Martin takes time off

Top middle-distance runner Robin Martin is taking some "personal time off" rather than competing for Penn. Robin Martin holds the Penn record for both the indoor and outdoor 800-meter dash. His achievements include finishing third in the nation last year in the 800 and being named an NCAA All-American, a USATF finalist, a World Junior finalist and the most valuable performer at Heptagonals last year. But, to challenge for first place in the nation, Martin must overcome one last obstacle. He must withstand a year away from the Penn men's track team and from school. "I'm not enrolled in school, so I can't compete," Martin said. "I'm just taking some personal time off." Martin is taking this school year off and he will return to Penn and to track at the beginning of next year. He maintains that his leave of absence has nothing to do with academic eligibility. "I had some incompletes that I had to make up but I wasn't ineligible," Martin said. "I didn't fail out of school or anything like that." "He has not withdrawn, he has not transferred [and] he's not flunking out," Penn coach Charles Powell said. "He just needs some personal time." "We went through all of the procedures that the Ivy League office asks for and the NCAA asks for. According to the University -- the president's office, the provost's office and the academic compliance people -- he's dotted his i's and crossed his t's. He will be allowed to come back, and he will be a student again here in the fall." To maintain athletic eligibility for next year, Martin is not allowed to train with the team and cannot be coached by Powell or anyone else affiliated with the team. He must be careful to avoid any contact with the team that could be seen as practicing or coaching. "I cannot be there -- I cannot even set up workout schedules for him," Powell said. "In a leave of absence, by the Ivy League standards, you are separating yourself from the University. If he trains with my team right now, then they can say he is redshirted and the Ivy League does not allow for redshirting." Without the aid of the team or coaching staff, Martin must train on his own. "I am practicing on my own -- I've been running since I was five, I have the general gist of what to do when it comes to running," Martin said. "It's kind of hard but a lot of track and field is within yourself. It is a really individual and personal sport. "Coach Powell was there when I was in school [but] there are a lot of personal things that good runners need to do besides just showing up for practice -- it's morning runs, it's what you eat, it's lifting -- and coach can't always be there for you." Martin is currently lifting weights and training by himself for his return to the team next year -- when he hopes to contend for a national title in the 800 -- and for his long-term goal of making the Olympic team in 2000. "For me to take the next step athletically, from [competing] collegiately to the next level, or to try to win the national championship, it's going to take a bigger personal commitment from me and a lot more hard training on my own," the Marquette, Mich., native said. If Martin can continue to improve and stick to a disciplined practice regimen, Powell feels that he will return at least as strong as he was last year. "I think he has great potential to be a lot better," Powell said. "He's just on the verge of being an international-class athlete. I think he has a great shot of going all the way." Whatever happens next year, there is no doubt his absence this year has hurt the Quakers. A seventh-place Penn finish at Heptagonals -- where the Quakers scored just three points in track events versus 46.5 in field events -- just goes to show how much the Quakers miss his athletic contributions and his leadership qualities. "It is something that you have to adjust to," Powell said. "It has hurt us in the fact that we lost some points and it's hurt a little bit when both he wasn't around and [co-captain] Dan [Nord] was hurt." The team misses Martin and the feeling is mutual. Now a spectator, he has to watch his friends compete in what would have been his senior year on the team. "You spend that much time with a bunch of guys, you are going to get some really good friends and they are still my friends," Martin said. "I do miss that kind of time to spend with the guys. There is just a lot of camaraderie that goes on between the guys in the locker room and the bus trips that you really don't miss until it's not there." Martin knows that there is nothing he can do to help the team this year so he's looking at the future instead of dwelling on the past. "I have a long ways to go," Martin said. "Third in the nation -- all I can see is that I didn't win and I just keep seeing all of these things that I haven't done yet. I just have so many higher things to think about, that I don't feel worthy to be haughty at all because there are so many people that can clean my clock in the nation." But if all goes according to plan, he will have one more year to change that.

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