From tennis champ to aspiring runner, senior Jon Lansing is right on track. Lansing placed second at the Eastern Iowa Classic on Thursday, September 21 at Seminole Valley Park. He competed against runners from Iowa City West, Kennedy, Regina, and Washington.

Lansing entered his second year of cross country this fall, after playing football his first two years of high school.

“I went out for cross country because some of my friends were on the team,” Lansing said. “I assumed I would be okay and probably just run JV with my friends, but then I was surprised to see how well I did.”

Last year, as a first year cross country athlete, Lansing placed 17th overall and missed All-State by 3 seconds, despite running a personal best of 16:44 at the state meet.

“My goal for this season is to get top ten in the state meet. Our team goal is to win state,” Lansing said. “Although winning state is a huge goal, we all know that we can achieve it if we all do our best. We see the state title as a challenging but attainable goal to strive for. With the support of the team, we can push each other.”

Lansing knows how to win.

Xavier graduate Charlie Esker (X’17) and Lansing were Tennis Doubles State Champions this past spring.

Keera Ball

Sports Writer