JIM PETERS: Ankle all better, Valpo's Aljobeh back in action

We supposedly spend up to five years of our lives waiting.

I think I've already exceeded that figure, waiting on interviews, results, traffic, food.

Patience truly is a virtue.

Over the last month, Valparaiso cross country runner Ahmad Aljobeh has learned as much.

"It has been tough," he said. "I'm just trying to stay positive, looking at the big picture. State is the big one we're after."

Back on Labor Day, the Vikings standout rolled his ankle during the team's 'treasure hunt' run. When coach Mike Prow came upon the group near the post office, he initially thought Aljobeh had been hit by a car. He was sitting on the ground, sporting cuts and scrapes, concerned teammates standing around him.

That fear was allayed, but the ankle sprain left Aljobeh in a walking boot for about a month. At that point, he'd only run one race, the State Preview Meet, that after having just come off his Ramadan fast.

"I took it easy that day," Aljobeh said. "I wish I'd gone all out."

It's been a tad over two weeks since he shed the walking boot and resumed regular training. And just in time. Aljobeh had about as much of the 5:45 a.m. swims as he could handle.

"I'm not exactly a fan of the pool. The coaches would attest to that," he said. "I'd just try to think of something else while I was in there."

Aljobeh took a large step in his return Tuesday amid the dimming light at Sunset Hill Farm. Running in the after-race, he posted a time of 16:11 that would've placed him fourth in the Chesterton Sectional.

"The coaches wanted to see how I was feeling," Aljobeh said. "They told me not to run a full-out race. I didn't really know what kind of shape I was in. I just felt a little sore. I felt good, for the circumstances. I'm not completely where I want to be, but I'm kind of relieved I could still do what I wanted to do."

Prow would've raced Aljobeh in the meet were it not for the short turnaround to regionals. He's already pencilled him in for Saturday at New Prairie.

"I'm not sure we want him to go out and try to run with (LaPorte's) Mitch (Hubner)," Prow said. "It might be nice to hold him back to help keep the other guys together more. He'll give everybody a big lift."

Teammate Ari Coulopoulos will certainly be glad to have him alongside.

"It'll definitely be motivational to have him up there," he said.

Aljobeh's anxious to see where he's at in relation to his teammates as well as the likes of Hubner.

Valpo has won without him, maintaining its status as the top region team. But everybody in green knows the only chance to get on the awards stand (top five) at state is to have Aljobeh, 15th in Terre Haute last year, in the lineup.

"If we're healthy, we could have three guys in the top 25," Prow said.

The time off hasn't cooled the recruiting trail for Aljobeh either. Sought after as a runner and a student, he is drawing interest ranging from the Ivy League to Notre Dame. Aljobeh ranks near the top of class with a grade point average of 4.5 and plans to go into either engineering or medicine.

"All the coaches we've talked to, they completely understand," he said. "They know it's not an overuse injury. It's just a freak accident."

And one he is glad to be putting behind him.

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at jim.peters@nwi.com.