Montezuma-Cortez High School track alumnus Zander Cruzan is making his mark on the collegiate running world, clocking the fastest collegiate time in the nation this season at a meet in December.
After a meet this past weekend, he is now the fourth fastest collegiate runner in the nation, but fastest freshman. The No. 1 spot is now held by Texas A&M senior Antonie Nortje, who ran a time of 46.12 at the McFerrin-12 Degree Invitational on Jan. 10.
Though now he’s making waves at a national level, Cruzan didn’t start running in track until his sophomore year at MCHS, where he also played football. At first, running collegiately wasn’t on Cruzan’s radar.
“I never really liked running, to be honest,” Cruzan said. “I didn’t enjoy running, but the people that I had in my corner, supporting me was really one of the reasons I stuck with it. I saw track and field as my ticket out of here and to open more doors for me later down the road. It was an opportunity.”
Cruzan signed with the University of Northern Colorado, where he runs the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and the 4x400-meter relay during the indoor season. In the outdoor season, he runs the 100, 200, 400, the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay.
Along with training with his college team, the freshman is studying communications with a minor in philosophy.
When asked about clocking the fastest 400-meter time while racing at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 7, Cruzan emphasized the effectiveness of his preseason training.
“My coach really emphasized building a base really early in the season, not necessarily speed right off the bat,” Cruzan said. “Speed comes with the competition. We really wanted to emphasize being strong and that carrying us through the race, rather than having only the speed aspect down.”
Leading up to the race, Cruzan shared that he felt much more confident than nervous.
“I knew that everything that I worked for during my preseason was leading up to this point, and I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to run,” Cruzan said. “I wanted to meet not just my own expectations, but my coach’s as well. I was aiming for the school record.”
Cruzan placed first, running a time of 46.73. This time broke the school record, which was set in 2018. The time to beat was 47.13.
After racing, Cruzan said he didn’t quite grasp how well he did.
“I was going through the motions after the race; I wasn’t feeling too well,” Cruzan said. “Once I figured it out, I was pretty stoked. Me and my teammates were pretty surprised. I didn’t really realize how good of a race I ran until later on that day.”
On UNC’s website, the school wrote about Cruzan’s accomplishment, saying, “Currently ranked first in the nation and in the BSC for his 400-meter performance at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, recording a personal best time of 46.73.”
While he acknowledged that he has goals for his running career, he also wants to prioritize his studies, first and foremost.
“I really really understand how important my academics and my education are, along with being an athlete. I know a lot of students don’t prioritize the student before the athlete, and that’s one of the things I want to be more aware of,” Cruzan said. “In terms of track and field, I really want to set realistic expectations for myself and meet my coach’s expectations.”
He also has time goals he hopes to hit in upcoming meets, as well as set the stage for pursuing a professional running career.
“Right now, I’m focused on qualifying for conference and doing well at conference to get into the NCAA first rounds, the second rounds, championships and so on. I don’t like looking too far into the future. I like taking it one meet at a time, because anything can happen,” Cruzan said.
While in Cortez during his winter break, Cruzan spent time with track athletes at MCHS.
“I’m just trying to be there to encourage them in person, if possible,” Cruzan said. I want to be encouraging and an old example to these athletes. I think every athlete deserves a good role model. That’s exactly what I had in high school, and it helped me excel.”
Cruzan added that being able to spend time with his former track coaches Bob Archibeque and Jeremy Yarbrough was nostalgic.
“I miss being a high school athlete,” Cruzan said. “I’m definitely incredibly blessed and grateful that I have the opportunity to even be around these great people. They didn’t just teach me how to be a good athlete, but to be a good human as well.”
