April 26, 2009

Garden City, N.Y. - We're talking about nationals; not leagues, not counties, not conferences or regionals, nationals. Competing at the national level in one's sport is typically the highest and most difficult goal to accomplish. But for Tom Eickelberg, nationals are nothing new.

Eickelberg is an all-around athlete, who ran Cross Country/Track & Field and swam for his high school team in Leonia, New Jersey. On top of that, he also found time for cycling. "My dad, who is a PE and Health teacher at my high school and a former Adelphi swimmer himself, encouraged me to start swimming at an early age. Eventually he got me hooked on triathlons so biking and running soon followed," Eickelberg said. All this conditioning paid off as he led his high school cross-country team to both League and County championships, and became an All-American high school swimmer in the 500m Freestyle.

When it came time to choose a college Adelphi University always stood out. Adelphi's proximity to New York City, to his home in New Jersey, a father who is an Alumni, and not to mention substantial academic, alumni, and athletic scholarships added to his decision. Eickelberg planned on swimming but after talking to Cross Country coach Adam Siepiola, he decided to run cross-country in the fall of 2007.

His first year swimming was plagued with a shoulder injury, so about a month into the season he decided to red-shirt swimming and run track instead. Reacting to his decision, Eickelberg proclaimed, "I didn't let it get me down too much. Track would still keep me in shape for this summer."

When summer comes, one thing comes to Eickelberg's mind: triathlons. Eickelberg has had "too many" top-10 finishes in triathlons ranging from sprints to Olympic distances. The summer of `08 came, hopes were high, and training was going well. All that changed one fateful day in June. While riding his bike he was side-swiped by a school bus which caused him to lose control at around 25mph, hit an oncoming car, and finally come to rest under a different oncoming car. "All I remember was extending my arm out against the bus, then a feeling of weightlessness, and then opening my eyes looking up at the engine of a car," Eickelberg recalled. "My helmet literally saved my life. It "looked nothing like a helmet," shattered beyond all recognition and resemblance to what his helmet looked like before the accident.

Recovering from the accident was grueling and painful. Eickelberg was determined to compete in the New Jersey State Triathlon in July, so with broken ribs and a battered body he fought through the pain and continued training. Placing 8th overall, Eickelberg claimed, "Of course I would have like to finish higher, and might have been able to if it wasn't for the accident. But all things considered I was satisfied with my performance." He followed July's triathlon with another a month later in August. With unhealed ribs and still in great amounts of pain, Eickelberg managed to finish the USA Triathlon Sprint Nationals in 20th place.

As another testament to his toughness, Eickelberg competed the entire 2008 Cross Country season with lingering pain in his ribs and shoulder. At the Regional meet, despite all of his injuries and losing his shoe half-way through the race, Eickelberg managed to place 5th for Adelphi and run a personal best of 34 minutes 20 seconds.

His athletic accomplishments didn't end with running either; at the Metropolitan Conference Championship Meet, Eickelberg picked up one individual Adelphi record in the 1650m Free, and was a member of the record-setting 200 and 400 Medley Relays and the 400 and 800 Free Relays.

With cross country and swimming behind him, his eyes once again turn to triathlons. Eickelberg will be competing in the Elite wave of the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship on April 18 in Lubbock, Texas. This meet will feature close to 1,000 of the country's best collegiate triathletes.

As it was stated before, competing at the national level is nothing new for one of Adelphi's two-sport athletes. If you were to ask this man, "How was the national meet?" he's one of the few athletes at Adelphi that could respond with, "Which one?"

Tom Eickelberg is a high school All-American swimmer, swam at YMCA Nationals his junior and senior years in high school, is a five-time school record holder, and is a national-caliber triathlete.

We're talking about nationals.

Bailey Ince is a junior Political Science major at Adelphi University and is also a member of the Cross Country/Track & Field team.