Daniel Messenger, shown above competing this past spring for the Warsaw track team, hopes to make his mark as a walk-on at Purdue.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Daniel Messenger carved out his own niche while running among some great distance teammates in high school at WCHS.

He now hopes to do the same as a walk-on for the Purdue men’s track team.

Messenger knows the challenge in front of him with the calibre of runners on the Boilermaker squad.

“I’m totally ready to lay the groundwork for what I need to do,” said Messenger in a recent phone interview from Purdue. “I know that it’s going to be a long year and a grind, but I’ve experienced where it can get you by paying your dues. I’m ready for it.”

Messenger, who was set to attend his first official practice with the team today, was accepted to the Boilermakers thanks to a strong senior track season at WCHS.

“I had chose to attend Purdue and after State I went to their coaches and asked could I walk on to the team,” explained Messenger. “I had been looking at the times that I needed and when I got those I was pretty pumped about it. I had always hoped to run somewhere Division I in college.”

Messenger was a key cog this past spring for coach Matt Thacker’s outstanding track program at WCHS. He was the Goshen Sectional and South Bend St. Joseph Regional champion in the 800 and then capped his high school track career by placing eighth in the 800 at the State Finals in June at Indiana University in a time of 1:54.81. The Warsaw boys track team won its fifth straight sectional championship and was fourth at the regional.

Messenger knows all about being surrounded by fast and outstanding teammates. He was part of a WCHS boys cross country team in 2012 as a sophomore that featured stars Jake Poyner, Ellis Coon and Robert Murphy.  Coach Jim Mills’ team posted a fourth-place finish at the State Finals that year. Poyner is now at Lipscomb University after starting his career at Wake Forest, while Coon competes for Tulsa and Murphy is at IUPUI after spending two years at Vincennes.

“I was under some great runners at Warsaw and for me it’s nice to have someone like that to work up to them,” remarked Messenger. “I know that running with and around fast people is only going to make me faster too.”

Daniel Messenger is congratulated by a competitor after a race this past spring.

Messenger was also a part of Mills’ cross country team that was 12th at the State Finals in 2013. He was a key cog last fall as the Tigers won sectional and regional championships at Culver Academies where he placed fourth and 10th overall in the two races respectively. Warsaw then was eighth at the New Prairie Semistate to fall two places short of a berth back to the State Finals.

“I did have interest from smaller colleges to run for them, but Purdue was a good fit for me,” said Messenger. “I have friends here and family near by and it’s a big school with good academics.”

“My expectation is that maybe I will redshirt this year, but I don’t know. They recruited me for my 800 and I just am hoping to make an impression.  My times are pretty fast, but this is definitely moving up to a whole new level here.

“I’ve always had aspirations to be a miler and in a perfect world I would like to train to be more of a 1,500 runner in college. But it looks like it will be the 800 and I’m okay with that. I enjoy the 800. It has a lot of intensity.”