By Jeff Steers
Contributing Writer
Marshall High School runner Jack Bidwell is going the extra mile in the sport of cross country.
The MHS senior also expects to be going for a long run in life when he start college next fall.
He wants to become a doctor.
Bidwell showed that the work he has put into the sport of cross country pays off last week when he ran the 5K course at Stockbridge High School in 14 minutes, 56 seconds – breaking the 15-minute barrier for the first time.
“It was a good day on a course I am familiar with,” Bidwell said of the time. “I have spent the last two seasons chasing it (a time under 15 minutes).
“To finally break through it gives me so much more confidence.”
Bidwell first learned of long distance running in elementary school when his gym teacher encouraged him to run a mile race.
“My teacher told me I was fast,” Bidwell said of the experience.
It was only a matter of time before he learned how fast he was. Bidwell played soccer and ran cross country until his sophomore year. He earned a medal at the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Division 2 state meet – the top 30 earn medals and all-state honors – maybe telling him cross country was his sport.
Bidwell finished fourth in the state as a junior in Division 2 last year with a time of 15:13 and the Redhawks were ninth as a team.
“On a good day I think we could crack the top five as a team this season,” Bidwell said. “It is nice to see the team grow.”
Marshall has won the first two Interstate-8 Conference jamborees and numerous invitational to start the season.
Bidwell said there are a number of colleges talking to him right now. He currently has the second fastest time in the state of Michigan and is 48th nationally according to www.athletic.net statistics.
“I would like to study kinesiology or biomedicine in college and eventually become a doctor,” Bidwell said.
