Falling to the rubberized track, with beads of sweat dripping down his face, A.J. Goecker turns to Trinity Lutheran cross-country coach Jennifer Hildreth with a message.
“Thank you,” he would say.
This past fall, Goecker finished up a highly successful career of running on the trails as a Cougar.
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In the regular season, Goecker finished in the top-10 in all nine of his races. He was a top-5 finisher in five of those races, and won the Silver Creek Invitational in 17-minutes, 20.97-seconds.
The senior carried his strong regular season into the postseason, as he was fourth in the Brown County sectional and sixth at regional.
At the regional race at Eagle Park in Nashville, Goecker broke his own school record by finishing in 16:29. The following week, at semistate, the senior concluded his career by finishing 61st overall.
“He is such a tough competitor,” Hildreth said. “He competes against everything. In a race, he’s competing against the runners, the clock and himself. He is a true competitor in all of those areas.”
Goecker, who also played soccer during the fall season all four years at Trinity, decided to rack up the mileage going into his final season.
“One of my main goals was to increase my mileage this year,” Goecker said. “In previous years, it has been pretty low with soccer. This year, we stepped it up. I did a lot more 10-plus mile runs than I did in the past. We also did speed training, and different types of workouts.”
There were some changes to the program this fall. Hildreth took over as the team’s coach, and Goecker had teammates for the first time since his freshman year. In both 2016 and ‘17 he was the only male runner on the team.
“He absolutely kept the sport going,” Hildreth said. “He is the reason why a lot of kids are interested in running. Hopefully our program can grow because of A.J.’s efforts. He’s a perfect example of a cross-country runner, and everyone gravitates towards that
“He’s a great leader. When he is working his tail off, so is everyone else. They are following his lead. Even when he’s not speaking, he’s leading with his effort.”
Goecker said he would like to run and college, and aims to gain interest from University of Indianapolis or IUPUI.
Now that his cross career is done Trintiy, Goecker hopes he’s remembered for all the hard work he put into his running career.
“I would like to be remembered for working hard and doing extra,” Goecker said. “It’s the epitome of the sport. You get out what you put in to it. If you can get through cross-country, you can persevere through a lot. It really helped me with school and other parts of my life.”
Hildreth said that Goecker is leaving a lasting legacy at Trinity.
“He is someone who goes above and beyond what is asked of him,” Hildreth said. “He worked hard and persevered. He had his ups and downs, but he always came out of it and worked through it. Regardless of what he’s doing, if you have that in you, you can achieve anything through any adversity.”
For all of his accomplishments this season, The Tribune has named Goecker the 2018 Jackson County boys cross-country Runner of the Year.
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Joining Goecker on the 2018 All-County boys cross-country team:
Luke Plummer, Seymour, junior
Season-best: 16:47
Accomplishments: All-Hoosier Hills Conference honorable mention, semistate qualifier, 4th at Brown County Eagle Classic (boys AA), 6th at regional.
Brandon Kleber, Seymour, sophomore
Season-best: 17:44
Accomplishments: semistate qualifier.
Michael Proffer, Seymour, freshman
Season-best: 17:53
Accomplishments: semistate qualifier, SHS Newcomer of the Year.
Luke Bane, Seymour, junior
Season-best: 18:04
Accomplishments: semistate qualifier, Academic All-State.
Lane Wienhorst, Crothersville, senior
Season-best: 17:54
Accomplishments: regional qualifier, three top-10 finishes, CHS most improved.
David Rose, Crothersville, sophomore
Season-best: 18:00
Accomplishments: regional qualifier, All-Southern Athletic Conference, seven top-10 finishes.
Mason Kellogg, Brownstown Central, junior
Season-best: 18:16
Accomplishments: BC most valuable, regional qualifier.
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2018 Jackson County Runner of the Year
A.J. Goecker, Trinity Lutheran, senior
Season-best: 16:29.
Accolades: semistate qualifier, Silver Creek Invitational winner, finished top-10 in all regular season races (5 in top-5) 4th at sectional, 6th at regional.
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