Elam speeding past the competition at Maryville University

Russell Hodges
Posted 7/6/17

Alex Elam didn’t join the Rochelle Township High School track and field team until his junior year, but the strides he made during his senior season caught the attention of Maryville University head coach Micky Kaufman.

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Elam speeding past the competition at Maryville University

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Alex Elam didn’t join the Rochelle Township High School track and field team until his junior year, but the strides he made during his senior season caught the attention of Maryville University head coach Micky Kaufman.

Elam helped the Hubs reach the 2014-15 IHSA State Championships in both the 3200-meter relay and the 1600-meter relay before graduating RTHS and beginning his athletic career at Maryville. The middle-distance specialist competed with both the cross country team and the track team during his freshman year, and after turning in what he said was a memorable sophomore season, Elam is striving to make a greater impact with the Saints as an upperclassman.

“Going from barely breaking 5:20 in the mile during my first year of track at RTHS to nearly breaking 4:20 four years later is an amazing feeling,” Elam said. “It fuels my passion for the sport. I’m halfway through my summer training and I’ve ran consecutive weeks of 75 miles which is far more than I ran last year. I enjoy waking up at 5 a.m. every morning in order to beat the heat and get my miles in for the day.”

Elam’s sophomore campaign began with nearly 50-60 miles of running each week during the summer of 2016. His goal was to improve his time in the 8K during the cross country season, and he also aimed to lower his times in the middle-distance events during the track and field season.

The former Hub harrier’s hard work paid off, as he finished second on his team at the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Evansville, Indiana, running the 10K race in 35:01. He then broke Maryville’s indoor men’s track and field record in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.84 before flying to California during the outdoor season to compete for the Saints in the Mount Sac Relays, an event he said was by far his favorite track meet since his arrival at Maryville.

“I had no doubt in my mind I would be a much stronger runner than I was the year before,” Elam said. “That’s what I love about running. There are no shortcuts to improvement, and the only way to get better is to run more miles. Some of my best memories are waking up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning to meet up with the team and knock out 12 miles.”

Elam has traveled to several different states with the Maryville track and cross country teams including Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee and Kentucky. He’s formed a strong bond with his teammates throughout his two years of competing for the Saints, and while the increase in practice time between high school and college was an adjustment at first, Elam said he was able to overcome the increased workload.

“We practice six days a week and we have both morning and afternoon practice at least three of those days,” he said. “Everyone shows up to practice ready to work, whereas in high school there’s a lot more goofing around and some people are there just for the social aspect of it… Being surrounded by people that love running is awesome and my teammates’ passion for the sport also keeps me motivated.”

When he’s not suiting up for the Saints, he’s in the classroom working toward an education in marketing. He said he still keeps up with some of his former Rochelle teammates including Donivyn Harms and Colfay Pointer, and he credited both his college coach and his high school coaches for helping him become the student-athlete he is today.

“Coach [John] Dobbs and coach [Mark] Zilis were great during my time at RTHS,” Elam said. “They still offer tremendous support to me… My current coach has been equally supportive. He is very knowledgeable of the sport and he wants all of his athletes to succeed.”