Freshman Alicja Minczuk moved from Poland to join Harding’s cross country team, but she is not letting any challenges slow her down. Her love for running has grown over the years, after her parents originally forced her to do it. She’s now following her dream and that’s what brought her to America according to senior team captain Madison Drennan.
“I looked for universities in the United States, and I wrote to coach Guymon, and he said I could go here with a scholarship,” said Minczuk. “I like trying new things, and I like traveling, so I like it here. The people are already very nice.”
She is already one of the fastest runners on the team and is encouraging to her fellow runners, according to senior team captain Madison Drennan. Drennan thinks Minczuk will give her teammates the boost they need after losing many teammates over the past year.
“She does a lot for the team,” Drennan said. “She’s automatically someone who pushes everybody. We all want to run like Alicja. We’ve had a lot of people graduate, so she’s been like the perfect pick-me-up after everybody left.”
Harding’s cross country races are 5Ks, but Minczuk is used to running Poland’s 2K cross country. This may not seem like a huge difference, but when someone is accustomed to running the same distance for their whole career, it can be challenging making the adjustment, according to Minczuk.
“I hate 5 kilometers,” Minczuk said. “Five kilometers is a lot. I don’t like distance. But I like improving, getting better and working hard. I hate competition because it puts a lot of stress on me; but my coach back home said I should go because I had what it took, so here I am.”
Minczuk received 20th place out of over 150 competitors at the Memphis Twilight 5K race on Sept. 2, and she was first among her Lady Bisons teammates with a time of 18:52.08. This was her first race as a Lady Bison.
“She’s definitely running higher mileage than what she’s used to running,” Drennan said. “She just has that ‘go get it’ attitude, so it hasn’t been an issue at all. Even though she hates it, she can do it well and turn on the right mindset, which is huge because running is like 75 percent mental. That’s good in track, and it’s really good in cross country because it is longer and more taxing.”
At the Southern Stampede race in Joplin Missouri, Sept. 16, being her second race ever as a Lady Bison, Minczuk placed second amongst Harding runners and finished 53rd out of over 250 runners. Minczuk had a time of 18:32.96, notably 20 seconds faster than her first race. As far as results go, head coach Steve Guymon said he still sees room for improvement, as a whole. This doesn’t discourage Minczuk, but rather, motivates her even more.
“I like improving, getting better and seeing the hard work [pay off],” Minczuk said. “I work hard and get better. Even though I don’t like competition, I love winning and the end result.”
In Poland, Minczuk trained alone, so this is her first time to work with a team.
“Before I came to this university, I didn’t know anybody,” Minczuk said. “I met the whole team here, and they are all really nice people and make me feel like I’m not alone or like an outsider. This is good because if you have a bad day and feel tired, another person can pick you up. If you have people, they can make you better because they don’t give up.”
According to Drennan, Minczuk has made it easy to accept her as a teammate.
“She came here and she’s all in. She’s all in to the team, she’s all in to her classes, she’s all in to the people around her. Her energy she brings rubs off on everyone.”
Minczuk, along with the rest of the Lady Bisons cross country team will be competing Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Trevecca Nazarene race in Nashville, Tennessee.
Written by Maleah Brown and Sports Editor Emily Faulkner
