ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
This past spring semester was tough for many reasons. With the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, along with the stresses of school and life, you could probably get away with sweeping that competitive season under the rug and going through the motions, right?
Not Collin Barmore.
Now going into his junior year, Barmore is a Cassadaga Valley alum and an interdisciplinary studies and environmental science major. He is also a captain of the cross country and track and field teams.
Barmore is the most recent SUNYAC champion of Fredonia, winning the 800 meter race this past year.
After that, Barmore knows that there’s still much more to come this next season.
“My goals for this upcoming cross season are to lead my team in practices and in races. I want to run sub 25:45 [in the 8k] this year,” Barmore said.
Cross country is more of a team-oriented sport than track and field, so Barmore shed some light on what the team’s goals are for the season as well, stating “our team’s goals this upcoming season are to place in at least the top three in the SUNYAC and try and find ourselves a spot at nationals.”
Barmore isn’t just a captain because of his skills as a runner; he is also a helpful hand off the track and does well in his classes too.
With the pandemic, every team and individual has had to adapt one way or another, and the team’s leaders have to adjust more than others.
With COVID-19 regulations in place, in-person communication plummeted. He said leading through a phone can make it hard to get the point across at times, so he tried to just lead by example in practices and races.
While he isn’t trying to look past his upcoming season of cross country, I was curious to see what his goals are on the track next year coming off of his SUNYAC win. Barmore hopes to achieve great things in both the 800 and 1500/mile races in the SUNYAC and try to make nationals in one of these events as well.
Looking for a nice final quote for this athlete profile I asked Barmore what he would say to his first day of campus self. His answer?
“I would tell myself to stop stressing about things I couldn’t control. All of the hard tests and crazy training days are going to lead me to great moments.”