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Interview with Jakub Zivec

Published by
Chris Nickinson   Nov 21st 2008, 2:10am
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Interval Session #83 - Jakub Zivec

By Dave Devine - November 20, 2008

Last weekend, Jakub Zivec, Minnesota's not-so-well-kept distance secret, became the cause célèbre of South Dakota at the 2nd annual Nike Cross National Heartland Regionalwinning the boys championship race and taking down defending champ Joash Osoro.  Hailing from Litomerice, Czech Republic, a small town near Prague, Zivec arrived in the US this fall to live for a semester with his uncle, Vladimir Cervenka, in Grand Rapids MN.  Although the 17 year-old meets the eligibility requirements for competing as a high schooler--meaning he can race in post-season events like NXN and Foot Locker--he is not part of an official foreign exchange program, which meant that according to Minnesota state association rules he was ineligible to compete for the varsity team at Grand Rapids High.  

Resigned to JV races, Zivec won by large margins and threw down some of the fastest 5k cross country times Minnesotans have ever seen.  The highlight, until last Saturday, was a 14:53 at a Grand Rapids home meet early in the season.  Astute track observers might have noticed Zivec was a 2007 finalist in the 3k at the World Youth Championships, where he set his current PR of 8:19 in the prelim heat.  Due to return to the Czech Republic in mid-January, Jakub has less than two months to make his mark in US racing circles.  With the two largest post-season XC races looming inside that  window, with one qualifier down and one to go, he stands a good chance of making that mark a lasting one.

DyeStat senior editor Dave Devine heads to Minnesota for a quick chat with a Czech on  the move.

Read the full article at: www.dyestat.com
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