In his Dartmouth distance running beanie and oversized hockey jersey from high school, men's track and field team member Anthony Romaniw '13 carries his past with him even in his first track season as a Dartmouth student-athlete.
Although Romaniw played hockey growing up in his native Canada, he is now fully dedicated to running, he said.
"Track is a huge time commitment here, and if I'm not training I'm usually studying, eating or sleeping," he said. "It's easy to get lost spending most of your time in sweatpants."
When Romaniw looked at colleges, he hoped to find a school with the right mix of both athletic and academic excellence, he said.
"Schools in Canada don't have much balance when it comes to school and running," he said. "There are good academic schools and good running schools, but not both."
Despite considering the possibility of accepting a full-ride scholarship from a large university, Romaniw said he felt at home in Hanover, N.H. from his first visit.
"I had a really strong connection to Dartmouth when I visited here," he said. "I knew it was the right place, and here I am now."
Romaniw started the Fall term running with the men's cross country team before moving indoors to run mid-distance for the winter season, after a suggestion from men's track and field head coach Barry Harwick.
Romaniw's training has clearly paid off, as he has produced several exciting victories so far this season. At the Dartmouth Relays, Romaniw's first collegiate track meet, the rookie won the 800-meter run in a time of 1:54.85. Two weeks later, at the Yale University-Columbia University dual meet, Romaniw ran a 2:29.08 to take first in the 1000-meters. Last weekend, at the Terrier Classic, he placed third out of a large 800-meter field, running a time of 1:51.02.
"I've had a pretty great season so far," he said. "It's been nice to start off strong and continue to improve."
Although Romaniw takes his sport seriously, he said he also tries to have fun with running and enjoys the Big Green's team dynamic.
"It's been great training with a team finally," Romaniw said. "Back home in Canada I didn't have a lot of kids to train with or do long runs with, so it got pretty lonely. We have an awesome training dynamic here and we all push each other a lot."
The team has continued to spend a lot of time outdoors despite the weather and Romaniw said that he will continue to average somewhere around 50 miles a week for most of the season.
"New Hampshire is a great place to be training in the winter," he said. "Sure, it's cold, but the places we have to run around here can't be matched. We have 45 different runs of different distances that we can choose from on a lot of days."
While some athletes struggle with the initial transition from indoor to outdoor track, Romaniw said he has high expectations for the rest of the season as well as going into the spring.
"I know that if I have a perfect race in the perfect situation this spring I can go 1:47 and I will win Heps," he said. "But running is one of those things you never know what will happen with on race day."
Despite his confidence and strong performance this Winter, Romaniw said his nervous energy still runs high on race day.
"I've been working on trying to calm down a little bit but it's just part of my race day," he said. "As far as the pressure for finishing well goes, I am confident in my ability to get everything out of myself on race day but also realize I'm just a freshman and that I have time."
While meets can be intense, Romaniw said that he has a good time announcing home meets along with teammate John Turro '12.
"I really think we should get a radio show, but Turro is always busy lifting in the gym and never has time," he joked. "We've had a good time being goofy and getting on the mic at home meets."
The men's track and field team will remain in Hanover this weekend to compete in the Dartmouth Indoor Classic.
