For the past three years, Matthew Katz ’11 has been running endless miles paired with relentless doubles of cross training. as he begins his senior year, Katz looks to this season with enthusiasm, hope, and determination to make it the most successful of his career as a Cardinal runner. As a tri-captain for the Wesleyan men’s cross country team, he looks to lead with a positive and enjoyable attitude.
“It’s really great after so many years of looking up to the older guys on the team to now be able to show the younger members the traditions of our team,” he said.
Cross country is very much a team sport in which each of the top runners must perform their best in order to proceed to the next level. This year, Katz is looking to place in the top thirty-five in the region to qualify for nationals. In addition to qualifying for nationals, cracking into the top thirty-five rankings makes one eligible for all-American status.
Katz is taking his training to the next level by pushing his race more in the front half in order to break out and lead with the front- runners.
“I have a tendency to start out slower,” he said. “I am working on the confidence to go out with the top guys.”
He trains alongside fellow captain Charles Lang ’11, which encourages Katz to push both himself and the team further, he said summer training is crucial in cross country in order to maintain mileage and endurance. Although Katz put his summer training on hold for a bit in order to travel to South Africa to watch the World Cup, there was no stopping him from pounding in mile after mile after he returned to the States.
“It was the best summer training I’ve had,” he said. “I got in my mileage and cross training. I feel in the best shape.”
While most students were busy sleeping in during the summer, Katz was running about 65 miles per week along with eight miles of cross training. On Sundays, Katz did 15-mile runs.
“You don’t think about how far you’ve gone or have left to go. no looking at your watch. you just get lost in your thoughts.” Preparing for his final season, Katz is nothing short of excited to get the season underway
and give it his all. “as long as i’ve been here, the team dynamics have gotten better over the years,” he said. “The sophomore class [of this year] was really motivated last year which helped, and everyone was serious about this past summer’s training. There is a lot more optimism this year.”
During Katz’s freshman and sophomore years, the team talked about qualifying for nationals, but there was never really the sense that the whole team truly believed it was possible. Starting last year, however, the squad stuck behind this goal and actually believed they could perform to their potential.
Although Wesleyan does not have as many runners as Williams or Amherst, which average sixty runners compared to Wesleyan’s twenty man squad, the Cardinals have quality on top of an extremely close knit team.
“The camaraderie is what motivates the team, and I want to go out with a bang,” he said.
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