In His Own Words: Jason Crist

Jason Crist is one of the top distance runners in the hoosier state. The Franklin Central senior has a season best 5k time of 15:16.00 that he set at the Ben Davis Invitational. See what he has to say about the weeks leading up to the state championship, overcoming some obstacles along the way, and an acceptance letter from a local university in this series we like to call "In Their Own Words".

In His Own Words: Jason Crist - Journal #1 

This semi-state weekend really began over a week ago at sectionals. It actually began over three years ago when I was a freshman, but let's not get into that. This tournament season started with an individual win for me at the sectional meet. However, I rolled my ankle pretty bad about a mile into the race, which put me in an ankle brace for the next two days. It healed quickly, and I did not miss much time at all. Next came the regional meet, where I faced very stiff competition in senior Tate Schienbein. He ended up winning the race by about 5 seconds, but my ankle felt great. 

In the past few weeks, I have been feeling a lot of fatigue during races. Long story short, I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma, and was prescribed with an inhaler. I began taking the inhaler last week, and have felt much better since. I was able to run a three mile tempo under 5:30 pace this past Monday with relative ease, something I would have struggled with in my fatigue. In a workout on Wednesday, I was able to hit 74's in several 400's while holding back a little. (On a side note, I found out I was accepted into Indiana University later after the workout!). I have probably felt better so far this week than I have in over a month. With that being said, I am very excited and confident heading into the ultra-competitive Carmel semi-state. The field will be loaded, and it should be a great race. With two days of rest before the meet, I should be feeling fresh and ready to go. 

The team situation is probably the biggest story of the meet. First, there are the favorites (Hamilton Southeastern, Carmel, Columbus North), and then there are the teams fighting for the last 3 spots (Zionsville, North Central, Lawrence Central, and my team, Franklin Central). Our season has been cut short the past two seasons by finishing 7th at the semi-state. I am very confident that we can advance to the state meet as a team, as long as we all run to our potential. Regardless, it will still be a very fun and exciting race to watch, let alone be a part of it.


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