Huck Whittemore ’22 is a Junior at Colorado College, where he runs cross country. During his time at Hotchkiss, he was co-captain of Boys Cross Country his Senior year. He was Founders League champion in XC in 2021, and the 1500m champion in track and field in 2022. He won the James T. Bryan ’11 athletic award, presented to the Senior boy who is deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the athletic program.

Boys Cross Country Head Coach Pierre Yoo P’21, ’23 said, “Huck was a powerful, positive force who united our team. He brought positive energy every day. He focused on our ‘For Each Other’ team-mentality. He worked to improve every day and patiently helped others in the process. He was the first overall finisher in 2021, and helped propel our boys team to the first Founders League Championship in school history.”

How did you start running?

I have been running cross country all my life.

My mom is a marathon runner, and I started running in elementary school and competing in 5th or 6th grade.

I knew when I came to Hotchkiss I would want to run on the Cross Country team, because I love longer distances. During my time at Hotchkiss I also developed a love for running shorter distances. My Senior year was the first year I ran track, even though I didn’t race at first.

Running is a good sport for me because it’s lifelong.

What made you decide to come to Hotchkiss?

I wouldn’t say I got recruited, but I was on campus a lot because of my brother, Tommy Whittemore ’18.

During my application process, I spent a lot of time talking with Mr. Yoo. I think our team really developed in the four years that I was there; it became a stronger program.

I really liked the location of Hotchkiss—all of the trails there make it an awesome place to be a cross country runner. My brother was a big part of why I decided to go to school there, and it was a great school, and a beautiful place.

How did your time at the school impact you as an athlete and as a person?

I didn’t realize that sports were something that were going to be such a big part of my life, when I initially came there. I also began to learn about the academic side of running and sports in general through my science courses. On the performance side, I always knew I was faster than the other kids in middle school, in a mile run or whatever. But getting to Hotchkiss, and joining a team, you are surrounded by a bunch of people who are just as fast or talented as you are, and that really pushes you to be better.

The team was full of really good role models. It attracted serious athletes but also serious students. Some of the smartest people I ever met at Hotchkiss were on the cross country team. It was really motivating to see those guys accomplish their academic and athletic goals.

I also met some of my best friends on the team, who I still see in college. For me, running was a way to take my mind off academics and really decompress after classes.

What made you decide to continue running in college?

There is something I really love about the feeling of racing, and competing against other people really has given me a lot of direction in life. Having a daily training schedule gives you a lot of structure to your day, and a goal to accomplish that helps you apply the same habits to other aspects of your life, in work or in school. I also was brought into a community of athletes at Hotchkiss, which was a supportive experience, and I wanted to continue that through college.

What was college recruiting process like?

I go to a D3 school, and the rules there are different compared with a D1 school. For example, in running, you have to send your times to a college coach, and they tell you if your times are fast enough for their team or not.

There’s not much sugarcoating. An alternate option for a lot of runners is just applying to the schools you want and trying to walk onto the teams, which is much easier than the recruitment process.

How has your experience been in college so far?

I’ve had some challenges—running in college is a lot different than it is in high school, because it’s a significant step up in volume. At Hotchkiss, we would run around 30-40 miles a week, but sometimes in college I find myself running up to ten miles a day.

Taking harder classes makes the balance harder. I had some struggles with being sick and managing my time, as well as dealing with a higher level of talent in competitors.

But overall my experience has been great—I love it!