SE: K-State Cross Country Senior Joe Gorthy’s Summer, Teammates Push Him to New Heights
Sep 26, 2018 | Cross Country, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
This summer, Joe Gorthy started every weekday at 4:30 a.m., for a run. In between hearing the grueling sound of his alarm and lacing up his shoes, the K-State cross country senior repeated one sentence to himself.
"The team's depending on me," Gorthy said he told himself. "That's what kind of pushed me every day to get up."
After his morning run, the start of a 100-plus mile week, Gorthy went to his internship at the City of Overland Park for eight hours. He spent most of this time outside doing road quality analysis — right up his alley as an industrial engineering major. Sometimes Gorthy snuck another run in during lunch; other times he ran again after work. Either way, he was asleep by 8:30 p.m., ready to repeat the routine.
"It wasn't the most fun summer," he said, "but it was definitely rewarding."
Gorthy's first two races this season proved it. So did the Big 12 Runner of the Week honor he earned on September 11. He became K-State's first male to earn the weekly recognition since 2012.
"It definitely goes to show all the work I've been putting in, not just this year, in all the years, but it's not just a product of my hard work but the team's hard work," he said. "I wouldn't be where I am without my teammates pushing me every single day. This award doesn't just go out to me, it goes out to my teammates and my coach as well."
They also pushed him during this past summer, directly and indirectly.
Gorthy said he ran between 100-105 miles a week this summer, up from doing 85-90 the previous summer. He kept his team in mind before each run. Also, he often would train in the mornings with Colton Donahue, who graduated in May after serving as one of K-State's top runners for most of his career.
"At the moment, when I was doing it, it wasn't fun and maybe it didn't seem worth it," Gorthy said. "But I was talking to Colton and he had a similar routine last summer when he had an internship, and he said, 'Just continue to put in the work. It'll be worth it down the road.' So far, it seems like that's paid off."
At the five-kilometer JK Gold Classic to open this season, Gorthy finished third overall and first on his team. He finished in 19:04.6, about 16 seconds faster than his time at the same event last year. In K-State's second meet, the Vic Godfrey Open on September 8, he finished fourth overall and first on his team. His time at that meet (25:46.8) was about 1 minute and 42 seconds faster than his time at K-State's second race last season, albeit at a different course.
"He put in more miles this summer than he had the previous summer and the summer before that, so I think it's just been something that's built up and built up," K-State head coach Ryun Godfrey said. "He's been able to maintain that volume through this fall, in fact even step it up a little notch. And he's healthy and he feels good."
Gorthy and Godfrey both pointed to another factor in his performance this season: He's a senior. Even more, he's the only senior on the men's team, which has nine freshmen. Plus, he's following last year's six-man senior class that helped the team finish fourth at the conference meet — the best team placement for K-State's men in Big 12 history.
"I think sometimes when you become a senior there is a sense of urgency, where you kind of feel like, 'This is it. My next chapter is graduating and going and getting a job.' You just try and soak up every minute that you have," Godfrey said. "I think it's a combination of that realization and then just the consistent training has been a big part of it."
"It was definitely different coming into this year," Gorthy added of his approach. "I talked to Coach (Godfrey) last season and he said it's kind of going to be my team, it's time for me to step up and be the leader."
Gorthy said he's tried to do so by continuing to build on the culture last year's seniors established. This hinges, he said, on "buying into the process and buying into each other."
"Team chemistry is really important because last year I became really, really close friends with some of the guys that I really hadn't been (close with) before," Gorthy continued. "Whenever we stepped on the line we knew that we were doing it for each other and that really helped us, pushed us to a new level."
As the Wildcats start back up at the Rim Rock Farm Collegiate Classic in Lawrence on Saturday after a three-week break between meets, Gorthy said he looks to continue reaching new levels and helping his team in any way he can.
"Every single race, I go into it just knowing this is going to be my last time running at Rim Rock or last time running at Bradley, and I keep that in the back of my mind at the beginning of the race and during the race. When it gets tough, I think, 'This is my last time running here and I have to give it my all,'" he said. "I definitely want to go out with a bang and just try to do my best. I want to go into Big 12s, try to be the lowest stick I can be for the team and try to, hopefully, get All-Big 12 (honors). That's definitely tough in the Big 12, but if I can do that, be the leader for my team and help bring the team score down, that's all I can ask for."
