It’s been called a Cinderella story. If you love when the underdog wins, this one is for you.
Nathan Kurjan hasn’t always been a runner. He has played multiple sports: Soccer, Football, Basketball, Baseball. He has a blackbelt in karate. He never quit a sport during the season, but none of them were ever his passion.
The common denominator in all the sports he played was speed. When he played baseball, the coach knew if he got on base, he would almost definitely get a run. When the team did running drills in baseball, Nathan was always in the lead. His passion is speed.
When baseball season rolled around his sophomore year, Nathan didn’t want to play, so he decided to run track with one of his buddies. He made districts his first year, but didn’t make regionals. When track was over, he joined cross country to keep in shape for track. His second year of cross country, he made regionals and barely missed going to state.
What would have been his second year of track was a wash because of COVID. He missed his junior year and went into his second season as a senior. His main events were the one mile, the open 800, the 4 x 400 relay, and the 4 x 800 relay. Toward the end of the regular season, Nathan decided to give the two mile a try.
He qualified for three events in districts – the 4 x 800, the one mile and the two mile. He dropped the one mile in regionals and ran the 4 x 800 and the two mile. The kid who only ran track for two seasons, qualified for state in the two mile. Keep in mind, the 2 mile is the hardest event to progress so quickly in.
The day of the state meet was one of the hottest days of the year, so far. That is great for short distance runners, but hard on the distance runners. Nathan’s coach said he is very proud of him for staying hydrated leading up to the race. On that note, Nathan has been diligent with his nutrition and workouts. Diligence, dedication and determination took him from Mineral Ridge to the podium in Columbus. He finished 7th out of the top 18 runners in the state, making his family, friends and coaching staff very proud.
All of Nathan’s hard work did not go unnoticed on the college level. He will go to Lake Erie College in the fall on a academic and athletic scholarship. He plans to be a High School English teacher and coach. We are excited to see the difference he is going to make in the world!
