Senior men’s cross country runner Zach Michon finished in 21st-place, with a collegiate-best time of 23:53.3 at Lehigh’s Paul Short Run 8K course on Oct. 5. It stands as the fastest time ever by a St. Joe’s runner at the course.
Michon was selected as Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week based on his performance for the third time in his career.
“I went in with more confidence in my abilities,” Michon said. “This being my senior year, I wanted to compete the best I could, not only for time but to put myself up against the competition I should be comfortable running against at this point in my career.”
Michon started off the Paul Short Race relatively slowly. Within the first two miles he was about 55th out of 380 runners. He passed about 30 runners in the last 3K according to Head Coach Mike Glavin.
The size of the race of 380 runners and level of competition between seven D-1 teams and three or four of the best D-3 cross country teams helped Michon, Glavin said.
Teammate senior John Walker said there is a lot more to come for Michon based on his record-setting performance at Lehigh.
“Not the peak of his career by any means,” Walker said. “His ceiling is so far out there, you cannot see it. His potential is unreal.”
Walker said Michon’s success drives from his work ethic.
“He does the little things a lot better, like something as simple as stretching,” Walker said. “You know what he wants and his goals are super high.”
Glavin said Michon’s progression is due to his ability to balance track and cross country. He also said track and field is the speed turnover, the aggressive part of running while cross country is the grinding base building strength part.
“He gets better in track and field and gets faster, more confident,” Glavin said. “He trains a little stronger over the summer and then it shows up in cross country. Which then reflects in his confidence which shows up in track.”
Michon said he is more dedicated to the grind of cross country.
“That is something that I improved upon and definitely realizing my place as a long distance runner,” Michon said. “After running a few 5K’s in track last year, it definitely boosted my confidence a little bit in cross country.”
Walker said Michon is a big part of the strong culture the team has.
“It is always about what he can do for the team,” Walker said. “Likewise, how he can support guys and perform for the team.”
Michon said his goal for the team is that everyone runs their best race during championship season.
“If we can get every guy from front to back have their best race that will just take us so much further,” Michon said.
