Elon's Ciolkowski races in conference championships, sets eyes on third title

Coming into Elon University, runner Nick Ciolkowski already had an impressive resume to show. Named the All-Greater Rochester [New York] Cross Country Runner of the Year in 2014, Ciolkowski entered the Phoenix lineup and immediately continued his success.

In his freshman year with the maroon and gold, Ciolkowski captured the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) men’s cross country individual title and was named the 2015 CAA Men's Cross Country Rookie and Athlete of the Year. In his sophomore year with the Phoenix, Ciolkowski followed up his title, capturing both the individual and Athlete of the Year titles again.

Entering the 2017 season and his junior year, Ciolkowski prepared harder than ever by spending the summer altitude training in Colorado. But after dealing with injuries all season, Ciolkowski was unsure of how that would affect him running for his third CAA title in as many tries. On Saturday morning, he found out.

“I can say that I’m pretty humbled because I was hoping for a win at home ... three times in a row,” Ciolkowski said after the race. “If you ask me two or three weeks ago whether or not I was going to finish as well as this or at all ... like I was worried about my season is over two or three weeks ago. Just coming here and finishing and pushing hard ... I’m just pretty happy with that.”

Even if he didn’t have his best race, having Ciolkowski run with the team was a motivating factor for his fellow Phoenix.

“It was a boost for the team that Nick is going to run and lead them up front,” said Elon cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. “He has been feeling better and better, and now it’s a matter of how much he can do. So most of all he was healthy and had a good effort.”

“I mean it could be a little too easy to think … to be a little too cocky going in because last season I took it pretty easy going into the race and I still won by a good bit,” Ciolkowski said. “Just because I won the last two years doesn't mean I’m necessarily going to win this year. You can't win them all. I felt like I pushed hard and went to my limits and that's all you can ask for in a race.”

Ciolkowski now shifts his sights from the conference race to the NCAA regional race. Looking to capture honors he has yet to obtain, Ciolkowski is hopeful that he will be up to form when it’s time to race again.

“Hopefully my fitness will be up there a little more,” he said. “That race is a 10K and the longer the race, the better I tend to do. So I’m excited for that one. Sometimes you have ups, and sometimes you have downs. Even though this is a little bit of a dip, I’m still pretty happy with how it went.”