Chris Rombough
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Chris Rombough, born December 5, 1986, is a four-time Wisconsin State champion from New London, WI, who now runs for the University of Minnesota. He is best known for breaking Chris Solinsky's state record in the 3200m Run (with a time of 8:57.73), but was also a high school All-American in both cross country and track & field.[1]
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[edit] Sophomore Year
Chris's first trip to the WIAA State Cross Country Championships came as a New London sophomore in 2002. He placed eighth in the Division 1 championships with a time of 16:06. Rombough was the first non-senior to finish, right ahead of another sophomore, Alex Webster of Waukesha Catholic Memorial (which would win State as a team that year). The winner of the race was Stevens Point senior Chris Solinsky, who won his third straight State title and reset his own State record with a time of 14:54 over the the hilly 5000m course. For his efforts, Rombough earned First Team All-State honors, while his team placed 10th overall.
At the 2003 WIAA State Track & Field Championships, Chris won his first State medal by placing fourth in the 3200m Run with a time of 9:26.30. The next day, he narrowly missed a second medal when he placed seventh in the 1600m Run with a time of 4:21.22. Both times were personal bests for Chris.
[edit] Junior Year
Heading into the 2003 WIAA State Cross Country Championships, Chris held the title of co-favorite with Ryan Gasper of Fort Atkinson and Bryan Culver of Waukesha South. However, the battle for the individual title seemed to be settled early as Rombough took a commanding lead right from the gun. Much of the capacity crowd at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids was waiting for Gasper or Culver to catch up, but Rombough remained tough throughout and powered to his first State championship. With a winning time of 15:27, Rombough's winning margin of 15 seconds was much greater than most people expected. His time made Chris the 11th fastest runner in the history of the Wisconsin State Championships.
Chris went to the 2003 Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships with plans of qualifying for the National Championships. In order to do so, he would have to finish in the top eight of almost 400 of the best runners from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. A berth was not in the cards for Chris, as he finished a disappointing 24th with a time of 15:53. Ryan Gasper, the man who finished second to Chris just weeks earlier, earned a trip to Nationals by finishing seventh in 15:26 (he would go onto place 18th at Foot Locker Nationals).
Unfortunately, Rombough's dominance did not carry over into the track & field season. Some early injuries set him back, but he was still able to finish second to Bryan Culver in both the 1600m Run and 3200m Run. His times of 4:15.09 and 9:12.80 were both personal bests.
[edit] Senior Year
The 2004 cross country season would be very successful for Chris. He won his second Bay Conference title in a row, then met another showdown with Ryan Gasper at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships. The result would be virtually the same, with Chris bursting out to a commanding lead very early in the race and holding a distinct advantage throughout. The course was significantly muddier than in year's past, which limited Chris to a time of just 15:46 (still an 11-second margin of victory over Gasper).
The 2004 Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships in Kenosha, WI, would again provide Chris with an opportunity to qualify for the National Championships. Unlike last year, Chris did not disappoint. His time of 15:38 on the muddy course brought him across the line in sixth. At the Foot Locker Finals, Rombough finished fifth among perhaps the 40 best high school distance runners in the United States, eight seconds behind Kenny Cormier's winning time of 15:22. For his efforts, he was named a First Team All-American.[2]
Chris came into his senior track season as the favorite to win State titles in both the 1600m Run and 3200m Run. After some great early-season indoor performances (such as a 4:18.12 in the 1600m and 9:11.62 in the 3200m) there was speculation as to whether Rombough could break Chris Solinsky's State meet record of 8:58.39 in the 3200m Run. Chris started his championship season by winning his third straight Bay Conference title in both the 1600m Run (4:16.69) and 3200m Run (9:28.86) while also anchoring the winning 4x800m Relay (8:15.42). He started out the Sectional Championships by helping his 4x800m Relay team qualify for the State Championships by placing second with a time of 8:08.54. Chris then stamped his individual ticket to State by easily winning both the 1600m Run (4:20.26) and 3200m Run (9:31.95).
At the State Championships, Chris was the overwhelming favorite to win both the 1600m Run and 3200m Run. The first event of the meet on Friday, June 3, was the 4x800m Relay. Chris's New London team came in seeded 14th and improved on that with a ninth-place finish in a season best time of 8:00.34. Later in the day, Rombough took his shot at Chris Solinsky's state record in the 3200m Run. It looked at first as if Rombough was trying to set the national record. He blew through the first lap in only 58 seconds and crossed the half-mile point in 2:03. But Chris settled down from there, even with the crowd cheering his every move as he led by almost an entire straightaway. Coming into the last lap, everybody in the stands knew Chris would be close to the record, so thousands of people at UW-La Crosse's Veterans Memorial Stadium clapped in unison to lead Chris around the track. He crossed the line as the clock froze at 8:57, which brought about a thunderous applause from the crowd. His official time was 8:57.73, bettering the old mark by over half a second. The next day, Chris would win his second title of the meet by blowing away the field in the 1600m Run with a time of 4:11.61.
Chris Rombough's season did not end at the State Championships. Because of his extreme success, he was invited, along with the rest of the nation's best distance runners, to some summer meets. On July 11th, he easily won the 1600m Run and 3200m Run at the Midwest Senior Spotlight. The Nike Outdoor Nationals on July 18th brought much greater competition. In the two-mile, Rombough hung tough with the best runners in the nation to come out third with a time of 8:53.94 (which converts to an 8:50.85 for 3200m). That time held up as the third fastest high school time in the nation for 2005, and is the second fastest high school 3200m time in the history of the state of Wisconsin (behind Chris Solinsky's 8:43.24). Chris was voted by Track & Field News as a high school All-American in the 3200m for 2005.
[edit] College
Chris Rombough arrived on the University of Minnesota campus as one of the best distance recruits the Gophers had seen in a long time.[3] While most of the other freshmen on the team redshirted, Rombough stepped in right away and contributed. He finished sixth overall (second for the team) at the BYU Classic, his first college race. His first 8000m race was at Minnesota's own massive Roy Griak Invitational, where he placed 28th overall (second for the team) of 225 runners. Up next was the Jim Drews Invitational in his home state of Wisconsin, where he placed ninth overall (again second for the team) of 347 runners. The championship season got underway in Minnesota, where the Big Ten Championships were held on the same course as the Roy Griak Invitational. Rombough placed 18th overall (third on the team) to help lead the Gophers to a third-place finish, just one point off of the runner-up spot. At the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, Rombough placed 14th overall (third on the team) to help spurn Minnesota to a berth in the NCAA Championships. At both the NCAA Regional and National Championships, the athletes run 10,000m, twice as far as they run in high school. For the third meet in a row, Chris finished third for the Gophers. He finished 105th overall at the NCAA Championships, while Minnesota placed 20th of the 31 teams.
Chris got his sophomore campaign off to a great start by placing 13th overall at Minnesota's own Roy Griak Invitational. The Gophers placed second of 34 teams, just 11 points behind Arizona. Next up was the Jim Drews Invitational in West Salem, WI. Chris earned second place overall, his highest finish as a collegian, while Minnesota placed third behind Wisconsin and Portland. Even despite his sensational early season results, Chris was not seen as a top contender for the Big Ten title. The favorite was Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky, whose State 3200m record Chris had broken 16 months earlier. But when Solinsky faltered, Rombough powered to the lead and would outkick Wisconsin's Stuart Eagon for the individual victory. Said Rombough, "I’m totally surprised. I was comfortable out there though. The weather was nice and the gradual hills on the course weren’t a problem for me." [4]. The Gophers managed third place behind Wisconsin and Michigan, with Rombough being named the Big Ten Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year.[5]
