Athlete of the year: MMU's Eschholz rewrites records

A hurdles race can result in a mess of twisting limbs, unsightly welts and bruised egos — all in attempt to clear a row of barriers one by one and cross the finish line before your fellow competitors.

The margin of error — one misstep or, worse, a bad spill — can end a hurdler's season.

"There are 10 things that can go wrong with hurdles and you just have to cross your fingers," said Bill Eschholz, Mount Mansfield's longtime track and field coach.

Even Eschholz's son, Alec, needs a moment to settle his nerves prior to a big race.

At the Division I state meet earlier this month, where he was trying to lower his own state record and secure his fourth straight 300-meter hurdles title, Alec Eschholz continued a habit he picked up the last couple years.

He closed his eyes right before the gun.

"I want to be completely focused before the race," Eschholz said. "Out of the blocks, I knew that this was probably going to be my best of my high school career."

It was.

Eschholz shattered his 300 state record, part of a four-win day to duplicate his feat from 2014 and stamp his place in history as Vermont's greatest hurdler.

But Eschholz, a three-time Gatorade track winner, was not just a one-sport star at MMU. Also winning the decathlon, in his final high school competition, Eschholz was among the state's best in soccer and basketball — a trifecta that lands the 18-year-old from Richmond the honor of the Burlington Free Press' boys athlete of the year.

Finishing with a dozen outdoor track titles over four years, two generational state records in the 110 hurdles (14.08 seconds) and 300 hurdles (37.52), two New England titles, and earning second-team Free Press all-state selections in soccer and basketball this school year, Eschholz leaves Vermont well-equipped to continue his running career at Dartmouth College in the fall.

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"Trying to put on my coach hat instead of my dad hat and it's just amazing that he was able to step up and do so well," said Bill Eschholz, a former three-sport star at Essex who competed in high jump at the University of Vermont.

Alec Eschholz's range was on display in the 2014-15 school year. When past injuries and messy weather soured technique work in high jump and long jump, Eschholz added javelin and the 200 — the latter he seldom ran before this spring — to his four-event arsenal.

Although an ankle injury slowed his soccer season, Eschholz, a captain, played several positions, notably as a defensive midfielder.

"He could play anywhere and you could ask anything of him," MMU soccer coach Phil Jacobs said. "If a team only had one guy who could hurt you, we had the answer for that. I'm thankful I had him for soccer."

And in basketball, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Eschholz expanded his game from defensive stopper to offensive threat, averaging 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.

"He was one of our primary scorers this year and he was one of the best defenders I had the privilege to coach," MMU basketball coach Jeff Davis said. "He was in tremendous shape, I've never seen a kid be able to close out and never give up on the bounce."

While soccer and hoops are important to Eschholz, track is his love. Davis saw it, when Eschholz and his father squeezed in blocks-to-first-hurdle drills on rubber runaways in the gym before basketball practice.

Jacobs saw it, when he would stop by a track meet.

"He has legs like an ostrich, he's built for those hurdles," Jacobs said. "You could see it in his face, he lives and breathes for those hurdles.

"He was in total control. He knew he was going to win, that's difference."

The close battles in 2013 with former state record-holder Jon Polen of Mount Anthony helped shape Eschholz's journey to new heights. The duo both dipped under 15 seconds in the 110 hurdles, a barrier that hadn't been broken in Vermont in years.

"Having the competition of someone neck and neck just pushes you that much harder to get across the line in a tenth of a second faster," said Eschholz, who went untested in his final two years against Vermonters. "Even if it's not an actual competitor next to you, you still need to push yourself to try and break those marks."

Eschholz's family support has added to his success. His father balanced coaching and parental duties. His mother, Julie, a physical therapist, helped Eschholz through injuries, and his older sister, Maddy, might be his No. 1 fan based on social-media posts.

"(My dad) has seen my progress through any sport I have played through my childhood and having him there every step of the way, him being at every single meet is something really special," Eschholz said. "My parents, my grandparents and my whole family have been there for almost every single sporting event.

"Sharing that with them is the best thing I could have hoped for."

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5

ALEC ESCHHOLZ'S YEAR AT A GLANCE

• Soccer: Although he missed a handful of games due to injury, Eschholz played all over the pitch for Phil Jacobs' Cougars, from an attacking position when needed to a defensive slot when games tightened. Eschholz, a team captain, played four years of varsity soccer.

• Basketball/indoor track: Known as a lockdown defender for the majority of his hoops career, Eschholz turned into a go-to scorer this past winter for a Cougars squad that went 16-6. He averaged 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while making half his field-goal attempts from the floor. … Also found time on a Saturday in February to win the 55-meter hurdles (7.98 seconds) at the indoor track state meet held at Norwich University and then hustle back to Jericho to put up 20 points in a win over Spaulding.

• Outdoor track and field: Named Vermont's Gatorade winner for third straight year, Eschholz capped a record-setting career by setting more records. He lowered his 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles state marks again, to 14.08 and 37.52 seconds, respectively. … After winning four events at the Division I state meet for the second straight year, he also repeated in the 300s and took second in the 110s at New Englands. … Compiled the fourth-highest winning point total (6,326) at the 40th Vermont state decathlon meet for his second triumph in three years.

• Next year: Headed to Division I Dartmouth to continue track and field career.