Friendly Competition

Seminarians and resident priests competed against each other in a spirit of fellowship and fun at the seminary's second annual track meet.

The new Bishop Walter J. Schoenherr running track on the seminary campus was the site of the September 24 event. Twenty seminarian runners from eight different dioceses participated in the various running competitions. Some men competed in up to five events throughout the Saturday afternoon.

Archdiocese of Detroit theologian John Carlin was the track meet coordinator for the second consecutive year, and is the founder of the event.

When I first came here, I saw that we had a brand new track, and I knew of a number of guys who ran in cross country and track before they came to seminary, Carlin says. I ran in both track and cross country in high school, so when I saw that we didn't have a track team, I thought, Hey let's get out there and run.'

Carlin states that the previous year's competition was a learning experience that helped him to better plan the meet this year. The first year we tried to do a lot more events with much longer distances. I think I had a 4-mile run planned, and there were only twenty runners who were running in most of the races. We got through about half of the events, and a guy said to me, We're dead, John.' So we did less races this year.

Diocese of Winona theologian David Kruse participated in a number of the competitions, taking first place in the individual results, running the 400 meter and the mile in five minutes and twenty-five seconds. Running is just a great way to stay in shape and to get out with your brothers, says Kruse, who also ran in two triathlons this past summer. It's great that we have all kinds of different avenues to help us grow in our physical fitness, such as the track, the gym, and the athletic field.

Carlin hopes to continue on with the track meet tradition, keeping it going for many years to come. We even have some of the priests who like to run come out and participate. We had Monsignor Lajiness out there, and Fr. Ryan Ford (Diocese of Marquette) was one of the first ones to contact me about getting involved.

It really is a lot of fun for the whole seminary community.