On October 21st and 22nd, 2021, the North Dakota State Cross Country Meet was held at Parkhurst Recreation Area just outside of Jamestown, ND. The Class B races were held on Friday, and the Class A races were held on Saturday.
In the Class B races, held in nice conditions of a light breeze and temperatures in the 40s, the Bowman County men prevailed for the second year in a row, while Ian Busche of Beulah-Hazen took the individual title. On the girl's side of things, Rugby won their third consecutive team title as 8th grader Brynn Hanson of Des-Lacs/Burlington took first place.
The next day, in similar conditions for the Class A races, Williston showed team greatness by winning both the boy's and girl's team titles. They also won the individual title in the girl's race, with Eleni Lovgren winning by 17 seconds, while Aiden Johnson of West Fargo Sheyenne ran away with the boy's race.
The following is part of a series where I do a Q&A interview and each of the individual state champions. Last year's interviews, along with many other interviews and North Dakota running research can be found here.
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| Photo Credit: Tom Mix / NDHSAA Media Specialist At last year's state cross country meet, there were four boys that broke 16:40 in the Class B race. Three of them of were seniors, and the junior was Ian Busche. As the top returner, expectations were that Busche would win the title this year, as evidenced by his #1 ranking in the first coaches poll. Not only did he win the big meet, but he also didn't lose to Class B competition all season. He was dominant, and finished off a great senior season with a ten second victory at the state meet, his first individual state title.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.) Congrats on your victory! Now that you’ve had some time to decompress and take a step away from state cross country, how do you feel? This was your first state title, right? It was a great season. This is my first state title, but hopefully not my last. I just like racing, so I went out on the day and ran the race. Sometimes you win, other days it's not even close, but on the day I had what it took to win and that's what happened. 2.) At some point, whether it was last year, this summer, or this fall, you probably realized that winning state cross country was something you had the ability to do. When was that point? How did it affect your outlook on this season? Last year cross country season was when it became obvious that I had a shot at a state title. I placed 5th my sophomore year with only one runner that placed above me returning. Last year was a great season up until state. I was undefeated and I had won every race against the two guys that would eventually beat me at state. I ended up really tightening up in the cold weather last year and overall it was not a great race. I ended up with 3rd. Last year taught me that your training and amazing races mean nothing if you can’t get it done on the right day. This year I was a lot less concerned about other meets and just really focused on the state meet itself. 3.) Take us through your title-winning race. What was your strategy going in? Did you follow it? Any surprises? My strategy was pretty basic, but I was certain no matter how the race went out, I would be able to hang tight and make a big kick that nobody in the field could match. I always do my best to take races out hard, but many times I fall off the pace and my kick is what saves me in the end. I knew I had to use that to my advantage, so I planned to stay in a pack with the front runners until the hilly section of the course at 2 miles. I was in the lead but only by a step until 2 miles, and once I made my move on the hills, it was apparent to me that the other guys in the front pack were broken and it was just a matter of keeping up the pace and finishing. 4.) You didn’t lose to a Class B runner all season. Your closest races were West Region and State. Did you feel pressure throughout the season to not lose? Were you ever worried that someone was going to beat you? At West Region and State it felt much different than every other race. Other races to me were just about working on my fitness and getting after it right from the gun, whereas West Region and State were all about the win, so they were closer looking at the time, but putting on a 10 second gap in 800m is pretty significant. I was not too worried about the meets during the season, or even West Region, because in the end the only race that really matters to most people is state. I won regionals last year, but ended up 3rd as I said at the state meet against the same guys I raced against at regionals. That just proved to me even more the importance of championship racing over fast times. 5.) One of the top Class B distance runners in track, Caleb Hansen, runs for a Class A school during cross country. Do you think that would’ve changed your mindset or game plan if he was in the Class B race? Caleb Hansen is a phenomenal runner, and I raced him once this season, and I believe I beat him by about 30 seconds. In track he is a great 3200m and 1600m runner with impressive times in both events. Caleb likes to run from the front and take races out hard. On the other hand I like staying in 2nd or 3rd place and betting on my kick at the end. I think my strategy would have stayed the same, because whether he took it out slow or took it out fast I would likely hang on and put in a big kick at the end, and he would try to break me before then. 6.) The next guy on your team finished almost two minutes behind you. Assuming that means most of your workouts you have to run by yourself, how do you keep pushing? What motivates you? My freshman year of XC was the only time I had somebody to train with. He was a senior, Isak Olson, and we both had a shot at top 20 that year, because we were both 17 mid guys. Since he graduated I have always done workouts on my own, and I motivate myself by just wanting to give my best everytime I get out and do a hard workout. The satisfaction you feel after a super difficult workout when you know that is the best you have ever ran is an amazing feeling. 7.) What did it mean as a senior to come out here and get the win when it mattered most? It was my last year to show that I had what it takes to win the big meets. I really wanted to show people that with hard work, and a little help from the man upstairs you achieve the things you've the things you're working towards. 