Rising Commodore
Caleb Van Geffen entered Oak Mountain High School in 2013 as a soccer player who ran cross-country for conditioning purposes. Four years later, he’s leaving as one of the most accomplished distance standouts in school history.
And he’s not done yet.
On April 19, Van Geffen, a senior, signed his letter of intent to run collegiately at Vanderbilt University. He will follow in the footsteps of his brother, former Oak Mountain runner Jake Van Geffen, who is putting the final touches on a decorated Commodore career.
“It’s just always been my dream school, even before my brother decided to go there,” Caleb Van Geffen said. “I think since sixth or seventh grade, I’ve always wanted to go to Vanderbilt.”
Hard work has made that dream a reality.
Caleb Van Geffen logged up to 75 miles per week this past summer in preparation for his final cross-country season. It was the first in which he didn’t juggle club soccer and school cross-country simultaneously.
He reaped the dividends of that investment. At his first meet in August, he clocked a personal-best 5K time of 15 minutes, 53.24 seconds.
“He’s always been very academically gifted and very athletically gifted,” Jake Van Geffen said, “but recently I’ve seen him want to work as hard as he can to improve those gifts and maximize his potential.”
With his prodigious season-opening performance, Caleb Van Geffen became only the second runner in recent Oak Mountain history to dip under 16 minutes for 5K. The other is his teammate and fellow senior, Cole Stidfole.
Stidfole was the 2015 Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, but he developed a nerve condition in early 2016 that has since limited his ability to reach peak performance. Caleb Van Geffen helped fill the void, especially toward the end of the 2016 season.
He placed sixth individually to lead his Eagles to a top-five team showing at the Class 7A state meet. Stidfole finished 12th.
“As talented as I’ve gotten at running, I credit it completely to Cole Stidfole,“ Caleb Van Geffen said. “ I was just chasing after him, figuratively and literally, just chasing after him and his times all through my high school career. He’s definitely the best teammate I ever could have asked for.”
Caleb Van Geffen hasn’t always possessed the fire that now characterizes his relationship with distance running. Soccer was his first love. He’s had a ball at his feet since age 4 and has played each year for Oak Mountain. In April, he scored four goals in three games from his position on the wing.
But running has grown on him as his potential has revealed itself. Others, including Oak Mountain boys soccer coach Dan DeMasters, recognized his natural ability.
“I actually spoke with Caleb last year, and I said, ‘Caleb, listen, I’d love to help you in soccer, but you’d be a fool not to go to college to run because you’re just so good at it,’” DeMasters said.
The younger Van Geffen will have big shoes to fill at Vanderbilt. Jake Van Geffen, who will graduate this May with an engineering degree, has broken four school records in track and field during his four-year career. The most recent one that fell — in the 10K — had stood for 35 years.
“Every time he’s broken a record on the Vanderbilt team, me and him talk,” Caleb Van Geffen said. “It’s a running joke for him to say, ‘Another one for you to break.’”
Caleb Van Geffen will run cross-country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field as a Commodore. In high school, he ran cross-country almost exclusively, save for a handful of track races sprinkled throughout his junior and senior years.
He isn’t deterred. There are marks to pursue.
“I didn’t get him with the ACT score, because he made a 36,” Caleb Van Geffen said of his older brother’s perfect tally on the college entrance exam, “but I’m definitely encouraged to try to go for it athletically since I couldn’t match up academically.”
Don’t be fooled by his modesty.
Caleb Van Geffen scored a 33 on the ACT, owns a 4.43 high school GPA and is the Oak Mountain student body vice president. He plans to major in biomedical engineering.
“I think Vanderbilt will be lucky to have him,” Jake Van Geffen said.