Joseph LeGrange, a junior from Baton Rouge, La., recently led the men’s cross country team to a third place result, finishing ninth in the LSU Invitational. Going forward, LeGrange has big goals in mind for the Lions.
The junior cross country and track distance runner came to Southeastern with a friend in mind. LeGrange and senior Jesse McDavitt ran with each other at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge. LeGrange feels that the unexpected adventure of cross country suits him better as a long distance runner than a simple track.
“I prefer cross country over track because track is just running in circles and I’m more of a distance guy, so it kinda gets boring on the track,” said LeGrange.
Becoming a distance runner is a different story. Going into his sophomore year in high school, LeGrange began to branch out in the sports in which he participated. Running started with a race called The Green Mile, with LeGrange coming in first. From that race, LeGrange would become the LHSAA outdoor track and field state champion, finishing with a time of 9:50 for the 3200 meters. Going to college, he felt that Southeastern was just the right distance and considered McDavitt a “guide” for the transition.
LeGrange majors in mass communication with a concentration in electronic media. He takes particular interest in video camera work, his interest going back to when he was a child.
“Ever since I was little, I loved fooling with a camera and finding new ways to film stuff,” said LeGrange. “I remember this one time as a little kid I found this night shadow feature that allowed me to shoot in the dark and it was on one of those old cameras.”
During his time as a freshman, LeGrange was able to run his way to the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships, where he placed 39th in the 8K with a time of 27:09.6. He was also named freshman of the year by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association. However, the momentum would not follow into his sophomore season.
“The past few years have been a little rough,” said LeGrange. “My freshman year was great. I had an outstanding year coming off of my senior year in high school. My sophomore year was a little rough. We struggled as a team, we started losing people and losing confidence on the team. But now this year I believe we’re set to do great things.”
The confidence shows. With recent results that show improvement, LeGrange’s goal seems in reach. He would like for the team to go to regionals, an experience he had as a freshman.
“It was an awesome trip, but it would have been better for the whole team to go,” said LeGrange, “So one of my goals is to get past conference and go to regionals.”