Friday, October 16, 2020

Part of a regular series.

Throughout the year, GNACsports.com uses this space to profile conference student-athletes who are members of their respective institutions’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In addition to providing feedback on the student-athlete experience, conference and institutional SAAC members also offer input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes’ lives on NCAA member institution campuses.

Name: Ethan Lapic
Sport: Cross Country and Track and Field
Institution: Central Washington University
Year: Senior
Major: Secondary History Education
Hometown: Monroe, Washington

Why Did You Choose To Attend Central Washington?: I chose to attend Central Washington because of its great education program. Another factor that I considered was that it is a school that I could run at but also a school with a team that has a positive attitude and philosophy.

What Is Your Favorite Class You Have Taken And Why?: Two classes that I liked since being in college are Mountain Aesthetics and my senior thesis class. Mountain Aesthetics is an honors college course. It was incredibly interesting and I learned a lot about how mountains play a huge role in religion, philosophy, politics and resource management. I am currently taking my senior thesis class and enjoy the professor as well as working on a self-driven essay. I enjoy the freedom of being able to write about anything because it is unique.

Who Is Your Favorite Professor And What Did You Enjoy About Learning From Him Or Her?: Matt Martinson is my favorite professor. He makes class fun, understands his students and knows how to engage students by not being serious all of the time. He is serious when necessary and makes jokes to have fun with the class. He creates a community within the classroom from the first week of school.

Years Involved In SAAC: One year.

The Reason You Chose To Get Involved In SAAC: To become more invested in my sports and to learn skills that will make me a better teammate and leader.

How Do You Feel Participating In SAAC Will Help You In Life After You Graduate?: I think that SAAC will help me to become a more successful leader in the classroom when I'm a teacher. I will also be more knowledgeable about the NCAA for any future students that I coach.

What Does It Mean To You To Be A Division II Student-Athlete?: It means that even though I started running late and didn't take it seriously until my senior year of high school, I worked my butt off to make it on the team and be the best that I can be. It means that I chose to push myself to see what I'm made of and that I'm committed to my team.

What Is The Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Balancing Athletics And Academics?: The most important thing I've learned is prioritization and chipping away. It's incredibly important to prioritize schoolwork due to the limited time that I have as a student-athlete. This has helped me to quit procrastinating because I have random windows of time throughout the day to do homework but no set time to do it. I keep a list of assignments that I need to complete in order by due date and slowly start chipping away at them when I have time.

Biggest Obstacle Overcome During Your Collegiate Career: The biggest obstacle I have overcome was making the team. I wasn't recruited or even considered to be a potential Division II runner, but my coach, Kevin Adkisson, gave me a chance. He let me redshirt during my first year to develop and then I had a chance to try out at the start of the next season.

Favorite Thing About Competing In The GNAC: Traveling to different schools for meets and seeing more of the Pacific Northwest because it's such a pretty region.

Most Memorable Sports-Related Moment: The next personal best. I am always looking ahead to what the future holds. Current personal bests are good but the next one is always the best because it means that I’m better than I've ever been.

If You Could Change One NCAA Rule, It Would Be: I would allow student-athletes to be students and athletes instead of student-athletes. This separation would allow students to get paid for their athletic endeavors. Athletes would be paid in accordance with how much money their teams earn. Being a student-athlete is as time-consuming as having a job. Some coaches are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars but student-athletes, the ones who make their sports profitable, don't receive a penny aside from per diem.

Current Mentor(s): Kevin Adkisson. He's always willing to challenge his ideas, accept different ways of thinking and be an incredibly positive force in the lives of his athletes. His kindness, sensitivity, encouragement and respect are all things that I wish to embody as a coach some day.

Best Advice You’d Give To An Incoming Freshman: Don't be afraid to ask questions and try something new. Get out of your comfort zone and be proactive about working toward becoming the person that you want to be.

If You Could Spend The Day With One Person (Past Or Present), Who Would It Be (And Why)?: I would spend the day with all of my family. I think that family is incredibly important. Since I have a large family, we aren't always together in the same place.

Extracurricular Activities: I don't have a lot of time outside of school and running but I like basketball, football, Spikeball and volleyball. I also enjoy reading, hanging out with friends, going hiking and just being outside in general.

Future Goals After Graduation: Future goals for me range quite broadly. I want to become a high school history teacher and cross country and track and field coach. I also want to eventually become a principal and then a superintendent so that I can make a lasting systematic change in our schools that will assist future generations in being prepared to change the world for the better.

Favorite Sports Team: Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders and Central Washington athletics.

Favorite Athlete: Mo Farah, a British track athlete who holds many records. I appreciate his mindset, work ethic and spirit.

One Thing People Don’t Know About Me Is: I want to do half and full marathons after college then get into ultra racing, which is any race that is longer than a marathon.