Craig Engels last race in Winston-Salem was on June 2nd when he ran an NC#3 All-Time Outdoor 800 of 1:49.89 at NCRunners Elite. Just a week before he set the North Carolina Mile State Record of 4:03.96, converts to 4:02.55 for 1600, at the Dream Mile.
The Ole Miss senior will run an 800 meter leg in a loaded DMR field that includes Virginia, Wake Forest, Villanova and Arkansas at JDL Fast Track at 2:05 on Saturday. On New Years Eve Engels broke his collar bone while snowboarding and had to get surgery just a few days later. Doctors told him he wouldn't be able to run for 8-10 weeks after he had surgery and would be limited to a sling for 2-4 weeks. The Ole Miss trainer's Walt Mckean and Adriana Logan has dealt with numerous collar bone injuries and was able to get Engels back to running and racing much quicker than originally planned. Engles was back to racing a miracoulous three weeks after surgery where he split 1:51 on a DMR leg and recently ran 1:47.9 for 800 meters at the Iowa State Classic last weekend. That mark ranked him 15th in the NCAA.
The main focus on this indoor season seems to be a DMR national title. Last year Ole Miss took 3rd at NCAA Indoor Nationals while being the 12th and final team to qualify (if I remember correctly). They return a full squad from last years team and add Freshman Nick DeRay on the 400m leg. The Rebels DMR currently ranks 7th in the NCAA with a mark of 9:34.39, but with many schools yet to run a DMR, they will look to JDL to get a nice 8 second flat track conversion on Saturday.
Engels will head out to his old stomping grounds at Salem Lake in Winston-Salem for a long run Sunday morning before heading back to Oxford.
