State Champion spotlight: Ryan Bender MDI


State Champion spotlight: Ryan Bender MDI HS

MDI senior Ryan Bender won a pair of individual state titles as he crossed the finish line first in the Class B 400m & 200m. Bender who won the long jump title in 2015, opted for the track this season as he dealt with a shin injury that prevented him from jumping. We caught up with him to talk about his preparation, his decision to drop the long jump & about his goals.


What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?

I would say my preparations going into the state meet was just trying to stay healthy and not get injured. I knew physically I was where I wanted to be so it was all about just taking it easy in practice and just fine tuning the little things like block starts.

How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?

Being my 4th year at states, I have learned to control my emotions and dealing with pressure. This year was nice because I was seeded either 1st or 2nd in all three of my events so I knew I was going to do pretty well so I just went down there to have fun.

You won the 400m & 200m & placed 2nd in the 55m at the state meet. You are no stranger to winning, as you took the long jump title a year ago, what did it mean to come back to win 2 individual titles on the track this year?

It meant a lot to me to me to come back and when both the 200 and 400. Winning long jump last year was a really good feeling and then turning around from that and winning both the 200 and 400 this year was really a big feat for me and really rewarding.


Coming into the season what were your goals and did you achieve them?

Coming into this year I didn't have a lot of personal goals, I really just wanted to be the best runner I could be and just make the most of my last year. I started off the year not exactly knowing what I wanted to do and it wasn't until about halfway through the season when I really started finding success in the 400. At the point, I was seeded very high in the state in both the 200 and 400 which was exciting but I knew it would be a challenge to win both events when they are so close together. In the end, I set some high goals for myself and those were to win both the 200 and 400 as well as the 55 which almost came true if it wasn't for an incredible race by Evan Porter.


Can you talk about not competing in the long jump this year after your success a year ago?

Lastly, there is a little bit of a funny story about not competing in long jump this season. I jumped the first two meets this year and started to pick up where I left off by hitting a 20-foot jump the second meet in. The following week at practice I was jumping inside and I over jumped one of the mats we practice landing on and hit a bleacher getting a pretty bad shin contusion. On top of some minor shin splints that really did me in for jumping. After that, I had to take a few weeks off from jumping to let it heal, but by the point it had fully healed to where I could jump on it 100% PVCs was right around the corner. I knew I was having a lot of success in the 55, 200 and 400 so it didn't make sense to try and rush back into jumping after having a month off. So talking with my coaches, we made the mutual decision that not jumping at either PVCs or states was the better choice for me and in the end, I was happy with our choice.



Bender's 200m Progression

INDOOR Graph
201623.00
201424.52


Bender's 400m Progression

400M
INDOOR Graph
201651.26
201554.91
201457.81


2015-16 Results

2016SEASONEVENTMEETDATEPLACEROUND
6.87Indoor55m29th New England Indoor Track & Field Championships19thPrelims>
36.62Indoor300m29th New England Indoor Track & Field Championships13thFinals>
6.71Indoor55mClass B Indoor State Championship2ndFinals>
6.71Indoor55mClass B Indoor State Championship2ndPrelims>
23.00Indoor200mClass B Indoor State Championship1stFinals>
51.64Indoor400mClass B Indoor State Championship1stFinals>
6.72Indoor55mEMITL Championship1stFinals>
6.70Indoor55mEMITL Championship1stPrelims>
23.27Indoor200mEMITL Championship2ndFinals>
51.39Indoor400mEMITL Championship1stFinals>
19-5IndoorLJEMITL: BRW, BUC, FOX, MAT, MDI, OT, SUM3rdFinals>
23.26Indoor200mEMITL: BRW, BUC, FOX, MAT, MDI, OT, SUM2ndFinals>
6.79Indoor55mEMITL: BAN, BRW, CEN, FOX, HAM, MAT, MDI2ndFinals>
6.85Indoor55mEMITL: BAN, BRW, CEN, FOX, HAM, MAT, MDI2ndPrelims>
51.26Indoor400mEMITL: BAN, BRW, CEN, FOX, HAM, MAT, MDI1stFinals>
6.76Indoor55mEMITL: BRW, CEN, ELL, HER, MDI1stFinals>
6.85Indoor55mEMITL: BRW, CEN, ELL, HER, MDI1stPrelims>
23.44Indoor200mEMITL: BRW, CEN, ELL, HER, MDI1stFinals>
52.92Indoor400mEMITL: BRW, CEN, ELL, HER, MDI2ndFinals>
20-0.25IndoorLJEMITL: BRW, CEN, FOX, HER, JB, MDI, OT2ndFinals>
23.47Indoor200mEMITL: BRW, CEN, FOX, HER, JB, MDI, OT1stFinals>
2015SEASONEVENTMEETDATEPLACEROUND
18-4IndoorLJBowdoin Relays4thFinals>
36-11IndoorTJBowdoin Relays5thFinals>