Highland product Rosen struggles in cross country, thrives in track at Heartland CC
What started out as a lost season in cross country ended up as a pleasant found season in spring track as Highland product Easton Rosen finished his sophomore year at Heartland Community College feeling upbeat about his two-year career in Normal with the Hawks program.
“So, for my whole sophomore year with both fall and spring semester, there was kind of two sides of the coin,” Rosen said. “I was not really having my best season for cross country in the fall and I was struggling and wasn’t improving and I didn’t know what I was doing wrong.
“But then spring semester came along and I don’t know what changed, but all the sudden I was PR-ing (personal record) almost every race I ran and I had just a great spring season and I stated doing great in the 1,500 and qualified for nationals.”
Things did not start off well for Rosen in the first month of the season from late August to September 2022 as he had trouble finding the right pace to run at in meets.
“In the fall I went in optimistic and I felt I had a great summer for training. But I almost felt like I peaked too early and was coming in hot and ready to go and then was just almost burnt out by the time it got to like September, October because every race I would just feel lethargic and felt like I didn’t have energy,” Rosen said. “So, it was tough to deal with in the fall for sure.”
Rosen, a 2021 Highland graduate, did have one bright spot in the fall season as he placed 13th overall in the men’s division of the Heartland Invitational in Normal on Sept. 30 with a course time of 27:38.99, which was seventh best on the team as he helped the host Hawks win the meet over Joliet Junior College, Carl Sandburg College, and Kaskaskia College.
“I was relatively happy with the performance in that 5K (race),” Rosen said.
After struggling through the fall cross country season, Rosen was eager to have better results in the spring while running track.
As the track season got into gear, Rosen’s running style finally returned and he could practice and compete at his usual high level.
More about Rosen’s spring campaign
Rosen had arguably his best performance of the spring at the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville on April 7 as he finished in second place with a blazing time of 3:59.82.
“I felt good in every race, I went out slightly under control and then just opened it up a little bit over halfway through every time and then that always led to a couple of seconds improvement,” Rosen said. “My best race was the one at Illinois College in Jacksonville and that was the race I qualified for nationals.”
Rosen credited two simple changes with his improvement in the spring on the track: A more structured class schedule and putting less pressure on himself to perform.
“I quit worrying so much about my running and my performance and everything,” Rosen said. “I just had less pressure on myself. I got into a little bit more consistent routine in the spring. In the fall I had a lot of virtual classes and my days were just all over the place and second semester I was going to in-person classes and had places to be and things to do and so I just felt a little more in order.”
National meet, future plans
Rosen did go on to compete in the 1,500 meter run in the NJCAA Division I National Meet in mid-may in Hobbs, New Mexico.
He did not make the cut for the finals as he was eliminated in the preliminary races but still enjoyed the trip and the experience.
“I got to go out there with a few other teammates that qualified and it was a lot of fun and I just ran prelims and didn’t make it out (of that) but it was a great experience,” Rosen said.
Late next month, Rosen will begin the second half of his college journey as he heads to the University of Illinois to start classes in his major of organizational and community leadership.
He also will run cross country and track for the UIUC club teams which are campus intramural sports for students there.
