Stamberger follows family footsteps

LAMOILLE — Following in the steps of his older siblings, Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio’s Thomas Stamberger has run cross country all through high school.

No doubt they are proud to see him with his best season yet, where he won two regular season meets, finished in the top five in four more, and made the 1A State Finals for the first time, ultimately placing 109th with a time of 16:30.81.

All contribute to Thomas Stamberger being named the BCR 2018 Cross Country Boys Runner of the Year, an honor he received in his sophomore year as well.

“It’s awesome to have this award,” he said. “My season didn’t go as well as I liked, but it’s good that I wrapped it up in a strong way. I started of a bit weak this season but had some strong races toward the end.”

Stamberger’s coach Bob Halberg notes another achievement and an additional challenge he had to deal with.

“Tom was the third boys State qualifier from Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio and has been running with a persistent calf injury for the last two years,” Halberg said. “I am very proud of what he has accomplished. We had an extremely young team this year, and Tom proved to be a great mentor to this group of up-and-comers.”

Conditioning on and off season has proved beneficial to his performance.

“I run all during the summer, and six days a week during the season,” Stamberger said. “I know all the courses well, and I can picture how they’re going to play out, so that’s how I prepare.”

Stamberger said he hit his stride at mid-season this year.

“Around the second week of October I was running my strongest races and felt the best,” he said.

A typical run for Stamberger follows a consistent strategy.

“If it’s a smaller meet, I’ll go out with the front pack,” he said. “But in a bigger meet like Columbus Day or sectional, I’ll just keep the front people in my sight for the first mile.

“The hardest part for me is always the second mile, because I’m just waiting to hear my time. It’s all guts the third mile, just worry about picking off other guys and kick in all you have left at the end.”

Making it to State was especially satisfying in his senior year.

“It’s been my goal since I started high school, though I fell short last year,” he said. “Even though I didn’t run the way I wanted, the whole experience was great. It’s fun to be down there.”

Stamberger plans to stay in the sport beyond high school.

“I haven’t decided where yet,” he said. “But I’d like to run track and cross country at the collegiate level.”