The third boys cross country meet is over and roles and rankings seem to be falling into place as runners are inching closer and closer to their expected PR’s. While the top two spots seem to be sealed by Ryan Kugler and Conor Gross the third spot has been claimed, but by who? Senior Collin Newman has been running since seventh grade and since then has fallen in love with the progress he sees on the courses.
The progress Newman talks about has been showing more and more this season as he has seemed to separate from Dylan Gross and Preston Penney who lie at the fourth and fifth spots.
“So I went 17:15 but before that, I PR at districts, and I ran like 17:20s. I’m pretty sure it was a while ago, so it’s hard to remember.” Newman said. “So I went, I ran like 17:53 in the class of metros. And then I ran at 17:43, at Seward.”
Most recently at the Platte River Rumble has secured a new PR of 17:01.
While Newman has been great on the courses it is definitely not the only thing he has been up to. He is currently applying for a staffing position for a summer workshop called Launch Leadership, A program dedicated to helping create future leaders and having a positive impact.
As all goals require progress to get there, Newman has made his goal and intends to work hard to get there and accomplish it.
“I would say I want to break 16:30 by the end of the season and to know I did my absolute best to reach my potential in cross country,” Newman said.
Everybody has their own way of training for the cross country season over the summer, whether that be by long runs everyday over the summer or by doing all out 400 meter repeats. For Newman it differs.
“So throughout the summer, we did a lot more mileage, so we really just spiked it, but we did it in a safer way, which last year was mostly just about getting that really high week for me, but it was about the overall miles,” Newman said. “This year, I really just lifted a lot smarter, focused on form and just recovery was just a higher priority for me. So I noticed that helped a lot all right.”
The thing about cross country is that most athletes seem to start by transitioning into the sport from their original main sport, unless you had a family member who might have competed. For Newman he took a very familiar route.
“Well I started running because I stopped playing soccer and cross country just happened to be an option in middle school and I eventually fell in love with the progress,” Newman said.
Not everybody really gets into cross country when they join it, it seems to take time for a person to want to fully indulge themselves in the process that is the training and races.
“I would say I really started to focus on the sport my junior year of high school mostly because it’s when I really began to see the work pay off,” Newman said.
One of the biggest things that matter in cross country is the culture and the team, the bond is very important for the success of the team, and can build lasting relationships.
“So with Westside, I noticed my freshman, sophomore year, there’s definitely a lack of culture. So I think the Westside is really the community there. It’s a lot closer in recent years.” Newman said. “Mostly because of the class of 2025 and also like the classes below that. But I think the class of 2025 really cares about the sport, and really showed why they cared about the sport to younger classes. So I think what’s unique about it is that it’s really fresh. It’s not like we’re trying to figure it out, but I think that’s part of the beauty of it.”
This season has showcased many of Newman’s skills and what his abilities have helped him accomplish. What comes with that is the competitive spirit of the sport as many at the top seem to have their eye on Juan Gonzalez. But who is Newman competing with and who does he hope to beat?
“It’s mostly been a test for myself, because I think I’ve kind of broken out of the group I was in last year, but Dylan and Preston definitely have been pushing me a lot.” Newman said. “But I feel like I’m really just trying to beat last year’s times. And obviously, finding the competition from other schools has been somewhat challenging, but I would say there’s mostly people from other schools, because the group is a lot smaller, I guess, than my group for my times.”
As the season is still new and the year goes on Newman will have more chances to exceed his current PR and inch closer to Conor Gross and Ryan Kugler.
