The Triple Threat

Saint Martin's University Junior Josiah Shelman is a full time student, an athlete, and the vice president of Student-Athletic Advisory Committee.
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Submmitted by Christine Towey for Saint Martin’s University 

Saint Martin's University Junior Josiah Shelman is a full time student, an athlete, and the vice president of Student-Athletic Advisory Committee.
Saint Martin’s University Junior Josiah Shelman is a full time student, an athlete, and the vice president of Student-Athletic Advisory Committee.

Being a college student is quite the full time job. There’s homework, class, clubs, and not to forget about sleep of course.

Most students spend their weekends sleeping in to catch up from the all night study sessions they push themselves through during the week.  But this isn’t the case for every student; some willingly choose to wake up early on the weekends.

They’re not waking up early to hang out with friends; they’re waking up early to run mile after mile in the capitol forest, chasing their dream of making it to conference in cross country. One of these chasers is Josiah Shelman from Olympia, Wash.

Josiah is a junior at Saint Martin’s University studying business. He would be known as what the acting community refers to as a “triple threat,” he’s a full time student, an athlete, and the vice president of SAAC. For those who don’t know what the acronym SAAC is, it stands for Student-Athletic Advisory Committee.

So on top of all that homework and running, he helps gather the student athlete’s voices and determine what will affect their college careers in terms of NCAA rules and helping raise money for charities such as Make A Wish.

He originally was drawn to this endurance sport seven years ago by the conditioning it offered for his basketball season. But quickly switched, “I realized I was a lot better at running then I was at basketball.” He quit basketball and started running full time instead.

Some might think that all these miles would tire a student out, but Josiah is still running strong.

“On average, we put in eight to eleven miles just for a regular run.” He says this as if this isn’t an accomplishment others would jump with joy at. Considering the mileage he puts on his feet some might think he’d be riddled with injuries, but Shelman is actually completely injury free. “It’s been pretty smooth sailing, no bad injuries.”

The average cross-country meet is an 8,000-meter course, which is about five miles. This differs from conference however, which is a 10K, or 6.2 miles. While most people would be out of breath while training for a course like this, Josiah and his teammates use it as their time to catch up and make fun of each other.

“We just talk about school, relationships, (and) joke around. If you’re not being made fun of, it means no one likes you, but everyone gets made fun of so everyone is liked. It’s all in good nature.”

Every athlete has a moment where they debate whether or not to quit their sport, and Shelman has those as well, but his usually come humorously enough when they’re too far out in the woods to consider it a viable option.

“There are times when I wish my leg would’ve been broken on a hard tempo run, when you are eight miles (out) on a trail and have to turn around and run back.” He also believes humor and leadership go hand in hand to create good team dynamics. “There’s got to be some comedy, (we) can’t take things too seriously. When everyone knows when to work hard and when everyone knows to relax. There also needs to be some good leadership on the team too.”

Working hard is something this team knows how to do. They have not one, but they have three seasons, cross country in the fall, then indoor track and field in the winter and outdoor track and field in the spring. Josiah understands that it’s imperative he manages his time on and off the timed clock. On top of everything else he is a commuter student, so every minute on campus is important, “There are moments where I can sit and do nothing and peruse social media, or do homework. I have to use those moments.”

One of these oh so important moments will come at the Saint’s next meet on October 11 at George Fox University in Oregon.

 

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