SJU competes at MIAC championships

The St. John’s cross country team had their conference meet this past Saturday. They finished fourth behind St. Olaf, Carleton and St. Scholastica with 120 points.

Head coach Maxwell Kuzara was pleased with the team’s performance despite missing a few important runners.

“Several guys rose to the occasion, and although we were missing a couple of key players due to injury, I’m proud of how we raced,” Kuzara said via email.

The meet took place at Carleton in Northfield, Minn. Senior Jacob Gathje was also content with their performance, attributing their success to the younger runners stepping up.

“I think we had lots of good performances. I think our young guys on the team…continued to step up…especially with some of our tops guys dealing with so many injuries,” Gathje said.

Earlier in the season, Kuzara had previously expressed large hopes for the team. Now, he continues to believe in his team. Kuzara expressed that weather and courses can vary, so times will not always accurately reflect how well runners perform.

“At the conference meet this past weekend, many of our guys recorded career personal bests and ran faster than they did on this same course earlier this season, which is a positive, obviously, and a testament to the work they put in this summer and fall. At this point, we are really focusing on this week and next and, again, want to run our very best at the end of the year. I think our best race as a team is yet to be had,” Kuzara said.

The team has been hard at work throughout the whole season looking to achieve personal records. Their success has been attributed to their work ethics and putting in miles and reps.

“I think we’ve seen kind of consistently people running really well…Continuing to put in the miles…guys have really committed to running solid mileage…A result of kind of a whole team commitment to looking to put together some good performances,” Gathje said.

The team is led by strong juniors and seniors while being backed up with up-and-coming first-years and sophomores. Work during the offseason is what has contributed to a successful season. Being in the MIAC, the team has been committed to working hard to improve and stay in form.

“It is all about the offseason. You look at the guys who have improved the most, either in one season or throughout their whole career, and they are always the ones who have been the most consistent with their training in the summer and the winter year after year,” Kuzara said. “Magnificent peaks (racing your best at the end of the year) come at the top of magnificent mountains (summer/winter base training). Running in the summer and winter is absolutely crucial to success in this sport—it is not optional. If we continue to do that, we’ll be competitive in the MIAC and beyond.”

Hard work has been a constant in the cross country program due to the competitiveness of the coaches and the runners. With so many young runners doing well, Gathje believes the team has much success in their future.

“Just kind of continue training well and believing in ourselves…We have a really bright future…Our first-year class up and down has done really, really well” Gathje said.

The next meet up is on Friday on the SJU campus. It is a meet for non-regional runners to end their season. On Saturday, the top seven runners will compete in the NCAA North Region Championships hoping to get to the NCAA Championships in Pennsylvania.