Champion distance runner Bayer leads IU track team

IU senior distance runner Andy Bayer started running in middle school because it was the only sport available to sixth graders. Not until his senior year of high school did he start taking running seriously as something he could do at a higher level.

Even then, IU Assistant Distance Coach Rebecca Walter said Bayer wasn’t too special.

“On paper, he was just like a couple dozen other Indiana high school runners,” Walter said. “When I met him, I asked ‘how good do you think you’ll be this year, and how good do you expect yourself to be in college?’ And without missing a beat he said he was going to win the state meet and he alluded to being an All-Big Ten and national qualifier in college.”

Bayer accomplished all those things and more while wearing an IU uniform. He committed to the school in February, just a few weeks after taking a visit to the campus.

He and his classmate Zach Mayhew were immediately thrown into the mix of talented young runners IU Coach Ron Helmer and Walter had recruited to build up the distance program, mostly from the class above them. They quickly established a rapport within the group and tested each other’s limits as runners.

“I always felt that class, along with Zach and I, always kind of went at each other,” Bayer said. “We had a friendly rivalry that amped up practices and meets that made us improve to where we’re at now.”

And improve he did. Bayer was named an All-American for the outdoor season his freshman campaign and took a big step in his second year, when he was technically still a freshman due to redshirting. He took third in the 3000-meter and anchored the distance medley relay to a second-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Coming close to winning was a recurring theme for Bayer in the early part of his collegiate career. His third year, as a redshirt sophomore, he again took third in the 3000 and second in the DMR at the indoor championships.

IU’s DMR team took second again in his junior year at the indoor championships, but Bayer finally found his championship title in the outdoor season.

Bayer and BYU’s Miles Batty dove across the finish line in the 1500-meter finals, and the scoreboard showed Bayer had won by .01 seconds in a stunning finish.

“Right after it happened I was just wondering if I’d won, because it was so close I wasn’t even sure,” Bayer said. “Then it came up, and my name was first, and I just ran around all over the place. It was a surreal moment that’s still hard for me to put into words.”

Indiana’s distance program finally had a champion in Bayer. Helmer had coached NCAA Champions before, but Bayer’s win proved IU’s distance program finally carried some weight as national contenders.

Bayer moved on to his final year of collegiate eligibility this season. After suffering a stress reaction in his foot at the end of cross-country season, he wasn’t fully fit for indoor championships. Despite that, he still clocked the fastest anchor leg of any competitor en route to a fourth-place DMR finish.

“I’m starting to feel better in races and workouts each week,” Bayer said of his current condition. “I’m looking forward to getting into some championship-type races and seeing what I can do at Big Tens and nationals again because I feel like I’m getting back to the point where I can do big things.”

Bayer said he wants to defend his 1500-meter title, but whether he does or not, he still takes pride in the program he helped create.

“It’s cool to look back and see what we accomplished and see what the expectations were then and how much we’ve raised them now,” Bayer said. “It’s just cool to see how much more interest our program is getting.”

A lot of that interest has come from Bayer’s own success. He’s now become a leader on a team with national goals and aspirations.

“He’s definitely more of a lead-by-example guy,” Walter said. “He’s so good-natured that people just relate to him. He’s just Andy in terms that his times are fast and he’s accomplished so much, but at the same time, that helps younger guys on the team believe they can do the types of things that he’s done.”