in the event.
Roe’s philosophy is for his young runners to learn from the upperclassmen while easing into a training routine that eventually becomes second nature.
Observe and ask questions, if needed, and then make the gradual improvements.
“So far it’s been a lot of (injury) prevention seeing the trainers as much as we do,” McGaha said. “Even as a freshman we’re doing the workouts the seniors are doing, but we’re doing those workouts at our own pace.”
At the Stan Lyons Invitational earlier this month, McGaha finished ninth in the 800 and 19th in the 1,500.
The remainder of the outdoor track season gives McGaha opportunities to improve and springboard into his sophomore year. He plans to continue competing in all three seasons, but could have a redshirt season mixed in along the way (pharmacy is a six-year program).
“We’re hoping in the next month or so that we’ll see his best performances of the year,” Roe said of McGaha. “We hope he’ll run his best at the Big East Championships.”
