Monmouth Alumnus Impressed With Ford Palmer

Ed Hendricks truly believes in the phrase, “records are made to be broken.”

The Monmouth University alumnus waited a quarter of a century for someone to break some of his track records at his alma mater.

The Brielle resident couldn’t be more proud when Ford Palmer eclipsed his marks earlier this year during the indoor track season.

Palmer, a graduate of , now holds the record in the 1000-meters (2:23.65) and the one mile (4:08.08).

“I’m proud and excited,” said the 46-year-old Hendricks. “It’s funny because I haven’t been running in 25 years or so in my new life, and I got excited again. When I saw him run those times it brought back the old days. I’ve been rooting for him all the way.”

"He is a great guy,” Palmer said of Hendricks. He’s an awesome guy.”

Hendricks kept tabs on his alma mater on and off for 25 years, but once he saw that Palmer edged closer to his times, his interest peaked.

He made sure to seek out Palmer and watch him compete in a few meets.

“It was great for me to meet him,” Hendricks said. “I didn’t know how the
experience would go because I’m so much older than him. But it was great
meeting him and his teammates. They are young guys like I was back then, full of life and chatter. They ribbed me, it was a lot of fun and I got a kick out of it.

“I was impressed how strong of a guy he is for a runner. That’s what
impressed me. He is not a skinny runner, he is pretty solid, a sturdy-built man.”

Palmer, a junior, broke through on the track this past winter after
recovering from an injury and changing his eating habits and training routine. He dropped 20 pounds coming into the indoor season.

“I went home in May (of last year) for the summer and started training,” explained Palmer, who was a standout track athlete and football player at Absegami, and is from Smithville. “I ran, I rode a bike to and from work and I would swim four to seven times a week at school. I also changed my diet. I just took it seriously. That’s pretty much the difference. My times dropped drastically.”

“He said to me last May that next year will be different,” Monmouth coach
John Compagni said. “It’s easy for athletes to say that. But it’s hard to make it reality. He made changes to his diet and he put in the work with his (event coaches) to get himself to a new level. It’s impressive that he took action backing his word, and made a commitment to making a change and getting to a new level.”

Palmer, a Criminal Justice Major, isn’t satisfied yet. He hopes to continue to drop his times, and qualify for NCAAs this season in two events, and to continue to succeed next season, both indoor and outdoor.

“I just have to stay focused and healthy,” he said.

“The mile is still a relatively new event to him so it’s hard to say where
his ceiling is,” Compagni said. “He will get more chances this spring. The 800 is his main event and he will continue to improve there. We will definitely see how far he can go.”

Hendricks is rooting for him.