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SIDNEY — For Joslyn Dickman, returning to the Montcalm Community College women’s cross country team for her second year will feel much like her first year has just extended.

The 19-year-old sophomore from Alma was injured most of last season, suffering a stress fracture in one of her legs by the third meet in the season. Despite the injury, Dickman managed to finish the season and was able to compete in six meets overall.

“I achieved a lot more than I thought I could,” Dickman said. “I was able to run a half-marathon at the end of the season.”

Last season, Dickman was one of six freshmen that made up a team of seven, with Hannah Reed (Cedar Springs, Mich.) the only sophomore on the team. The Centurions finished the season in the top 25 of the NJCAA Division II National Championships, which was the team’s first appearance in the program’s young history.

This coming season, only two of those freshmen – Dickman and Karly Fisk, of Sand Lake, return. Second-year head coach Nate “Q” Van Holten will be bringing in two freshmen to add to this year’s team.

With only four runners on the roster at the moment, it will be important for each Centurions runner to pitch in, especially with All-American runner Abby Davis having transferred to Ferris State University in Big Rapids. For Dickman, that will mean staying injury-free, an issue she said she’s had since high school, when she competed in cross country and track for the Alma Panthers.

Dickman, who is the first person in her family to be a collegiate athlete, has two goals in mind this season — to break the 21-minute mark and, of course, to stay injury-free.

“Usually, it’s toward the end of the season where I start to have problems,” she said. “Last year, it just hit me early. So I just have to learn how to improve and to listen to my body as the season goes along.”

Van Holten said he will be looking for Dickman to not only stay healthy but to work on her confidence while competing.

“She will have to work on that,” Van Holten said. “Hopefully, she can stay healthy and attain a PR. In order for her to do that, I expect her to just put in more mileage and to be stronger.”

Dickman’s 5K personal record is 21 minutes, 54 seconds and she believes she can reach the 21-minute mark this season as long as she keeps up on her training.

“I’m putting in all the work to build up my miles,” she said. “Running is hard, but once you have a level and once you PR, it becomes a break-through.”

Despite her difficulty overcoming her injury, Dickman said she enjoyed last season’s team, as most of the runners were strangers in the beginning but ended up being good friends.

“I liked it right away, but it was pretty awkward at first with all of us,” Dickman said. “No one talked. But as the season went on, we grew pretty close. I think just by running together and sharing the struggles you have with running, it helps you bond with your teammates.”

Making the national championship meet, she said, was one of the best memories from last season.

“I was happy I was able to make it,” she said. “It felt like any other race I’ve run before, but I knew it wasn’t. With the frozen snow and mud we saw there, it was definitely challenging.”

Returning as one of the leaders of the team will be a new challenge for Dickman, who admits she is more of a pack member than a pack leader. But, she is excited to get the season going and is ready to step up. 

“I’m more of a quiet person, but I think I can lead,” she said. “Just leading by example is good. But it’s all about building a good culture with the team. That’s what it was like at Alma, and we did well last season, too. So that’s what I’m expecting this season.”

Dickman said the team will be challenged to perform well but she knows if she and her teammates trust in Van Holten’s coaching strategies and lessons, the Centurions can make progress.

“As a leader, I will try to convince our newcomers to trust the process and put in the work, just as Coach Q has taught us before,” Dickman said. “I like that instead of telling us our mileage every day, coach lets us build up how we want, as long as we meet the weekly goal. The most important thing for us as a team will be putting in the work and improve our times as much as possible.”