Photo Credit: Michael Wiser / CofC Athletics Communications
CHRIS CHANDLER
COFC ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS
CHARLESTON, S.C. – For College of Charleston brother-sister duo
Crew Kosiorek and
Jace Kosiorek, cross country has been an activity that has held them together for nearly a decade.
Hailing from Boiling Springs, a little town of just over 8,000 people north of Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Kosioreks have competed together as members of the cross country program the last three years.
"Growing up, I never knew what sport I wanted to get into," said Jace, a junior majoring in marketing. "I wasn't good at softball, gymnastics was a hard pass and I was all right at volleyball. Then, our older brother started running and I gravitated toward that."
Running runs in the family. The Kosiorek's older brother, Sage, was a distance runner at Butler University and graduated in 2016.
"I started running in seventh grade and I remember hating it," recalled Crew, a senior majoring in hospitality & tourism management. "But, my mom (Amanda) would always remind me that, 'if you start something, you have to finish it.' She told me to finish the season, and as long as I did that, I could do whatever I wanted. That sounded great to me and I couldn't wait for the season to be over. But sure enough, I started to like the competition of it more-and-more. By the end of the year, I loved it and stuck with it ever since."
Crew committed to The College after his senior season came to an end at Boiling Springs High School. To this day, it's unclear whose idea that was.
"According to Jace, she mentioned Charleston before I'd ever heard of it," he said. "She says that I picked her school, but I don't know about that. What I do know is that I did a huge college search and e-mailed a lot of coaches. I had a great visit here. (Former CofC runner) Nick Putnam was my host and he was awesome. Overall, it was just a really good fit. Not only is Charleston one of the best cities in the world, CofC had the major I wanted – hospitality and tourism management – and I was sold."
When it was her turn to pick a college a year later,
Jace had a clearer picture of what she wanted in mind.
"When I was looking at colleges, I had no idea what I wanted to major in," she said. "I always liked CofC, because it was located in such a great city. All of my siblings and I had grown up really close. I visited Crew a lot during his freshman year and I would hang out with him. I also had the chance to meet the team and be around them, too. By the time it came time to choose a school, this place was already really familiar to me and it made the choice obvious."
Ever since Jace joined the cross country team, Crew says it's been a great change of pace.
"Having her around has been great," he said. "With our busy schedules, it can be hard to find a minute for yourself. But with Jace, she is living this same life. Our paths cross all the time, so having a social life became easier because of having her around. Plus, with both of us here, it gives our parents more of an excuse to come visit. It doesn't hurt that they love this city, too."
While in most cases it would be a sibling rivalry, that's not the case for the Kosioreks. They are each other's support system. To have your own brother or sister as your teammate, it makes it that more special.
"I tend to get too serious sometimes and Jace usually fixes that pretty quick," he said. "She is so jovial and outgoing. She is always smiling and in a good mood. Her attitude just eases my stress and makes things easier. She has really taught me to take things easier and have more fun and that's been huge for me."
In four years at The College, Crew has made quite a name for himself currently standing as the fourth-fastest 10K runner (32:14.60) and the ninth-fastest 8K runner (25:39.50) in school history. Meanwhile, Jace has established personal bests of 19:58.20 (5K) and 26:11.96 (6K), the former being set earlier this month at the Mountains to Sea Duals hosted by Appalachian State.
Yet after accomplishing so much together, the siblings will split up at the end of this year when Crew walks across The Cistern in May at CofC Commencement.
"It's going to be scary, because I've been running with at least one sibling pretty much since seventh grade," Jace said. "When Crew graduates, I'm going to be on my own for the very first time. Before races, he is always there making sure to encourage me and wish me luck. I'm so used to having that. I know my team will still do that, but Crew's just somebody I've always counted on."
Nonetheless, both are focused on what's in front of them – the postseason. The Cougars will compete at the CAA Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships hosted by Elon on Oct. 28, before packing their bags for NCAA Regionals on Nov. 10 in Charlottesville, Va.
Crew, in particular, has big plans for CofC heading into the climax of the season.
"Being the captain of the men's group, team goals are obviously really important to me," he said. "I have individual goals, but my focus all year has been beyond that. I want us to finish Top 3 in conference and Top 20 at NCAA Regionals – both of which have never been done before here at Charleston. More than that, we just have to continue to create a positive atmosphere throughout the team and just keep having fun."
No matter how this chapter concludes for the Kosioreks, they're both thankful for their time in the Lowcountry, and have some words of advice for any other runner that follows in their footsteps.
"Every practice and every race, just do the best you can, and if you're doing that, you can hold your head up high no matter what," Jace said. "Obviously, you have to remember to have fun with it. School can get so stressful with test-after-test and there's also the pressure to keep your grades up. But, it's important to remember to take time to step back and relax."
"I would tell guys to just enjoy the experience," Crew said. "I've been running collegiate cross country for four years now, and at this point I can see the end. It's definitely scary, but I'm trying to enjoy every step. If I had one specific piece of advice, it would be to master time management. It's extremely important. The life of a student-athlete is a tough one with everything on our plate. But, if you can figure out how to section your time off effectively, I think anybody can be successful."
