At this year's district conference, Nathan placed 6th over-all, making him all-district. With this title, he achieved best time of the season so far, 19:06. It takes lots of training to get to the point where he could achieve this. For Nathan, training never stops. He runs team practices during the week, distance training on the weekend, and competes in meets on Wednesday. When you run cross country, it requires far more than massive amounts of running; it requires a change in diet and lifestyle. You cannot drink soda or sweetened drinks, you cannot eat an abundance of junk food, and you have to make time to run at least five days a week.In addition to cross country, Nathan runs track which helps immensely with his speed during cross country. When asked why he joined track, he responded with: "It helps me prepare for cross country." Nathan says that his favorite sport during cross country season is track, and his favorite sport during track season is cross country.
Nathan's hopes for this season are to make it to state individually. If he is not able to make it individually, he hopes that his team will be able to make it into the top six teams and advance to state. After the end of this season, Nathan plans to run cross country again next year, which will also be his senior year. After graduating next year, Nathan says that he might continue running competitively if it leads to a scholarship. Finally, I asked him what he hopes to achieve next year. He responded with "I want to improve my time and go to state." I also asked if he was satisfied with what he has accomplished this season, to this he said, "Not yet; there is always room for improvement."
Nathan and the John I. Burton's boys cross country team recently competed at regional competition at Sugar Hollow Park where the team finished in eighth place. The team did not advance to state competition but one of the runners, Robert B., advanced on his own.