advertisement

Former rivals team up in Harper's national title run

Like many athletes who compete for Harper College, cross country runners Juan Barajas and Brennan Albuck were once high school rivals.

Barajas attended Schaumburg, and Albuck ran for Hoffman Estates.

Fast forward two seasons, and the former rivals became elite teammates running to a second straight NJCAA championship.

Last weekend, Barajas and Albuck led the way as the Hawks claimed the program's third straight national title.

Barajas led with way by winning the individual title as well.

The race started with a very fast pace - "a bit too fast," according to Barajas. So he conserved some of his energy in hopes of making a decisive move later in the race.

"He creeps up," explained Albuck. "He's a silent killer."

Albuck used the toughest climb on the race, in the second mile, as his key strategic point.

"(I) used the hill to my advantage," Albuck said. "I wanted to see if I could pull away from the front group."

At about the same point, Barajas started to close the gap, and before long Albuck and Barajas comprised two-thirds of the lead group.

With 200 meters to run, it was every runner for himself.

"I had nothing left," Barajas admitted. "I thought Brennan was going to beat me."

Albuck says he tuned everything out down the stretch, perhaps to the point where he couldn't hear coach Jim Macnider's words: "Who wants it more?"

Barajas did hear his coach, and said he got one final jolt of adrenaline in his surge to victory.

"It was a good one-two punch," Albuck said of the result.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.