I remember,

my experience at the 2014 XC Missouri Valley Conference Championships hosted on our home course at SIU in Carbondale. What could have been my only season as an SIU athlete led to the best race of my running career. I picked up the slack when our team was plagued with injury and illness and was able to make several last minute, strong moves to be our 5th man and last scoring runner in the race. Because of the competitors I passed in the last stretch of the race, we tied for 1st place. Because of a rule determining how to handle ties, changed only 2 years prior, we lost the tie breaker. Had the rule not changed, we would have won, making it SIU's 3rd XC championship in a row. For my efforts, my coach had me retrieve our team trophy. What was a sad day for many at SIU, I will remembere with a smile.