OTC Elite Week, Day 3:

Dives with Erik van Ingen

by The Trailer

EUGENE – Erik van Ingen is not afraid to leap if he has to.

“I don’t think getting beat, whether it’s at conference or NCAAs, sees a venue,” the 23-year-old says. “It’s the same as a footrace when you’re a kid, or racing bikes around the neighborhood.

“It’s raw competition. Diving just happens.”

Of course, it’s not like Van Ingen, of Marathon, N.Y., dives all the time—at last count, he’s dived for the tape in a race only three times in his running career: once in high school, and twice as a Binghamton Bearcat. (If you’re wondering, he’s gone two for three, which seem like pretty good odds.)

Photos by: Donald Gruener