3.1 miles in just under 22 minutes. 

This is freshman Jacob Mullett’s personal record so far this cross country season. 

Having only been competing in cross country for just over a year, Mullett quickly developed a liking for it. 

He noted that he was originally motivated to join by his baseball coaches, who said that he had the “potential to be a good cross country runner” as well as the chance to participate in something else during his free time.

For him, another benefit to joining the team was the ability to be able to do something his friends may not. 

“I think it’s cool just being able to run five miles like it’s nothing, and then have your friends be behind you panting,” he said.

Now, cross country is one of Mullett’s current pastime activities, or at least until the baseball season starts to pick back up again in the spring. For him, cross country is a good way to train when he’s not on the baseball pitch. 

Something else Mullett enjoys about cross country is the team itself, which he feels positively towards. 

“The coaches are really good and everyone’s really inclusive,” he said.

Mullett also tries his best to positively contribute to the team atmosphere. When he is not racing, he can be found cheering on teammates or even giving friends time checks as they run. 

“I have one friend [who] was trying to get a goal, and I ran around the two different mile markers trying to help him with the goal,” he said. 

This supportive energy doesn’t just radiate from the team for him, it also starts at home. 

Mullett’s parents are supportive of his sporting careers and try to be there for him in any way they can. He said his mom will text him common phrases including, “what time are you running? and “how can I get there?”

Now, as the season continues, Mullett has set the goal for himself to stay on top of his classes and maintain high grades.

“I just don’t want to get anything lower than a B, preferably,” Mullett said. 

When asked if school and sports negatively overlap in his schedule, he explained that while it has been a small problem in the past, this year has gone smoothly so far. 

While the amount of practices a week was difficult to adjust to at first, Mullett said that is no longer any sort of issue.

Something he is currently working to overcome is an injury he recently sustained to his hip.

“I wasn’t able to run in the last meet because I hurt my hip rotator,” Mullett said, adding that looking into the future, he still hopes to be able to run in upcoming meets.

Another goal for Mullett is to reach a new personal record.

“This cross country season, I want to run a sub-21 time, maybe even a sub-20 time if I can,” he said.

With this goal in mind, Mullett is committed to working hard throughout the rest of the season. 

He will work towards bettering his time by “staying consistent with the workouts, kind of doing what coach tells me,” Mullett said.