When Nafziger graduated from Harrisonburg High School in 2009, the track standout had other things on his mind than attending the small university where his father was vice president of student life. EMU was always on the radar, but Nafziger said he felt more pressure than desire to attend. Instead, he looked to the myriad of Virginia colleges which had offered him track scholarships before finally accepting a partial scholarship to attend George Mason University, a Division I school in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

Nafziger remembers this decision as being based on pride. The scholarship proved that he was able to compete at the highest level, and the school鈥檚 distance from Harrisonburg was a way of showing that he was moving past his hometown.

As Nafziger soon realized though, pride was not the best way to choose a school. In his first year, Nafziger said that he only talked to one teacher and that was during his transitions class. He trooped through a succession of lecture halls with hundreds of people and impersonal experiences.

Nafziger felt anonymous. He had friends on the track team, but felt that the sprawling institution 鈥� 33,197 total students spread over 806 acres in four locations in Northern Virginia 鈥� made him a mere number. In addition, Nafziger felt that the professors didn鈥檛 care about the undergraduates. 鈥淭hey were there for their research,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t might have been different if I was a graduate student, but as an undergraduate I did not feel that I had their attention.鈥�

The questions that had begun to surface during the year were exacerbated when Nafziger suffered a stress fracture to his back during the winter. At this point, injured and with his future as a runner in doubt, Nafziger began to look at other schools 鈥� this time looking for something else: community. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 saying 鈥榗ommunity鈥� that much,” he said, referring to his time before entering George Mason. “But [now] I wanted a community.鈥�

Nafziger came to visit , having never officially done a campus visit after high school. What he found surprised him. Nafziger was stunned that associate professor of , took time out of her day to meet with him. He also realized that he had mistakenly assumed that attending EMU would be like an extension of his high school experience. 鈥淭he campus seemed self-contained. It was not like the Harrisonburg that I knew; it was different when I got on campus.鈥�

After deciding to transfer to EMU for his sophomore year, Nafziger found his niche athletically and academically. Still a standout runner, Nafziger immediately made an impact on the and , setting school records in the 1000 meter and 1600 meter races, as well as being awarded first state all academic and conference academic honor multiple times. At EMU however, Nafziger was not on a track scholarship, so he pursued running voluntarily instead of as an obligation. 鈥淚 still loved running, but now I had the freedom not to run. It was my choice, not my identity.鈥�

In addition to athletic success, at EMU, Nafziger found old friends and made new ones, and enjoyed the support of faculty. With caring mentors, he explored his options, changing his major twice before graduating with a B.A. focused on counseling with a minor in biology.

Following graduation in 2013, Nafziger began working with troubled youth. After a few months, though, Nafziger found himself missing the EMU community. 鈥淲here can I do the most amount of good?鈥� he asked himself.

For Nafziger, the answer was back at his alma mater. 鈥淚 was a transfer, an athlete, a team captain, and I changed majors. I can speak to a lot of experiences鈥� 鈥� including the benefits of a smaller school.

鈥淒an cares about people,鈥� said , vice president of admissions and Nafziger鈥檚 supervisor. 鈥淗e demonstrates an incredible balance between deep compassion and competitiveness.鈥�

(Broadway, VA/Broadway) took second in the 100m hurdles while also charting the No. 5 run in EMU history.聽 His time of 15.82 in the finals got him a silver behind the winning time of 15.53 from Ben Martindell of Bridgewater.

(Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) won the 400m hurdles in his first try at the event.聽 He crossed the finish in 58.34, ahead of Martindell at 59.02.

In the 100m dash, (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) showed the biggest improvement between his preliminary and his finals time, taking second at 11.47.聽 He just missed the gold to RC’s Trevor Hunt at 11.43.聽 He also won the 200m dash, ahead of teammate (Fork Union, VA/Louisa County).聽 McBride broke the tape in 23.28, followed by Allen at 23.56.

(Philadelphia, PA/La Salle) won the 400m by nearly a half second, clocking in at 51.47.

(Harrisonburg, VA/Harrisonburg) took the gold in the 1500m run, finishing six seconds ahead of teammate (Wichita, KS/Wichita East).聽 Nafziger’s winning time was 4:17.04, while Parker came in at 4:23.00.聽 (Mount Joy, PA/Donegal) took sixth place in 4:35.61.

Nafziger and Parker also highlight the 800m.聽 Nafziger took fourth with a time of 2:04.70 while Parker also pointed, getting sixth in 2:10.98.

In the relays, the EMU team in the 4x100m took second and charted the No. 7 time in EMU history.聽 The squad of Robinson, Allen, Watson and McBride crossed in 44.04, just behind Bridgewater’s foursome in 43.73.

The 4x400m team didn’t set an EMU time, but did manage to win the event at the meet.聽 Bush, Robinson, (Nelson, VA/Nelson County) and Watson combined for a time of 3:31.92, winning by more than three seconds.

In the field events, (Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite) and (Dalton, OH/Central Christian) were in a group of four men who each had a best jump of 1.82m.聽 Vrolijk ended up second based on jumps, while King settled for fourth.

Allen won the long jump and took second in the triple jump.聽 In the long jump, the senior landed at 6.63m, while in the triple he measured at 12.22m.

(Ooltewah, TN/McCallie School) led the way in the throws.聽 He won the javelin with a fling of 47.40m, the No. 7 distance in the EMU record books.聽 Sloan took third in the hammer throw with the No. 6 measurement in EMU history at 32.15m.聽 Then in the shot put he just missed gold, getting second in 11.29m, behind the winning throw of 11.54m.

The Royals grabbed 152 points for the team win, ahead of host Roanoke at 142.

On the women’s side, Chafin Brumfield (Harrisonburg, VA/Spotswood) and Jolee Paden (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Odgen) had big days in the middle distances.聽 Brumfield won the 800m run in 2:30.35, with Paden taken second in 2:32.77.聽 Hannah Patterson (Puyallup, WA/Mountainview International) was fourth in 2:44.27 while Saralyn Mast (Gap, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) took sixth in 2:48.99.

Paden then won the 1500m by 4.51 seconds.聽 Her time of 5:05.15 earned the gold and the No. 8 spot in the program records.聽 Brumfield also grabbed a No. 8 all-time spot in the 400m.聽 She finished third at the meet in 1:03.19.

Becca Borg (Gig Harbor, WA/Peninsula) approached the EMU record in the javelin, taking third place at the Roanoke meet in the process.聽 Borg speared at 30.18m, which was second in EMU history only to Connie Steiner’s throw of 33.08m in 2004.

Alyssa Bane (Strasburg, VA/Strasburg) also earned points in the throws.聽 She just missed her PR in the hammer throw, taking fifth at 31.18m.聽 In the discus, the sophomore landed at 28.14m, good for sixth place.

The Lady Royals finished with 48 points, taking third place at the meet, ahead of Hood College with 38.聽 Host Roanoke easily won with 243 points.

The Eastern Mennonite track teams are busy next weekend, participating in two meets.聽 A group of athletes will go to Lexington on Friday and Saturday for the VMI-W&L Carnival.聽 Another group will also participate in the Jopson Invitational in nearby Bridgewater.