Jack Sorensen’s determination, focus, and humility have helped him lead his cross country team to its highest finish in the state meet in over three years. Mount Michael high school Cross Country and Track coach John Gathje believes Jack has “helped his teammates survive and thrive during the pandemic.”
As a freshman, Sorensen signed up for cross country, and it was instant love. “Being on the cross country team has been one of the best parts of my high school career,” he said. The camaraderie between us made practice something that I looked forward to every single day.”
One of his greatest accomplishments on the cross country team was his comeback from the 2019 season. Sorensen had a poor performance in a race at the district meet, and despite having a successful season, the team didn’t make it to state. According to Gathje, “This past fall, Jack finished second in the district and lead his team to a second-place finish at the district, which qualified the team for the state meet. Simply put, Jack performed at a very high level when the stakes were the highest.”
Sorensen gives credit to his team for their success. “That failure gave us so much motivation going into this year’s season, and I am really proud of how we bounced back this year. We tied for first in the district and finished 4th in state after being seeded 10th. On top of that, I placed 8th individually at state which made me feel like I had finally found redemption.”
Besides being involved in sports, Sorensen is also Senior Class President for Student Council and on the journalism team. “Being on Student Council has been a great way to interact with the students from other classes.” On the journalism team, he oversees the production of the school newspaper. “Creating layouts for the paper is a lot of work but seeing everything come together in a finished product makes it all worth it.”
He will attend Creighton University in the fall, majoring in business. He hopes to be the team manager on the cross country team even if he’s not competing at the varsity level. His drive to succeed will keep him focused and motivated to keep chasing his personal best, both on and off the track.
