Senior Jake Gerhartz excels in the classroom and in athletics at a level likely to dumbfound many other student-athletes.

Not only is Gerhartz the captain of the St. Thomas men’s cross country team, he also has a 4.0 GPA as an exercise science major. Gerhartz said the future motivates him to strive for success in school.

“I don’t like having to study all the time, but I know it’s only for four years for undergrad,” Gerhartz said. “I can keep doing this. It’s going to be super helpful for my job in the long run, so I might as well stick to it and commit it to memory.”

As for cross country, he pointed to the Tommies’ emphasis on teamwork as the main factor that pushes him to be successful.

“With cross country, each year we’ve gotten more and more focused on the team,” he said. “The greater importance of team really pushes you to do well, because you want to do well for your other teammates.”

Senior Dylan Baumann, a fellow cross country captain, believes Gerhartz’s personality embodies an ideal cross country runner’s team-first attitude.

“He’s very dependable … whether it’s academics, cross country or as a friend,” Baumann said. “He’s very committed to the team; he’s all about the team and is always team first.”

Senior Cate Rudnicki, a friend of Gerhartz who is also an exercise science major, shared similar sentiments. She said Gerhartz is a team player in the academic and athletic realms.

“He’s good at helping answer other people’s questions,” Rudnicki said. “Helping to work through things together … that goes with the team player aspect. He’s like that on and off the field.”

Gerhartz’s success during the past two season shows his commitment to the cross country team. Last year as a junior, he placed 10th at the MIAC meet and was named to the All-MIAC team and the Academic All-MIAC team.

This October, Gerhartz won the three-team St. Kate’s invite, finishing the 2.49-mile race with a time of 12:20. The following weekend, Gerhartz placed fourth out of 282 runners at a regional meet in Oberlin, Ohio, propelling the cross country team to a fourth-place finish out of 32 teams.

Aside from his work with the cross country team, Gerhartz is busy preparing for his future after graduation. He hopes to continue his education at the University of Minnesota next fall. Gerhartz plans to pursue a master’s degree in a nursing program for non-nursing undergraduate majors and is taking classes outside St. Thomas to fulfill the prerequisites.

Gerhartz hopes to one day work as a nurse in either pediatrics or hematology, the study of blood, blood-forming organs and blood diseases.

Despite staying busy with cross country and schoolwork, Gerhartz still finds time to enjoy other activities away from St. Thomas.

He said he enjoys anything active, including biking, hiking and camping, as well as photography when he has the opportunity. Gerhartz also volunteers in the research department at Gillette Children’s Hospital.

Through all his hard work and success in both cross country and the classroom, Gerhartz said he has learned to maintain balance in life, a skill he will use going forward.

“You can’t try and do everything 100 percent; you have to give and take in each area and do what’s manageable,” he said. “Balance with friends and family, schoolwork, sports. It just makes life a lot easier and less stressful.”

Willie Faust can be reached at faus5612@stthomas.edu.