By Cailla Prisco
Sports Editor
First year KSC runner Rob St. Laurent was named Men’s Cross Country LEC Rookie Runner of the Week.
After dominating the 8k and finishing fourth in the Keene State Invitational, St. Laurent finished in 27 minutes and 48 seconds.
As a dual athlete competing in both cross country in the fall and track in the spring, St. Laurent is becoming one of KSC’s breakout athletes. Receiving recognition in the LEC as a first year only makes room for improvement, according to Head Coach Tom Pickering.
Pickering said, “Robbie is doing really well. We are one month into his first collegiate season and he’s already being recognized by the conference,” said Pickering. “He’s one of those runners that just wants to improve, that trains really hard, great attitude, blends well with the team too.”
Collegiate and high school cross country is very different, especially for the men, according to the LEC website. The men go from running a 5k to running an 8k on the college level, so they have to create more endurance and run for a longer distance than they are used to.
St. Laurent said, “It’s definitely more competitive, these are athletes that want to be here and want to race. At any given day, someone can give you a run for your money.”
According to St. Laurent, cross country wasn’t even his favorite part of running; he originally was just running track at KSC.
“I’m definitely a track guy — it fits my skill set a lot better. I’m looking forward to racing the mile again,” said St. Laurent.
When asked about living on campus and dealing with academics and sports, St. Laurent responded, “I’m definitely getting used to it, it was an adjustment. Driving 2 plus hours to every meet was rough, but again, I’ve gotten used to it.”
Coach Pickering said in respect to a set goal for St. Laurent, “We have no specific goal set in mind timewise, but I think he can definitely run under 27 minutes competing an 8k,” said Pickering.
St. Laurent will be racing the 8k at the Bowdoin invitational on October 13, with a start time of 11 a.m.
Cailla Prisco can be contacted at cprisco@kscequinox.com