"He's excited about the team and how we'll they're running," added Godfrey. "He's a team guy."
This summer, Joe Gorthy started every weekday at 4:30 a.m., for a run. In between hearing the grueling sound of his alarm and lacing up his shoes, the K-State cross country senior repeated one sentence to himself.
"The team's depending on me," Gorthy said he told himself. "That's what kind of pushed me every day to get up."
After his morning run, the start of a 100-plus mile week, Gorthy went to his internship at the City of Overland Park for eight hours. He spent most of this time outside doing road quality analysis — right up his alley as an industrial engineering major. Sometimes Gorthy snuck another run in during lunch; other times he ran again after work. Either way, he was asleep by 8:30 p.m., ready to repeat the routine.
"It wasn't the most fun summer," he said, "but it was definitely rewarding."
Gorthy's first two races this season proved it. So did the Big 12 Runner of the Week honor he earned on September 11. He became K-State's first male to earn the weekly recognition since 2012.
"It definitely goes to show all the work I've been putting in, not just this year, in all the years, but it's not just a product of my hard work but the team's hard work," he said. "I wouldn't be where I am without my teammates pushing me every single day. This award doesn't just go out to me, it goes out to my teammates and my coach as well."
They also pushed him during this past summer, directly and indirectly.
Gorthy said he ran between 100-105 miles a week this summer, up from doing 85-90 the previous summer. He kept his team in mind before each run. Also, he often would train in the mornings with Colton Donahue, who graduated in May after serving as one of K-State's top runners for most of his career.
"At the moment, when I was doing it, it wasn't fun and maybe it didn't seem worth it," Gorthy said. "But I was talking to Colton and he had a similar routine last summer when he had an internship, and he said, 'Just continue to put in the work. It'll be worth it down the road.' So far, it seems like that's paid off."
At the five-kilometer JK Gold Classic to open this season, Gorthy finished third overall and first on his team. He finished in 19:04.6, about 16 seconds faster than his time at the same event last year. In K-State's second meet, the Vic Godfrey Open on September 8, he finished fourth overall and first on his team. His time at that meet (25:46.8) was about 1 minute and 42 seconds faster than his time at K-State's second race last season, albeit at a different course.
"He put in more miles this summer than he had the previous summer and the summer before that, so I think it's just been something that's built up and built up," K-State head coach Ryun Godfrey said. "He's been able to maintain that volume through this fall, in fact even step it up a little notch. And he's healthy and he feels good."
Gorthy and Godfrey both pointed to another factor in his performance this season: He's a senior. Even more, he's the only senior on the men's team, which has nine freshmen. Plus, he's following last year's six-man senior class that helped the team finish fourth at the conference meet — the best team placement for K-State's men in Big 12 history.
"I think sometimes when you become a senior there is a sense of urgency, where you kind of feel like, 'This is it. My next chapter is graduating and going and getting a job.' You just try and soak up every minute that you have," Godfrey said. "I think it's a combination of that realization and then just the consistent training has been a big part of it."
"It was definitely different coming into this year," Gorthy added of his approach. "I talked to Coach (Godfrey) last season and he said it's kind of going to be my team, it's time for me to step up and be the leader."
Gorthy said he's tried to do so by continuing to build on the culture last year's seniors established. This hinges, he said, on "buying into the process and buying into each other."
"Team chemistry is really important because last year I became really, really close friends with some of the guys that I really hadn't been (close with) before," Gorthy continued. "Whenever we stepped on the line we knew that we were doing it for each other and that really helped us, pushed us to a new level."
As the Wildcats start back up at the Rim Rock Farm Collegiate Classic in Lawrence on Saturday after a three-week break between meets, Gorthy said he looks to continue reaching new levels and helping his team in any way he can.
"Every single race, I go into it just knowing this is going to be my last time running at Rim Rock or last time running at Bradley, and I keep that in the back of my mind at the beginning of the race and during the race. When it gets tough, I think, 'This is my last time running here and I have to give it my all,'" he said. "I definitely want to go out with a bang and just try to do my best. I want to go into Big 12s, try to be the lowest stick I can be for the team and try to, hopefully, get All-Big 12 (honors). That's definitely tough in the Big 12, but if I can do that, be the leader for my team and help bring the team score down, that's all I can ask for."
"He's excited about the team and how we'll they're running," added Godfrey. "He's a team guy."
Players Mentioned
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