ISU Bengal

Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Sports

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In an era when coaches come and go, there is a constant at ISU in the cross-country program. Brian Janssen has been here at ISU for 22 years.

Janssen was introduced to cross-country after graduating from college. He was a sprinter in college and the road races that were prevalent in the late 70's sparked his interest.

Janssen gradually gravitated towards cross country in his late 20's.

He claims that he was always a mediocre runner, the distance just changes as he got older. The mediocre claim is a little humble, as he does have two National Master's running titles as well as two runner-up finishes.

Janssen got his start in coaching his first year out of college, taking a position at Mapleton High School as a swim coach and track coach.

He then took on a coaching job at Metro State in 1980, went to the University of Kansas for a year in 1984, and came to ISU in 1985 and has been here ever since.

Janssen got into coaching because it is the closest thing there is to competing. Now, after 30 years of coaching he is still going strong.

Janssen has stayed in Pocatello all these years because he likes the community and he enjoys working with Coach Nielson.

Cross-country is a difficult sport to watch if you don't fully understand it. Unlike track, times don't matter in cross-country. Every course is different; our team runs on a wide variety of courses, ranging from 5k up 10k for the men, and 5k to 6k for the women.

Each of these courses also varies in its composition; some courses are very flat and fast, while others are hilly and slow. There is a tremendous psychological aspect to distance running.

The key moments in a race can be very tough to spot if you are not in tune with the sport.

ISU's cross-country team is full of multi-sport athletes. Most go from cross-country to indoor track to outdoor track. The only time that these athletes don't have something scheduled is in July.

Our women's team is very young and is looking to grow. Our men's team is looking for more consistency.

There is one more opportunity this year to come out and see the cross-country team in action. The alumni meet is next weekend at the cross-country course. This meet is the final tune-up before the conference meet in Missoula on Oct. 27. The alumni meet is followed two weeks later by Regionals in Ogden at Weber State University. Come out next week and give our runners some support. You'll get to see some incredible young people and an incredible coach in action.

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