Patterson at top of PAC
LATROBE — From tired to inspired.
Butler graduate Tim Patterson recently completed such a journey as a distance runner for the Saint Vincent College men’s track and field team.
After struggling during the indoor season, Patterson improved during the outdoor season and wound up being named the Most Valuable Performer of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships last weekend in Morgantown.
The junior won the 10,000 meters in 32 minutes, 49 seconds, claimed the 5,000 meters in 15:18 and placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase during the meet.
“Once I won the 10,000 meters, there was talk that it may happen,” Patterson said of receiving the award. “I knew I had to win the 5,000 meters to have a chance. Once I did that, I felt like I had a good shot at it.
“I was confident, but just hearing my name announced for an award like that ... It made the whole season worth it.”
The season did not come along easily for Patterson.
“He just struggled, seemed tired a lot,” Bearcats coach Kevin Wanichko said of Patterson. “There may have been an iron deficiency going on there, something. Whatever it was, Tim got it straightened out. Now he’s running the way we know Tim Patterson can run.”
Patterson recalled his indoor struggles, saying that “I felt drained during indoor races. I’m not sure what the problem was. But gradually, with each outdoor race, I got better and better.”
Patterson became the first track athlete in Saint Vincent College history to win the Most Valuable Performer award at the PAC meet.
The Bearcats have a pair of upcoming meets before the regional championships in three weeks. Patterson won the 5,000 meters at last year’s regional.
“He’s going to run the next two meets, but only to help pace our other runners,” Wanichko said. “We’re going to scale back his mileage over the next couple of weeks and get him ready for the regional.”
Patterson’s winning regional time in the 5,000 last season was a personal-best 14 minutes, 44 seconds. He did not make the cut-off time for the national meet.
He doesn’t expect to do so this season, either.
“My immediate goal is to defend my 5,000-meter title in the region,” Patterson said. “I would have to shave a lot of seconds off my time to make nationals. The cut-off time there is 14:15. That’s a little unrealistic for me.”
But making the Division III Nationals in cross country this fall is definitely on his radar.
“I fully expect him to get there,” Wanichko said of cross country nationals. “I’d love to see Tim make All-American at that meet. He will be competing at a national championship level, for sure.”
Distance running has been Patterson’s forte for years now.
His fifth-grade basketball coach, Jerry Maher, was also Butler’s youth cross country coach. He told Patterson he should come out for the team.
“I did (cross country) in sixth grade and wasn’t crazy about it at first,” Patterson said. “Then I started to be competitive in races and saw I had some talent for distance running and I got into it.
“My biggest surprise at the PAC meet was winning the 10,000 meters. I hadn’t run that event all year. I was in seventh place halfway through and pulled ahead to win it. I was not expecting that.”
Patterson ran distance events at Butler with the likes of C.J. Singleton, Sage and Skyler Vavro. He credits them for pushing his development as a competitive athlete.
“Running with them strengthened me mentally in the sport,” he said. “Physically, it was there, but from a mental standpoint, those guys put the ‘winner’ inside me. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Patterson is carrying a 3.3 grade point average as a criminology major. He has two years of athletic eligibility remaining at Saint Vincent.
“Tim ran and trained with outstanding runners at Butler,” Wanichko said. “His experiences there have been Saint Vincent’s gain. His ceiling can be whatever he wants it to be. He has endless talent.”
