PNW freshman Jalen Streitelmeier made history on Sept. 13 when he beat about 100 other runners at the Spartan Classic cross country meet.

His time was 26 minutes and 33 seconds, resulting in PNW getting second place against eight other teams.  

“I wasn’t really expecting to win, but since I actually crossed the line, it felt really good. It gave me a big confidence booster,” said Strietelmeier. 

Coach Zachary Hoover was impressed that Streitelmeier ran so well, particularly since it was the first time the freshman had competed in an 8K, about five miles.

“I was actually more excited for how he won that, because he ran that race like he wasn’t a freshman,” said Hoover. “I feel like he’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be.”

What made the race more challenging was the course layout, which featured several hills.

“It was just constantly going uphill, almost felt like I was climbing the whole time, but yeah really just the hills were just terrible,” said Steitelmeier. “The last 3K of the race, me and this New Central kid were just battling it out, and the final stretch of the race he started fading away.” 

In the end, he beat his New Central opponent by 30 seconds. 

“To do what he did on such a difficult course is definitely very exciting, especially as a freshman,” said Hoover. 

Streitelmeier works hard to compete, running 70 miles a week. And the freshman sets goals for himself.

“Breaking the school record would be pretty cool, that would take a lot out of me, but I feel like I can do it with good competition,” said Strietelmeier.

While athletes have goals, so does the coach. 

“I think the big goal for us this year [since] we have a large freshman class [is] to definitely help them develop,” said Hoover. 

There are 10 freshmen on the cross country team this season with 54.5% of athletes returning to the sport. Hoover said he hopes the veteran runners and freshmen work together to build something bigger.

 “These guys are very much buying into changing the culture and moving it in the right direction and supporting one another,” he said.