Runs to glory
PITTSBURGH — Run to glory.
That should be the theme for Butler graduates Evan Gomez and Danica Snyder — because that's what they've done.
Both seniors on the cusp of graduation at Duquesne University, Gomez and Snyder won their respective steeplechase events recently at the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Championships in Fairfax, Va.
It marked the first conference titles for each in what was their final conference meet.
“I got third in the steeplechase last year and really wanted to win it this time around,” Gomez said. “It was pretty thrilling.”
It was doubly thrilling, actually.
Gomez and Snyder have been dating since high school.
As a senior at Butler, Gomez set the school record of 9 minutes, 17.09 seconds in the 3,200-meter run. That stands as the county record as well.
Snyder set the school record of 5:06..83 in the 1,600-meter run her senior season. That's good for second fastest all-time in the county.
Right before Gomez won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the A-10 meet, Snyder won the women's title, setting a school record of 10:17.76 in the process.
“Watching Danica run in the finals and win was pretty cool,” Gomez said. “And I knew I had to win.”
When he did, Snyder was the first one to greet him.
“It was awesome,” she said. “I just grabbed him and hugged him. We dreamed of doing this. It was almost storybook, the way it happened.
“I wasn't running to break the record. That wasn't even on my mind. All I cared about was winning a conference title.”
Snyder placed fourth in the 5,000 meters as well at the A-10 meet. Gomez finished 10th in the 1,500-meter run and 11th in the 5,000 meters.
The latter two events were run only two hours apart.
“I only planned on doing one, but we had a guy get injured and had no one to take his spot,” Gomez said. “I went up to our coach and asked him to put me in there to try to score some points.”
Duquesne coach Jim Lear obliged.
“Those are two outstanding student-athletes who should be proud of their careers,” Lear said. “Both are about team and both juggled busy schedules to have productive careers on the track.“They never made excuses or missed a practice because of their busy academic schedules and they easily could have. If I had more Evan's and Danica's on my team, coaching would be a lot easier.”Snyder is graduating with a nursing degree and will compete in the NCAA regionals later this month in Jacksonville, Fla. Gomez has completed a double major — in biology and health sciences — and will stay on at Duquesne to pursue his doctorate in physical therapy.He has one more meet — May 15 at Princeton — to try to qualify for the regional in the steeplechase.“Princeton is a nice place to run and Evan is only a few seconds off (regional qualifying time),” Lear said. “I imagine he'll get there.”In the meantime, Snyder has upped the ante in terms of her goals. She wants to reach the national meet in Eugene, Ore.“That's where my focus is right now, “ she said. “When I saw my time was very competitive with the national competition, I decided to go for it.“I'll go after a nursing job when this is all done. This is the only chance I'll have in my life to chase something like this.”Coming out of high school, Snyder decided on Duquesne before Gomez had determined his choice of college.“I really sold him on it,” Snyder said, laughing. “I talked up the program, the academics, and it was all true. Evan looked into it and it all worked out.”For Snyder, for Gomez and for Duquesne University cross country and track and field.Gomez and Snyder made all-conference in cross country last fall by placing among the top 10 in the conference meet.“We got a lot of mileage out of Butler, that's for sure,” Lear said.“I'm more emotionally vested in his races than I am in my own,” Snyder said of Gomez. “To experience the success we had in high school, then here we are four years later, maturing a great friendship, as teammates, to watch each other grow as individuals, and us as a couple ... It's the greatest feeling in the world.”Gomez will return next year as a volunteer assistant for Duquesne.“It will be nice to be around this for one more year,” he said. “I'm sure Danica and I will be doing summer road races, too. We're not done yet.”Will that schedule include the Butler Road Race?“We'll be out there. Count on that,” Snyder said.
