Anthony Hart sets new school record for 8k in men’s cross country

Cross country runner Anthony Hart (left) poses proudly next to his coach, Barron Maizland (right), after setting the record for Chapman men’s 8k run. Photo courtesy of Anthony Hart

On Oct. 22 at the Titan Invitational in Fullerton, California, cross country runner Anthony Hart placed 30th overall with a time of 25:53:10, setting a new record for Chapman men’s 8k run. 

The junior business administration major has always had the goal of setting a new record, but it came as a shock to him when it actually happened, especially during this past weekend.

“It was honestly really surprising,” Hart said. “It was always a goal eventually (to set a new record), but it wasn’t on (my mind) that day.” 

Olivia Armstrong, a junior data analytics major, watched her teammate Hart break the record and said she was ecstatic to see him set a new record.

“I was standing by his last 200 meters (of the race), and I heard the coach yell out, ‘You got 20 seconds!’” Armstrong said. “I was like, ‘O.K., he’s got it.’ I was watching the clock, and I saw he got it, and he was just like, ‘Yes!’ so that was awesome to see.”

Running long distance races takes a good amount of physical and mental focus, and Hart said the team has been running between 50-70 miles per week throughout this semester. 

Hart credited the team’s “tapering” tactic as greatly contributing to his personal success; the process is one where workout intensity and mileage is brought down over the course of the semester, so as to instead place increased focus on resting and preparing for conference and regional competitions.

“We put in all of our hard workouts and hard runs in the middle of the season, when I was doing higher mileage,” Hart said. “So, now, I’m starting to do less as we get closer (to the final races).”

Armstrong also spoke to the hard work and willingness of Hart to participate in all team activities.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him miss a practice this season — no excuses — and he puts in the work every day no matter what’s going on,” Armstrong said. “I think that’s the most important thing, when it comes to running, is consistency. Anthony has that.”

For Hart, the season did come with several challenges. One of the challenges the team faced was dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks during their first two cross country meets. Additionally, during the Pomona-Pitzer invite Oct. 9, the team placed eighth out of 11 teams and did not have their best race, according to Hart. But things turned around for the better.

“Going into the (Titan Invitational), I was really excited to just see how we were able to do coming off of a down week where we were rested,” Hart said. “I was just hoping to come out of (the race) with a lot more confidence going into regionals and conference.”

Over the past year and a half, Hart said online classes allowed him to be more flexible with his schedule to run, but personal challenges for him included running on his own without the team and being unable to train in the Baldwin Pavilion weight room. Hart acknowledged the benefits of being able to do these things again this semester, but he emphasized this comes with an entirely new set of challenges.

“I forgot how challenging it was to balance the time with school in person … and with running and practice,” Hart said. “It’s nice we have practice in the morning — we have it (from) 6-9 a.m. everyday — but that’s a challenge in itself, because you have to be up at 5:30 a.m. to be at practice by 6 a.m., which then means you have to go to bed hopefully by 10 p.m. which then just means you have to get everything done so much earlier. It’s just challenging to fit everything in: your classes, doing homework and also just having a social life with your friends.” 

Coach Barron Maizland reiterated Armstrong’s sentiment about Hart’s rigorous work ethic on the team and his willingness to participate in all team activities. Maizland also spoke about the strong connections among team members in general and how Anthony is a product of that team culture. 

“(Our coach-athlete relationship is) friendship based; I do that with everyone on the team, like a friendship where it’s professional as well,” Maizland said. “(Two weeks ago), Anthony went and helped one of our former athletes complete a marathon down in San Diego with one of our alumni who graduated last year … That’s just the type of person he is. We’re creating a culture here (where) Anthony and everyone else in the team has lifelong friendships.”

The season’s plethora of challenges did not deter Hart from excelling at the Oct. 22 race, and he attributes much of his success to the team and its collective effort to support him along the way. 

“We all run together, we all run the workouts together, there’s no one who’s really in the lead,” Hart said. “It’s been a really good season, and I think the team has just gotten a lot closer than I’ve seen in previous years in the sense we’ve been a lot more positive and a lot more dedicated to improvement.”