Hello and welcome back to Let's Talk Choctaws with Meeby and Kienna!

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Cole Benoit, a sophomore cross country runner from Carriere, Mississippi. Cole is known for his smile and friendly attitude, and we were glad to get to know more about him.
 
On a typical day in Cole's life, he's already awake and training with the cross country team by 5:30 am. That's a steep ask for most college students, but Cole says that the team is like one big family and they're always encouraging one another. Each morning they have their temperature checked, and then after they train, the team eats breakfast together in the caf. "All the freshmen are coming in strong, giving us the opportunity to push and improve ourselves," Cole said, "we train 6 days a week and the best part is, you've got teammates on both your good and bad training days to help you out."

This year looks very different for many athletes- on our campus and across the world. Since cross country athletes can distance themselves while running, they will be one of the few team sports who can continue to compete this year. "We are so happy that we still get to race," Cole said, "I think out of the 445 MC fall athletes, only 46 are going to be able to compete." He said that the cross country team is very excited to represent Mississippi College this semester. "Everyone on the team had really great summer training and we are excited to go for the conference championship. October 17th is our home meet, and we are excited to see everyone there. We're hoping we'll have some fellow athletes there supporting us."

Cole is double majoring in public relations and marketing. "I am really excited to be taking classes this semester that are related to my major," he said, "It's definitely a motivator and gets me excited for the future." This semester he's also working as an admissions intern, and he's stationed front and center in Alumni Hall. He enjoys getting to greet new visitors by name and welcome them to MC- "and get to show off the new Chick-fil-a," he added.

Being able to warmly welcome visitors to Mississippi College is something that's close to Cole's heart, especially because it was because of the warm welcome of others that he chose MC. When he was selecting a college, he was still undecided on his major. "I was just going to figure that out when I got there- I toured colleges for the team." he said with a smile. "When I came here for my tour, the team really wanted to get to know me. It was an awesome experience." The cross country team took the prospective students out bowling, and afterwards they went to Sonic to get to know each other better. "It was just the coolest thing to me to see that they actually cared." The sincerity of the team was the deciding factor for Cole in his college decision. "That was the connection for me, to come on campus and see how genuine everyone was."

Cole also appreciates the coaching style of Matt Reneker, the head coach of the cross country team. "Lots of coaches have a big plan, and you are just one little piece. [But Coach Reneker told me that MC] was going to make a plan for me. Not that I was going to fit into his plan, but that he was going to make a plan for me. When he told me that, I was like, well, you're amazing," said Cole, "The coaches are just so knowledgeable." He recalled several stories of how often training can be intense and serious, but the coaches also know how to mix things up and keep it fun with different exercises like the banana relay. "Coach split everybody up and gave us a banana, and the loser had to eat the banana at the end. It was all mushy because everyone had been running with it," Cole laughed.

On Sundays, you can find Cole running 14 miles in the morning- well, you probably wouldn't be able to catch him. But, after that, you can find him attending Holy Savior Catholic Church here in Clinton. He also frequently attends the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings on campus. "We recently did a meeting in the parking garage and it hit me how we can really just worship anywhere," Cole said. "They talked about how we can roll with the unexpected and really try our best to change and adapt to it. It's cool to get to connect with all the other athletes there and see how they all get involved to come together and worship."

There is a Bible verse that is especially important to Cole: Hebrews 12:1. He has this verse tattooed in a scroll on the back of his calf. "It says, 'Let us run with patience the race that is before us," Cole said. He shared with us the story behind this tattoo. "I was competing in this race called the Challenge of Champions in Mobile, Alabama, and the night before the race my aunt sent me this verse." Cole said that typically he becomes nervous before he competes, and this race was no exception. As he was nearing the finish line, he had over-exerted himself and blacked out. He was taken to the hospital and treated for exhaustion and dehydration. While he was there, he thought back to the Bible verse his aunt had sent him the night before. He later had the verse tattooed as a reminder to not take the little things in life for granted.

So how does- in his own words-  "a kid from a farm in the middle of nowhere, Mississippi," become a long distance runner? "Now that's a good story," he said. As it turns out, the first time Cole ran a real race was in eighth grade. At the time, his sister was living in Hattiesburg, and at the last minute both of them decided to participate in a local 5K that was a fundraiser for St. Jude's children's hospital. Cole and his sister started out walking, but after about half a mile in, "I had too much energy," he said, "I was running and jumping around, and I said to my sister, I have to go. Then I started running." He quickly discovered that he enjoyed the thrill of running, and the excitement of catching up to people in front of you and passing them. "From that moment, I was like- dang, that was really fun!" Cole ran one more 5K that summer, and joined his high school's cross country team the following year. "The cool thing about the St. Jude's race is that my sister and I have run that race every year since," Cole said, "and I really want to become a St. Jude's hero after college." A St. Jude's hero is a person who fundraises for the children's hospital while training for a marathon.

We loved getting to sit down with Cole and hear his story. We hope you got to learn something new about the man behind the mask. His work ethic and excitement for his job showed as we talked with him. He has a great level of respect and appreciation for his teammates and coaches. He emphasised how hard his team works so they can be successful as one. "I believe with my teammates pushing me on, and with my coach leading me I can be the best I can be, and that's really the goal here," he stated. We hope you'll join us in cheering Cole on this season! The cross country team will be having their first home meet on October 17th at Choctaw Trails.