Wabash College - Class of 1991

You know, when you think about it, there aren’t too many academic buildings or living units that remain the same as when we stomped around Wabash. I was up on campus last week, and did a double-take when turning onto Grant from that road that winds behind the Chapel and past Martindale. Sure enough, there’s a big empty lot where Ol’ Kingery Hall once stood.

Sure enough, it was gone! Wiped from the face of campus.

If you hadn’t heard, the old girl was heavily damaged by high winds last spring and faced the wrecking ball over break. Its sudden absence brought about a flood of good memories about the times I used the grand old facility, two in particular:

• Working on a newsletter for Professor John Fischer and forging a wonderful friendship from a professor with whom I never had a class.
• Partaking in my weekly run across campus from Hovey on a Wednesday night to find the entire staff of the Bachelor sitting in the first-floor Mac Lab madly typing their past-deadline stories for that week’s edition.

According to the online campus tour:

[Kingery Hall was] Wabash's oldest classroom building to remain in its original location. It was built in 1854 to house a preparatory school for the College. One of its young pupils was Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur. From 1891 to 1916 it was home to professor Hugh Kingery; still later it was a dormitory and a campus infirmary. It [housed] emeritus faculty offices and a computer lab.

We’ll miss the old girl. Raise a glass to Kingery Hall!

I’m not suffering from Peter Pan Syndrome…I swear. As some of you may know, I help out the Wabash Swimming Team as a volunteer alumni assistant coach. This year, I was again lucky enough to accompany Coach Peter Casares and his squad of tankers down to Deerfield Beach, Florida, for nine days of sun, surf, and swimming. Gone are the days of taking three Dodge Ram vans down to the Atlantic Coast. Gone is the fleabag Relax Inn. (It was razed the year after Coach Pebworth retired.) No more Aquacrest even. We’re in a brand-new facility roughly two miles from the hotel, conveniently located a block from the beach.

I’ve been swimming Masters for a couple of years now, so I’d say I’m in decent shape for getting in the water about twice a week. Still, I’m not stupid enough to pretend that I can hang with Wabash students in peak shape! I did manage to get in for warmup a couple of times and join the guys for some games of beach volleyball. Here’s my entry from the Lanelines blog, which catalogued the trip on the Wabash Web site:

(Pictured: The team swims in the new Deerfield Aquatic Center. Freshman Rob Dent impresses a St. Mary's girl with his beach Frisbee skills.)

December 31, 2006

Florida Training Camp

Day 3 - Hugh Vandivier ’91

"The Perfect Storm"

What I remember best from my time as a swimmer on the Florida training trip—besides the grueling two-a-days, of course—is that great Wabash philosophy of “Work Hard, Play Hard.” We put a lot into our practices and motivated each other. As a group of guys from different living units and hometowns and personalities, we seemed to finally gel as a team, ready to attack the rest of the season. And we had a hell of a lot of fun.

This team has impressed me from the second we gathered in that classroom for team callout in August. They exhibit the best qualities you should look for in a great team: they’re competitive, they’re focused on the task at hand, they listen (most of the time), they’re confident in their talents and abilities, they respond extremely well to what Coach Casares throws at them, they adjust to adversity, they support and encourage each other, and they accept each other’s quirks. On top of that, they’re Wabash gentlemen. Suzanna, the owner of the Carriage House Resort, greeted us warmly upon our arrival. And the other residents of the hotel have been impressed and a little surprised to find a group of so well-behaved young men. Likewise, Khaled, the manager at the wonderful and new Deerfield Beach Aquatic Center, was excited to see us and has been very accommodating. And what makes my trip down here so terrific is how funny and great these guys are to coach both in and out of the pool.

• Nate Rutz seems determined to dig his way to China.
  
• Phil Towne gets revved up when getting a group of guys to play volleyball on the beach, while Steve Zajac plays a 6-on-6 like he’s in a 2-on-2 match.
  
• Yesterday, Craig Vetor nonchalantly pointed to his thigh where a Portuguese man-of-war stung him.
• Rob Dent, Nate Robbins, and Nick Rockefeller have been learning the finesse of playing shuffleboard, with Paul Wilson sending an opponent’s disc off of the 10 space and into the -10.
  
• Senior Tony Caldwell cheered wildly for his beloved Iowa Hawkeyes while studying up for his impending comps.
  

I have felt all season that the planets are aligning and the conditions right for a perfect storm to break out in February. Stay tuned. I can’t wait to see what happens…

What made this trip different was the St. Mary's squad. Their new coach, Ryan Domkowski, is a '00 Wabash grad and professor of anatomy at Notre Dame's sister school. He took both teams out to dinner at Buca di Beppo on New Year's Eve. At the end of the meal, our guys serenaded the Belles to a rousing rendition of "Old Wabash." Coach Pebworth would be proud of how our young men treated the "young lovelies" from St. Mary's.

Last year, it was interesting to hear Steve Turk talk to the butterfliers on the team and rant about how his record should have been broken by now. I'll have to tell him and Ron Pitcock that their records are in jeopardy! Mark my words...

(Pictured: Coach Casares instructs the team before practice. Freshmen Steve Zajac and Nick Rockefeller write out postcards to prospective recruits. Phil Towne shows off his power volleyball serve. The guys treat the St. Mary's Belles to two verses of "Old Wabash" after dinner at Buca. St. Mary's Coach Ryan Domkowski '00 on deck. His shirt says, "St. Mary's College Football" on the front and "Undefeated since 1844" on the back.)