Evan Feintuch '22 Recruiting Profile

Since I was in second grade, I found running to be an outlet for my energy while it also gave me the structure I needed daily.  Slowly and with the help of my dad, I learned to love the sport of running.  Through the years I can not count the number of lessons I have learned, whether it be the perseverance of pushing through the long and tough miles of the half-marathon or the sportsmanship that comes along with being the cross country team captain.  This leadership role has taught me that I am not just accountable for myself but I am also just as accountable for my friends, family, and teammates.  The lessons that have been learned thus far have carried over to the classroom many times.  I am much more confident in myself because I grasped the skills to ask a question when I am confused even if it might be embarrassing.

One challenge I encountered and overcame in cross country occurred my freshman year of high school. I came onto the team as the fastest runner.  It did not occur to me until the last day of summer training when my coach had the team run a 5K time trial.  In that time trial, I finished more than twenty seconds ahead of the next person.  That sparked an unanticipated problem, that at a glance, could be difficult.  I always looked to the faster runners for incentive and advice.  For the first few workouts of the season, my coach had me running slower paces so I could train with the core group of guys who made up our varsity team.  After I realized I was not being pushed hard enough, I had a conversation with my coach about letting me and some varsity teammates run faster paces for our reps in his infamous “Alabama Workout”.  He agreed to see how it would pan out.  The group excelled and as we felt good at the end. I had to shift my thought process from being motivated to motivating my teammates.  This in turn, brought an unexpected energy and drive to my running mates and I. The rest of the season, we all watched our times drop.

As I prepare for my junior cross country season I am poised to use all of the skills I obtained over the years.  I was honored at the end of last season to be chosen as a team captain this year.  I will focus on not only sharpening my personal abilities, while also being the leader my team wants me to be.  Our team goal is to not only make it to the state championships for the second year in a row, but also to move up in the state rankings.  I know by personally working hard as well as working with the team, we will exceed our goals.