BROOKLYN — It's been a busy month for Whitehall star runner Bobby Jazwinski, who not only won his second cross-country state championship Saturday, but did so on the heels of announcing his college commitment to BYU earlier that week.
Scott DeCamp of the Local Sports Journal first reported Jazwinski's announcement for the Cougars, who are a Big 12 powerhouse and currently ranked in the top five nationally in men's cross-country.
Jazwinski took his college visits alone, said mom Katie Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, enabling him to take in the atmosphere and get a sense of what it would be like to live there. The idea to go alone was on the advice of his sister Jessie, who starred at Hart and now runs at NC State.
As it happened, one of his visits was to NC State, and the visit went very well - "they spoiled him," Katie said.
In the end, though, the BYU visit, his last one, produced the same feeling in Bobby that NC State did for Jessie - that it was home.
"When I hung out with the team, it was just like the team seemed like they all were focused on their running, on being the best they can possibly be," Jazwinski said. "For the coach, Ed Eyestone, he's had this amazing career. Most of all, what I want in a college is somewhere that can get me to the next level and get me to that world stage and be the best in the world. I don't think anyone else in the country can quite give me what BYU has for their top athletes."
Eyestone has indeed had quite a career at BYU, producing three national champions and 25 All-Americans, including current U.S. marathon stars Conner Mantz and Clayton Young. He's been the Cougars' cross-country coach since 2000 and took over the men's track program in 2013.
"The most important part was the fellowship and family that they seemed to have at BYU," Katie said. "He went to Coach Eyestone's home for dinner. His wife cooked a home-cooked meal and their family was there. Everybody on the team was so incredibly welcoming to him...Being around that climate of great, great runners that have gone on to become pro runners and Olympians, it just seemed like a perfect fit."
It didn't hurt to have the mountainous terrain and eye-popping views of Utah to train in, Bobby said. Remarkably, given their running prowess, none of the Jazwinskis had visited the state before Bobby's college visit, so the rest of the family is looking forward to the opportunity to see it.
The Cougars proved to be the perfect fit for several reasons; not only is the program a nationally renowned one, but the faith-based mission of the institution appealed to Bobby as well. The Jazwinski family are devout Catholics, and Bobby has spoken openly about his faith and how important it is to him over his time at Whitehall. BYU is a Mormon institution, but the values the two faiths promote are similar enough that the approach stood out, and the school requires students agree to follow an honor code when they enroll.
There's a pragmatic draw to a lifestyle that aims to be free of vices, too, for someone as devoted to being the best athlete they can be as Jazwinski is.
"I feel like they have that similar mindset," Jazwinski said. "It seems like a really great, clean environment to not really have any distractions. They have a code of conduct there, and that can set you up to be super faithful with God, and it also helps you be super passionate in your running, how you live and having the cleanest lifestyle you can. I think that's huge."
Bobby is open about his desire to be the best runner in the world, to compete in the Olympics and to achieve on a level most can only dream about. Because of the atmosphere and the coaching he'll get in Provo, he believes BYU will help him get there.
"I go to get an education, but for me, I really want to go to college so I can be the best runner I can be," Jazwinski said. "I think BYU is the place that can also make me the best person I can possibly be. Those guys are some of the nicest guys I've ever met in running, and there are a couple guys on their team that made it to the Olympics, and you wouldn't even (know) that because they're so humble. That's who I want to surround myself with."
