Jut in Arizona

Life gets busy. It really does. Meets, meet entries, practices, recruiting calls, recruiting visits, meetings with admissions, meetings with financial aid. Snow days, holidays, kids sick at home, aging parents ailing in New Jersey. It’s amazing my head stays screwed on straight day to day.

So, sometimes other important stuff slips through the cracks, and it makes you feel guilty. Such was the case Sunday night when freelance writer Nancy Haggerty, who I used to work with at the Poughkeepsie Journal, called me. She wanted to interview me about Justin Harris, our favorite pro triathlete. She was planning a column on Jut, and she wanted to talk to me about his past successes.

Remember, among Jut’s many career accomplishments to date, he remains the school record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Guys will chase that this year and beyond. But he’s still got the mark. 9:09.60.

Note to current team members: Go get it. I dare ya …

Like all of my athletically active alums, I can talk endlessly like a proud parent about what they did in college, have done since college and continue to do post-collegiately. And so it went with Nancy on the phone the other night. Along the way, though, I felt a tinge of guilt for not having reached out to Jut before he left for his training trip to Arizona.

So Jut, if you are reading this, hang in there, bro. You can do it. I’m following his progress now on his blog, which you can check here. It’s really inspirational stuff.