James Cessna '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is James Cessna, and I hope to run cross country in college. Throughout my life, athletics have played an extremely important role, ultimately becoming the basis for my motivation and well-being. I currently compete in four sports: cross country, track, Nordic skiing, and mountain biking. However, I would love to focus on cross country in college.

I joined my cross country team sophomore year and quickly realized that I loved it. Consequently, I joined my track team as well. As I have learned the difficulty in balancing four sports, I have decided I want to put all my time into one so that I can reach my fullest potential; my goal is to become the best runner I can.

I believe that my success in balancing multiple sports, extracurriculars, and difficult classes displays my motivation and ability to push myself. I feel that my diversity in athletics sets me apart from other runners; I create an identity for myself through my many activities. I make it a goal to stand out at every race, primarily by bringing in some other cultural aspect from another one of my sports. Most notably, I have made it a tradition to always wear stripes of glitter under my eyes at cross country and bike races, just as many do at Nordic ski races.