Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(Written by Ben Nordman, Student Sports Information Assistant)
Nov. 16, 2017 - North Central College junior cross country runner Al Baldonado is very instrumental, both an instrumental part of the men's cross country and track and field team and the fact that he can play three instruments. From the fifth grade up until now, Baldonado has been involved in music, due largely in part to his parents' musical influences.
"My parents were both musical, so I was kind of forced into it at first, but I ended up enjoying it and kept with it," he said.
He learned to play the saxophone, guitar, and drums over the years. In addition, he can sing, which goes along well with him playing the guitar. But three instruments were apparently not enough as he decided when he got to high school that he wanted to be a student-athlete as well. He ended up giving cross country a try even after doing other sports when he was younger.
"Being a 90 pound freshman [in high school], football was not the route for me, so I decided to try cross country because one of my friends was doing it," said Baldonado.
Even though he did try playing other sports such as baseball and soccer, he found a home with running cross country and decided to stick it out.
"It's basically every runner's story; [we] aren't very good at any other sport so we go into running as a last resort," joked Baldonado. "The constant challenge and constantly trying to improve [is what I like most about it]. Every workout you get to test yourself and see how much pain you can deal with. I like being able to push myself to new limits."
After graduation from high school, Baldonado decided to focus on looking for a school he could run at. When he met head coach Al Carius, he knew North Central was where he was going to continue the sport he loved.
"Meeting with Al—he's one of the greatest people I've ever met," said Baldonado. "It felt wrong to go anywhere else because Al was so welcoming. I wanted to be part of a team, where as in high school I didn't have the right people to train with. Here I have plenty."
After the decision to come to North Central was final and he started his first cross country season, Baldonado excelled, placing 65th at the national meet. But that was just the beginning. His sophomore year, he would improve on that finish by a large margin, placing 15th in the country, earning All-American honors and helping lead the team to its 17th national title.
The team set a new record for largest margin of victory in a cross country national championship in Division III history, a record previously set by the Cardinals years before. Understandably so, Baldonado says that is by far his favorite memory of college up until this point.
"It was nice because it was pretty much the same group we had the previous year when we got fifth. To collectively come together—to be pissed off and train together to work towards a common goal and then have it come to fruition—was great," he said.
This season, the Spring Valley, Ill. native has been a significant contributor to the team's success. He placed third at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship with a time of 25:06.6, helping the Cardinals win their 49th consecutive conference title. He also placed 12th at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship on Nov. 11 with a time of 23:54.3 where once again, the team won the race for the 29th time in program history.
When not in his running spikes, Baldonado is usually found strumming his guitar or playing video games and hanging out with his friends. He is also very serious about his academics, receiving Academic All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) in 2016 and being named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic team in 2015 for his achievements in the classroom.
Last summer, the actuarial science major took an internship at a bank and has an internship lined up this summer with Allstate Insurance. Even so, juggling both life goals as well as the life of a student-athlete can be a struggle, but Baldonado keeps working hard at both.
"Trying to balance a full-time job, training for cross country, and studying for an actuary exam [is very difficult]," he said. "I was getting up at 4:45 a.m. every day [during the summer] and not going to bed until almost 10:00 pm with training, working, and studying."
Now in his junior season, Baldonado is hungry for more than just one national championship and is looking ahead to Saturday, Nov. 18. when the men's cross country team goes to battle at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championship in Elsah, Ill. The race will begin at 11 a.m.
