Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(written by Hannah Bevis, Student Sports Information Assistant)
Nov. 9, 2015 - North Central College junior Helen Majer hasn't had what most would call a 'typical' path to competitive running. Growing up in Nuremberg, Germany, she never raced or ran in competitions, and it wasn't until she came to the Chicagoland area before her junior year of high school that she even joined her first cross country team.
"It was more to make friends than because I liked running," said Majer. "In the beginning, I would run the warm-up and think that was the actual run. By my senior year, I really liked it because that's when my coach started pushing me and he told me I had potential."
Majer first came to the United States after her father was transferred for his job, and her whole family came with him because of the distance and length of the project.
"My parents always wanted to move to another country, we were deciding between China, Africa, or America," said Majer. "It was a great experience being able to say that you spent two or three years in another country, bettering my English, just being in a different culture, making new experiences."
After attending and competing for Wheaton Warrenville South High School, Majer got an email from North Central about running for the Cardinals, something her high school coach Rob Harvey, an 1994 graduate of North Central, was very excited about. There were a lot of factors that played into Majer's decision to come to North Central, but staying close to home was a big reason she ultimately committed to the Cardinals. Her family moved back to Germany after she finished high school, and she wanted to stay in an area that was familiar and where she had friends already established.
Once she came to North Central, her running career really took off. Now that she had coaches who continued to push her and help her grow as a runner and teammates that she clicked with on and off the racing course, she started to excel.
"I think North Central brought out the best in me because I never really realized that everybody can be good," said Majer. "Here, they take you where you're at and they try to build with you. They're not trying to race you, they're trying to help you get better, and by you getting better, you help [the team] get better."
Majer is an extraordinarily team-oriented person. While cross country is typically viewed as an individual sport, Majer says that it's really the chemistry and cohesion that a team has together that makes them successful.
"A lot of people think that cross country is an individual sport, but it's not, it's really not. It's you running with your teammates, helping your teammates out and your teammates helping you. It's not about how well you run, but how well you run together," said Majer. "Division III athletes, we don't get paid to run, we all run because we love it. There's nothing that we get out of it besides competing as a team, and being better every single day."
Majer is confident that her team, which has already claimed the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship for the second straight year, is capable of advancing out of a tough Midwest Region Championship and competing at the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Cardinals qualified for the national meet last year, placing 20th overall.
"[Head coach Mahesh Narayanan] always talks 'big picture' and it's so cool to see that your coaches have such high expectations for us because they know we can be there and we should be there, so I really like that," said Majer.
She's learned a lot during her time as a student-athlete at North Central - how to balance work, school, friends and running, how to work together with her teammates, and what her boundaries are as an athlete when it comes to training. But it always comes back to the team for Majer, and her loyalty to a program she loves being a part of. Even when an injury knocked her out of racing near the end of her sophomore season, Majer wanted nothing more than to rejoin her teammates and friends.
"I think the thing that kept me focused so much was wanting to be there for the team so badly. Because I saw all my teammates succeed, and I was so happy and excited for them, but I just wish I could have been with them, because watching is one part of it, but you want to be part of it," said Majer. "Just wanting to be a part of and helping our team was my biggest motivator to train this summer and bounce back."
Majer and the Cardinals will compete at the Midwest Region Championship at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Illinois, on Saturday.