8.) Do you have any plans after graduation? Are you interested in running at the college level? I have applied to the United States Air Force Academy as well as the United States Military Academy. These are both colleges that have amazing running programs and I most likely would not be recruited to run at either, but if I was able to walk onto the track and field team or XC team I would jump at the opportunity. If I am not able to run at either of these programs, I would still love to attend them for academic reasons at the least as well as serving this great nation. 9.) What is your background in sports? Did you start running at a young age, or is it relatively new? I started Track in 7th grade and I only ran the 800m, and I ran 2:16 and I was convinced to run XC in the fall, but I ended up dual sporting football and XC that year. In track my 8th grade year I ran 2:08 for 800m and 4:49 for 1600m, so I decided to go all in on running. 10.) Talk a little bit about your training. What’s your favorite kinds of workouts? What do your easy/mileage days normally consist of? My training does not consist of that much mileage a week, which is why I think I could have huge improvements if I continue to keep running. Every week I run between 20-25 miles a week. My long runs are either 5 or 6 miles, while my easy runs are normally 3-4 miles. A couple of workouts that I have done is 5x1000 meters at 2:57, 8x600m at 1:48, and 12x400m at 68 high. We do all of these workouts either on grass, gravel, or concrete. Another workout I remember doing is an all out 2km on the road with 5-10 mph wind at my back which I ran in 5:45. I then had a full rest which was about 10-15 minutes and then ran an all out 1km at 2:49. 11.) Any plans to race at a regional meet in cross country, or is your season over? I am still training and I will be racing at the NXR Heartland Regionals. It is one more shot to try and break 16 minutes for 5km. My best 5km was 16:08 at regionals, but there were many sharp turns and it was extremely muddy on the turns. I think these few weeks since I started I haven't lost any fitness. I might have even gained a tiny bit of fitness. 12.) Any plans for a winter sport, or is it time to focus on track? I don't do any winter sports, so I have a lot more free time in the winter. I'm a big outdoorsman, so I spend most of that time hunting, fishing, or doing anything outside. I normally don't start training for track until January, so I have quite a bit of time until I'll start running again. I'll sometimes do an easy 3 mile run or something in December just fun, but I don't start running seriously until January. 13.) Speaking of track, any early thoughts about what you might want to accomplish during track this year? I’m hoping to run some really fast times. I think that will come along with getting out there and racing. I’m hoping to win the 800m and the 1600m. I only raced the 3200m twice in my life. One time I ran 10:15 to qualify, and then at state I ran 9:53 for 4th. If i could also win the 3200m that would be the cherry on top. 14.) What is running to you? Why do you do it? This is always a question I struggle with, because I don't really have an answer. I really just enjoy getting outside and running fast, and I don't really know why. There is something about running that always keeps me coming back and I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. 15.) What’s your favorite place (so far) to run in North Dakota? I don't really have a favorite place to run. Most times I run the same road north of my hometown hazen, because even though I live in town it only takes me a quarter mile to hit gravel. I enjoy running the Bowman County invitational, because it always happens early in the season so there is no pressure and the course is gradual uphills so you can really push up them and the downhills are just enough to let you recover. 16.) Have you experienced adversity with running? If so, how did you overcome it? The biggest struggle I had was my freshman year of track. I was coming off a great XC season with a time of 17:16 on a tough course. My prs were 2:08 and 4:49 and I was really hoping to make a big drop in time that year. I started feeling lots of pain in my right leg, and I just kept getting told it was just shin splints, so I kept running even though it kept getting more painful. I was on and off with running because it was so painful, and I finally went to the doctor and I found out that it was a pretty severe stress fracture. This was two weeks before state, so I biked everyday and at state I just barely prd with a 2:04 and a 4:47. This was really disappointing to me, because I wanted so much more out of the season but it didn't happen. I knew the only thing I could do is look towards next season. I had an amazing sophomore XC season dropping my time to 16:34 and I thought that this track season would be a big breakout season for me. Then Covid happened and my whole season was cancelled. It was another big disappointment, but all you can really do is keep putting in the work. Running is not an easy sport in any way, and that's why it's worth it. A great man of North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt, once said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” 17.) Do you have any North Dakota runners that you look up to? What about college or professional athletes? I love cheering for North Dakota runner, but I often can't find anywhere to watch these races. I watch professional races all the time. I love watching guys like Joshua Cheptegei or Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and this list goes on, but my all-time favorite runner is Stewart McSweyn. McSweyn has some extreme range running a 3:29 1500m, 3:48 mile, 7:29 3000m, and a 1:02.52 half marathon all within a year of each other. The most impressive part about McSweyn's running is his strength. He almost always runs from the front and that is not an easy task. Not often have I seen him not lead a race, but even when he doesn't, he always makes a move over a lap to go rather than closer to the finish like most runners. I hate running from the front and that's a big reason I envy him. I know how tough leading is, and he does it so well. 18.) Can you offer up any advice you’ve learned along the way to people who might be interested in cross country? Running is either something you love or you don't. It's as simple as that. If you enjoy running, then keep running, if not then don't. I
wouldn't take much more running advice from me though. I’m not that smart, I
just run fast and make left turns. |
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