It is one thing to be born with the natural talent to be successful, but another to mix that talent with hard work to reach a level of success that is simply unparallelled to the prior. “He’s not just one of the most talented runners out there, he’s one of the hardest working too,” said cross country coach, Bob Bullis.

Junior Cole Christman was born with the physical abilities to outrun the pack in cross country, but instead of being content with the enjoyment of doing better than the average, he decided to work hard every day to lead the race, and nearly lead the state. Christman is a Wenatchee High School cross country runner and long distance performer in track who has found success ever since he started both sports. Now he is finishing up his fifth season of cross country and going into State with high hopes and a three-mile time of 15:24.4, which ranks fifth among Washington 4A boys.

Christman started running cross country in seventh grade. “I started running because I wanted to do what my brother, Max, was doing. Especially because he was so good at it,” said Christman. He instantly found success, but running ability at such a young age is often only a result of God-given talent, and not training habits. It was this year that Christman started training seriously, and it showed almost immediately. By his freshman year, he had recorded a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 50.1 seconds, a time that placed him 93rd at the 2011 Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 4A State Championships. He again set a personal best at that same race his sophomore year, shaving off 42 seconds and leaping forward to 28th place with a time of 16 minutes, 6.2 seconds, his personal best so far. Christman has proven his ability to to deliver great results at critical moments.

That critical moment will come once again on Nov. 9 at the State Championships in Pasco, so only time will tell how successful he can be by the end of the year.

Christman is hoping to get 18th at the State Championships this year, and  Bullis has even higher hopes for him. “With all the work he has given throughout this year, I could see him improving even more, possibly being in the top 15 at State,” said Bullis.

Christman expects even more improvement over the upcoming off-season. “At the rate I am training, I see improvement all the time, so I have nothing but high expectations for my future,”  said Christman.

According to Bullis and Christman’s fellow runners, he not only leads the races, but also leads the team in training. “Whenever he is out there training with us, he is also working as hard as he can, and when he can’t make it to the workout, he does the workout on his own. Not many people would do that,” said senior Tristan Cunderla. Christman runs approximately five to eight miles five times a week during the season as well as the off season.

Christman has not only found success in cross country, but also on the track. In the 2013 outdoor track season, Christman finished 13th in the mile, 14th in the two-mile, and was part of the 4×400 relay team that finished first at the Washington 2A, 3A, 4A State Championship Meet. These performances greatly contributed to Wenatchee High School’s 51 points at State, which gave WHS a second-place finish.

Christman hopes to continue his cross country career after his senior year, hopefully racing for a Pac-12 school, preferably Washington State University. Although he doesn’t see himself making any money through his cross country running, he plans to continue working hard for other reasons.

“If I have a chance at going to college without my parents having to pay for my way there, I’m not going to make them. So I’m going to keep on working towards earning scholarships, hopefully one to WSU,” said Christman.