John Raffel
Sports Scene
Beal City freshman Nick Pung has caught on nicely to cross country this season.
His best time has been 16:59, although he added, “I think I can do better.”
Prior to high school, Pung competed in some junior high events and has adjusted nicely to the high school 3.1-mile courses.
“It wasn’t hard to adjust,” he said. “I usually have a strong first mile.”
He’s trying to improve on his middle mile.
“I think I can get to 16:45,” he said. “I have to follow my training and work hard.”
It doesn’t surprise Beal City coach Dave King how well that Pung has performed so far this season.
“He was conference champion in junior high last year,” said King. “He also tied as junior high conference champion as a seventh grader. We’ve known he was coming. He worked hard during the summer, and he worked hard during the off-season. He had himself up to 50 miles this summer. It’s really paid off for him. He started off the year in the low 18s and dropped down into the 17s and a 16:59 in our first conference jamboree at Evart.
“Since then, he’s been in the mid 17s. I think we’ve run some tougher courses. He’s definitely running solid 17s. He hasn’t been back up in the 18s since the first three meets of the season. He’s having a really good season. He’s No. 4 in the Highland Conference. It’s been a good freshman season. He’s always been a hard worker. Give him something to do, and you know he’ll get it done. He got his mileage in during the summer, and it’s paid off for him.”
“The team is doing pretty good,” Pung said. “We’re second [behind Evart]. We’re going to try to make it to state.”
Pung also runs track.
“I like cross country better but I feel track challenges me more,” he said.