September 5, 2013 - CAC Athletes of the Week & Insight from Aaron Zook (Sr. - Harrisonburg, VA)

Post date: Sep 5, 2013 1:36:03 PM

Our first week in the Capital Athletic Conference and CNU XC has already made a splash - Freshman JJ LaPointe (Arlington, VA) earned the first Athlete of the Week honors of the season and senior Jessica McClelland (Stafford, VA) earned special mention. Both were honored for their performances at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Preview meet last weekend where CNU was an invited guest after having to cancel the CNU Home Opener.

From Aaron Zook:

The end of the summer is a time of opportunity and familiarity. It’s that homing pigeon feeling, where we all start buying new shoes and getting ready for the fall. We start to feel like our summer training is beginning to pay off, and we get to see old friends and make new ones. The CNU cross country team has very specific opportunities this year; ones that must not be overlooked or taken lightly.

First and foremost, we have the opportunity to work hard. In other settings, daily life is not always so clean cut. We hear excuses and contradictions every day based on politics or petty hierarchies.

“Sorry dude, the boss didn’t approve your overtime. Go home and sit on your couch.”

“Hey man, only upperclassmen can run for office. Wait till next year, freshman.”

On the CNU cross country team, we have no such policies. For anybody unfamiliar with the program, you’re allowed to work as hard as you want. Nobody is sacred or indispensable. We have freshmen training and racing alongside seasoned veterans, and we’re all united by the fact that we’re here chasing our goals. That’s a unique opportunity in our society. No restraints, the limits of your success are simply the limits of your personal habits and imagination.

As a senior this year, I’ve also been reflecting a lot on the opportunity that we have to take care of each other. We train, sweat, live, eat, and help each other through every hour of the day. I don’t consider this a team of individuals, I consider it a family. I hope that the freshmen this year will embrace the fact that they have a group of friends to call at any hour of any day for anything that they might need. We spend our time here at CNU exerting massive effort on something that we love, surrounded by people who love it too. What more could we ask for? The end of the summer is an opportunity, and the 2013 CNU cross country team will not waste it.

From CNUsports.com:

From CACsports.com: