SE: Noah Stevenson’s Year of Living Like a Monk
Oct 06, 2020 | Cross Country, Sports Extra
By: Greg McCune
When K-State Cross Country senior Noah Stevenson missed an engineering design class in order to attend a team meeting, he didn't realize how important that decision would prove to be.
The class is one of four Stevenson is taking this semester, two of which have an in-person component.
Going to the Introduction to Industrial Design class of six students on Tuesdays and Thursdays is one of the few times a week Stevenson ventures out of his "bubble."
He lives in a house with other Cross Country teammates who have the same goal. He doesn't belong to a fraternity and said he doesn't go to Aggieville. He works part-time at Manhattan Running Co. but wears a mask and tries to social distance from customers.
Stevenson jokes that a passage he found in the Book "The Quotable Runner" seemed to describe his life at the moment - a distance runner is like a monk or a nomad.
That's the price of competing in D1 Cross Country during a pandemic. He tries to avoid people at a time in his life when every inclination for college students is to do the opposite.
Soon after he missed the design class meeting, some members of the group messaged that they were feeling sick. Since then, every member of the group except Stevenson has tested positive for COVID-19, he said. The group didn't meet in person for two weeks after that.
"I kind of dodged a bullet on that one," Stevenson said.
With a sense of relief as well as anticipation, he and about 20 teammates settled into bus seats last month for the short trip to Lawrence for their first competition of the season.
"When we got on the bus, we kind of looked at each other and said: 'We made it,'" Cross Country Coach head coach Ryun Godfrey said.
Stevenson was rewarded for his efforts with one of the best races of his life on KU's challenging Rim Rock course.
He finished fifth with a personal best time of 18:29.7 for 6K, trailing only three runners from Iowa State's Big 12 Championship squad and teammate Cooper Schroeder. He finished ahead of Iowa State's Thomas Pollard, who finished second in the Big 12 indoor 5K earlier this year.
Best of all, both the men's and women's teams beat the Jayhawks on their home turf.
The good times continued at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater last weekend, when a top-20 performance from Stevenson paced the Wildcats in a field that included most of the Big 12.
K-State finished third as a team, trailing only traditional powers Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
Stevenson credits his success to a training regimen that built up to 80 to 100 miles a week - the most he's ever done - during a particularly quiet summer living in Manhattan.
K-State classes were cancelled so he couldn't go to summer school. When he got bursitis in a heal from running, he couldn't go to K-State trainers for help because they were shut down.
Using padding in his shoe and over the counter medication he eventually got better.
When August arrived and the Big 12 decided to go ahead with the season, Stevenson and other athletes began navigating a gauntlet of rules to get to the starting line.
Athletes had to quarantine for two weeks when they arrived on campus, then test negative for COVID-19 before they could start practice. Every Tuesday and Friday during the season, they go to Lafene Health Center for tests, before the results come back in a day or so.
The Friday before a competition, athletes get an antigen test at Vanier Football Complex and must post a negative test 24 hours before each race, a requirement of the Big 12.
The meet in Lawrence allowed no spectators, which was a disappointment to Stevenson's parents, David and Kim, who were excited that he would be running so close to his hometown of Merriam in the Kansas City metro area.
Stevenson said they are hoping that spectators will be allowed when the Big 12 Championships are held back at Rim Rock on Oct. 30.
The race itself was pretty normal. Stevenson said officials did a good job of preventing a bottleneck of runners at the finish to maintain social distancing.
The thing he misses the most this season is the camaraderie of K-State student- athletes. In the past, meals at the K-State Training Table were buffet-style and Stevenson got the chance to sit down and chat with athletes from all sports.
Now athletes choose what they'd like to eat, and it is boxed up for them to take home in an effort to prevent contact spreading between sports.
K-State Cross Country has had only one positive COVID case so far of more than 30 athletes. Even a single positive has a ripple effect on the team as athletes exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine due to contact tracing.
Stevenson said his goal is to stay clean all season, including for outdoor track in the spring. But in this strange year, the athletes are taking it one meet at a time.
Stevenson particularly wants to make it to the starting line of the Big 12 Championships, where he feels the team has a great chance to improve on its sixth-place finish last year.
After national powers Iowa State and Oklahoma State, third place on down is up for grabs. A fourth-place finish would be the highest for K-State since 2017.
The K-State women could also be dramatically better at Big 12s and will expect to have Cara Melgares, Cayli Hume and Macy Heinz back from injury.
But first, they all need to keep testing negative.
When K-State Cross Country senior Noah Stevenson missed an engineering design class in order to attend a team meeting, he didn't realize how important that decision would prove to be.
The class is one of four Stevenson is taking this semester, two of which have an in-person component.
Going to the Introduction to Industrial Design class of six students on Tuesdays and Thursdays is one of the few times a week Stevenson ventures out of his "bubble."
He lives in a house with other Cross Country teammates who have the same goal. He doesn't belong to a fraternity and said he doesn't go to Aggieville. He works part-time at Manhattan Running Co. but wears a mask and tries to social distance from customers.
Stevenson jokes that a passage he found in the Book "The Quotable Runner" seemed to describe his life at the moment - a distance runner is like a monk or a nomad.
That's the price of competing in D1 Cross Country during a pandemic. He tries to avoid people at a time in his life when every inclination for college students is to do the opposite.
Soon after he missed the design class meeting, some members of the group messaged that they were feeling sick. Since then, every member of the group except Stevenson has tested positive for COVID-19, he said. The group didn't meet in person for two weeks after that.
"I kind of dodged a bullet on that one," Stevenson said.
With a sense of relief as well as anticipation, he and about 20 teammates settled into bus seats last month for the short trip to Lawrence for their first competition of the season.
"When we got on the bus, we kind of looked at each other and said: 'We made it,'" Cross Country Coach head coach Ryun Godfrey said.
Stevenson was rewarded for his efforts with one of the best races of his life on KU's challenging Rim Rock course.
He finished fifth with a personal best time of 18:29.7 for 6K, trailing only three runners from Iowa State's Big 12 Championship squad and teammate Cooper Schroeder. He finished ahead of Iowa State's Thomas Pollard, who finished second in the Big 12 indoor 5K earlier this year.
Best of all, both the men's and women's teams beat the Jayhawks on their home turf.
Felt good to be back
— K-State Track (@KStateTFXC) September 20, 2020
🏃♀️ Bob Timmons Classic 🏃♂️#KStateXC pic.twitter.com/l8ZsHjPacl
The good times continued at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater last weekend, when a top-20 performance from Stevenson paced the Wildcats in a field that included most of the Big 12.
K-State finished third as a team, trailing only traditional powers Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
Stevenson credits his success to a training regimen that built up to 80 to 100 miles a week - the most he's ever done - during a particularly quiet summer living in Manhattan.
K-State classes were cancelled so he couldn't go to summer school. When he got bursitis in a heal from running, he couldn't go to K-State trainers for help because they were shut down.
Using padding in his shoe and over the counter medication he eventually got better.
When August arrived and the Big 12 decided to go ahead with the season, Stevenson and other athletes began navigating a gauntlet of rules to get to the starting line.
Athletes had to quarantine for two weeks when they arrived on campus, then test negative for COVID-19 before they could start practice. Every Tuesday and Friday during the season, they go to Lafene Health Center for tests, before the results come back in a day or so.
The Friday before a competition, athletes get an antigen test at Vanier Football Complex and must post a negative test 24 hours before each race, a requirement of the Big 12.
The meet in Lawrence allowed no spectators, which was a disappointment to Stevenson's parents, David and Kim, who were excited that he would be running so close to his hometown of Merriam in the Kansas City metro area.
Stevenson said they are hoping that spectators will be allowed when the Big 12 Championships are held back at Rim Rock on Oct. 30.
The race itself was pretty normal. Stevenson said officials did a good job of preventing a bottleneck of runners at the finish to maintain social distancing.
The thing he misses the most this season is the camaraderie of K-State student- athletes. In the past, meals at the K-State Training Table were buffet-style and Stevenson got the chance to sit down and chat with athletes from all sports.
Now athletes choose what they'd like to eat, and it is boxed up for them to take home in an effort to prevent contact spreading between sports.
K-State Cross Country has had only one positive COVID case so far of more than 30 athletes. Even a single positive has a ripple effect on the team as athletes exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine due to contact tracing.
Stevenson said his goal is to stay clean all season, including for outdoor track in the spring. But in this strange year, the athletes are taking it one meet at a time.
Stevenson particularly wants to make it to the starting line of the Big 12 Championships, where he feels the team has a great chance to improve on its sixth-place finish last year.
After national powers Iowa State and Oklahoma State, third place on down is up for grabs. A fourth-place finish would be the highest for K-State since 2017.
The K-State women could also be dramatically better at Big 12s and will expect to have Cara Melgares, Cayli Hume and Macy Heinz back from injury.
But first, they all need to keep testing negative.
Players Mentioned
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