The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Midview’s Gendics runs with some style
Sprinter trying to bring respect to Middies’ program
Midview junior Ben Gendics has a little bit of a flare for style.
The sprinter wears a blue and gray Middies-colored bandana in his races, and he sticks out among his competitors.
“I’ve incorporated it into this season,” Gendics said. “I started it in indoor season and I kind of liked it. It’s just my own thing.”
Gendics has the game to back up that style. He won his first career invitational event at Olmsted Falls on March 25, and followed that up with a title at the Avon Lake Invitational on April 1 in the 100 meters (11.45). He also finished as a runner-up in the 200 (23.79).
Coming into the season, he has had a renewed focus. Last season, he weighed a slender 145 pounds. Over the offseason, he gained 20 to 25 pounds.
The weight gain is noticeable, and the biggest reason he did it was because he saw what that did for now senior Dave Amsden.
But last year, Amsden became Midview’s first regional sprinter qualifier in 16 years. He is also the school’s record holder in the 200 (21.09). But he will miss this season because he suffered a knee injury.
Amsden gained roughly 20 to 25 pounds from his sophomore to junior years, and that was in direct correlation to his success. Gendics will try to fill Amsden’s shoes this season, and he’s hoping to have similar success.
“It was a very late notice that I found out he won’t run this year,” Gendics said. “I was just trying to better myself for the offseason. I feel so bad for him, but he’s going to be great in college. But I really had to get my mind right once I found that out knowing I had to fill the shoes of a regional qualifier. That factored in my training. Towards the end of my races
“When you watch him run, there’s still a lot for him to go. We need to keep working with him every week and see what happens.”
— Midview coach Kevin Radigan
last year, it was hard to finish strong. So I’ve noticed it’s a lot easier to finish now and it definitely helps when you’re running into the wind.”
“We told him this is his time to take the mantle,” Midview coach Kevin Radigan said. “And he did. And you’re not seeing it only in his preparation, but how he’s focused on the track. When you watch him run, there’s still a lot for him to go. We need to keep working with him every week and see what happens.”
Of course, as someone with Amsden’s success, Gendics has picked up on a few tricks of the trade that he has implemented for his own.
“I’ve learned a lot of techniques from him,” he added.
Gendics also competes on the 4x100 relay team as the third leg and is a cornerback on the football team. He got involved in track as a seventh-grader because of his father, Jason Gendics.
Jason held the middle school 100-meter record (11.60) and Ben’s motivation was to break it. In the eighth grade, he ran an 11.51.
“My goal was to always pass my dad,” Gendics said. “It’s why I started to run. I bragged a little bit to him, but he was happy for me. If anyone was going to break it, he’d want it to be me.”
Midview’s track program is slowly putting itself on the map, with the help from Amsden and now Gendics. The boys placed sixth at the Avon Lake Invitational, the highest placement since 2008, and Gendics sees nothing but positive things moving forward.
“Midview’s track team used to kind of be a joke,” Gendics said. “And I think starting with last year and the year before, we really strengthened our team overall. At the Avon Lake Invitational, I think the best the guys have finished was ninth or 10th. And this year, we were sixth. We’ve gotten a lot better and I’m looking forward to see how we fare this season.”
Gendics describes himself as outgoing among his friends, and his favorite subject in school is math. He made it to the district finals last year and one of his goals is to make it out of districts and break 11 seconds in the 100 meters.
“Hopefully I can get that far or maybe even more than that,” Gendics said. “We’ll see.”