Nick Hall was awarded the GLIAC cross country runner of the week after individually winning his most recent meet.

 In 2014, Nick Hall was the first male runner to cross the finish line in the cross country GLIAC Championships, this year he is working his way back up after redshirting last season. Hall has already seen success this season as he took first in the Lake Erie Storm Invitational. 

“It was very rewarding in a sense of patience,” Hall said, “It wasn’t a large race, but definitely a huge confidence booster for the upcoming championship. In summary, winning the event was very reassuring that I’m right where I need to be.”

Hall began his running career at an early age. In the fifth and sixth grade he began running in the annual Turkey Trot race that his school would host around Thanksgiving. He placed in the top three both times. 

These races positively impacted Hall’s choice to join the cross country team when he was finally able to in the seventh grade and eventually fell in love. 

“I was only really influenced by anyone who beat me,” Hall said, “I never really looked up to competitors or teammates, I always just wanted to be better.”

Like most great athletes, Hall had some challenges to face during his running career. 

“Everyone faces obstacles and especially student athletes at that,” Hall said. “I’ve hit all time lows struggling to balance school work while missing a lot of classes for races and things like that. I had surgery on my chest for an imbalance in hormones the summer of 2015 which led me to redshirt that coming athletic year.”

Along with recovering from surgery, Hall also had mono the beginning of this year’s cross country season, which is his first season  since 2014.

“Mono a couple months ago was a rough patch,” Hall said, “But in the end I found light in patience and hope. Controlling the controllables has been a key phrase for me.”

To come back from the multiple setbacks that Hall has had to face, he found himself looking in new places for inspiration and light. 

“My number one focus this season has been on God,” Hall said, “As a recently accepted Christian, I’ve been very focused on glorifying Him and building that relationship through my sport.” 

Hall explains how he has been taking baby steps to build himself back up to his full potential. 

Now that he is healthy again and his coach is letting him race full-out, his goal in every race is to go for the  gold and nothing less.

“If I win races, that’s the best possible position I can put my team in as the leader,” Hall said. 

Hall’s cross country coach of two years, Thomas Scott, tells how the beginning of the training season was difficult for Hall and issue after issue continued to arise and they both approached the first races with caution. 

“I knew that we could get just back on track he would be great, he is a very talented and hardworking kid,” Scott said. “He wants it more than anybody else that I’ve ever worked with and things are coming on at the right time for him.” 

The Lake Erie Invite was the last race before the 2016 GLIAC Championships and now that Hall got his confidence back with his last race he is ready to take on the challenge of defending his old title. 

“He knows he can compete with anybody in the conference,” Scott said.

Scott never has to worry that Hall won’t give his all every practice and every race because he is such a dedicated and hardworking athlete. 

“As a coach, Nick is exactly kind of kid you want to work with and you want on your team,” Scott said.

Along with having an outstanding work ethic, Hall also has grown to take on a leadership role causing many kids on the team to look up to him as role model and a leader due to the amount of hard work he puts in day in and day out and setting the bar high for the rest of the team. 

“My biggest achievement to me is probably the impression I leave on young runners struggling to find immediate success,” Hall said. I pride myself on doing what I can with a combination of God’s gift and hard work. Many people would choose ‘All-American’ or ‘GLIAC Champion’ as a greatest achievement, but I truly believe I’ve achieved being the best role model I can on and off the course.” 

After college, Hall is looking into the best possible situation for post collegiate training and is playing with the thought of pursuing his masters degree in video production.

“I have met some incredible people in this sport from all over the world,” Hall said. “I believe my post collegiate career will involve someone I met down the line and be related to the sport no doubt. I would love to continue to train after college so I’ll just have to finish the year and explore my options.”