With the two indoor national championships taking place last weekend, the outdoor season gets underway in most states around the country. However, a few states are wrapping up their indoor season over the next week or two, including Ohio, who held their state championship this past weekend. An interview with Foot Locker runner-up Trevor Dunbar and an Ohio State Meet wrap-up lead the way in this week's edition of Distance Gala Weekly.

Distance Gala Weekly (DGW): You've been relatively quiet this indoor season, really only taking part in the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. What have you been up to since Foot Locker? How's your training going?

Trevor Dunbar (TD): Well after Footlocker was over I took a week off from running and tried to get my academics back on track, because I had finals that week after missing almost two weeks of school. I started training slowly for the track season, and I had a minor setback with wisdom teeth surgery, but other than that everything went well until I injured my achilles two weeks before BIG. It felt okay at BIG but then I tried returning too aggressively and I got setback for about three weeks. Now I feel healthy after working out through cross training very devotedly; and I'm back to running right now feeling not too out of shape, so I am happy despite the less than savory winter campaign.

DGW: When do you plan to open up your season?

TD: Well, the first major focus right now is Arcadia in the 5000. I've seen what Haile did at NSIC and I am pumped to get in raging shape so I can throw down something good, but I know that staying healthy is the most important thing so it will be safe to play it slow and try to make sure I am really, really fit in June. But to answer the question, I will open up in two weeks, just a small intersquad meet, nothing big, and run the 1600. Don't expect much.

DGW: Do you plan to make any trips down to the lower-48 before the national championship events roll around?

TD: Arcadia, but other than that nothing really. Travel is tough on me.

DGW: You chose earlier this school year to attend Portland next fall. Why Portland?

TD: It was a very difficult choice for me and I could have seen myself doing well at many different places; but Portland was where I felt best fit me. I found that it was a place that didn't attract a lot of glamour, was a close tight-knit team atmosphere with teammates who equaled my passion for the sport.

I found this combination was really what I wanted most, but I didn't find it exclusively at UP. So, I also took into consideration the great temperate area for running, easy travel to home, my parents went there (albeit that didn't mean much), we have a badass recruiting class, and of course Coach Conner is well...Coach Conner.

DGW: What are your goals for your senior track season? Are you eying a certain national title?

TD: Yeah I am definitely hoping to attend NON and run the two mile. That is what I am most psyched for the whole season right now. But also I should be attending Golden West and Junior Nationals in Eugene, so that is the tentative plan thus far. Goals time wise I have set out in my mind but I don't really want to share publicly (I never know how things will go).

DGW: You gained a lot of national notoriety last fall with your 9:01 3200 effort on an icy track while it was snowing. What was it like receiving so much attention for what was more or less a time trial?

TD: I think the video got way too much hype. Every year there are a hefty handful of kids that are capable of doing that same thing, but are not isolated enough to need to. I had no idea it would explode like it did and felt slightly embarrassed when everyone talked to me about that when there was so many more actual races that I was way more proud of.

It was cool to get other people from my team and town some media exposure though. Living my brief glory on Flotrack and the famous Letsun.com, by bringing something to the table so unique was pretty fun too. If for nothing else, I now have a lot of material to pull jokes from when I'm at big meets. Ladies especially I notice have a soft spot for the oddball.

While a few of the state's top runners didn't compete in this past weekend's Ohio State Indoor Track and Field Championships, plenty of talented individuals were left to make the weekend one to remember. Perhaps the most notable performer of the weekend was Danny Neff (Sr., Vandalia-Butler, OH), who won the boys 800m and 1600m events.

Neff simply outraced the field in both events. In the 1,600m race, Neff distanced himself from Donny Roys (Sr., Medina, OH) over the final half of the race, finishing with a very strong time of 4:12.38, while Roys came in a strong second at 4:17.84. Four athletes in total dipped under 4:20. Neff, who will be attending the University of Georgia next fall, also won the 800m race, but this time had to out kick Willie Brown (Sr., John Adams, OH) to the finish line, outleaning Brown for the win, 1:53.49-1:53.52.

The best girl's performance came in the 1,600m, which saw Hannah Neczypor (So., North Royalton, OH) run to one of the more impressive 1,600m races this season thus far. Neczypor out ran Madeline Chambers (Jr., Magnficat, OH), running the top time in Ohio this season thus far in 4:54.38. Chambers, who was doubling back after helping her Magnificat H.S. team win the girls 4x800m relay in 9:27.82 (winning by nearly 20 seconds), finished in the runner-up spot with a 5:00.42 performance.

The other top distance race of the championship was the boys 4x800m relay, which saw three teams dip under 8:10. Glenville (OH) outran Gahanna-Lincoln (OH), edging the squad out 8:05.33-8:06.58. Perennial power Hilliard Davidson (OH) placed third overall in 8:09.02.

Ohio State Indoor Championship Results

After starting his season off with a 1:52.23 800m effort two weeks ago, middle distance standout Elijah Greer (Sr., Lake Oswego, OR) ran his first 1,500m race of the season at the Oregon Preview Saturday afternoon. The University of Oregon-signee placed fifth overall behind a quartet of current UO runners, running a U.S. #1 time of 3:50.70.

Coming in slightly behind Greer was fellow prep runner Nathan Mathabane (Sr., Lincoln, OR), who finished in seventh with a great early season time of 3:52.80. Mathabane doubled back and ran well in the 3,000m race later in the day. He placed 13th overall, again mostly against collegiate competition, running 8:52.87.

Men's 1,500m Results
3:48.17 - Scott Wall (Oregon)
3:49.38 - Kenny Klotz (unattached)
3:49.96 - James Withers (Oregon)
3:50.43 - Shadrack Biwott (Oregon)
3:50.70 - Elijah Greer (unattached)
3:51.37 - Sean Williams (Brooks Eastside)
3:52.80 - Nathan Mathabane (unattached)
3:53.79 - Luke Puskedra (unattached)

Oregon Preview Results

Video Interview with Elijah Greer (Runnerspace)

New U.S. Outdoor National Championship Website Debuts (Runnerspace)

Brian Sell: The Other American Running Boston (Universal Sports)

Ryan Hall: One Month until Boston (Running Times)

Video Interview with Distance Legend Haile Gebrselassie (Track & Field News)