By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — South Rowan senior Eli Julian is a guy so talented he can finish third in the 3A State Cross Country Championships and be disappointed.

He’s also a guy who can run 5Ks in under 16 minutes but would rather talk about his teammates than himself.

In other words, the world can’t get enough Eli Julians.

Carson, coached by Zachary Marchinko, had one heck of a team this season — county champs, South Piedmont Conference champs, regional champs and third in 3A — but Julian still usually ran alone, far from the crowd. He is the Post’s Male Runner of the Year for the third time.

“Not sure what else can be said about Eli, but he’s a fantastic person and he’s the most dedicated athlete to his sport that I’ve ever seen,” South coach Tyler Downs said. “I think every second of his life he gives to running and 100 percent of his day revolves around running at a high level.”

Julian, who won county, conference and regional titles as a senior, is convinced he should have finished second instead of third in the 3A State Championships.

“I was really kind of disappointed with my race in the state,” Julian said. “Another learning experience. Every single race I compete in is a chance to learn something.”

So was there a race he was happy with this season — 100 percent happy?

There was.

That was the 3A Midwest Regional. He won it like he normally does, but that’s not why he was satisfied.

“As a team, we had some setbacks this year, some adversity, some illness, but at the regional, we qualified for the state as a team, and that was our No. 1 team goal all season,” Julian said. “Coach Downs did an unbelievable job to keep us competitive. Grayson Cromer had mono this season, that’s tough to get over, but he competed great. We had freshmen (especially Ethan Overby), who really learned a lot and grew a lot as runners. I couldn’t be prouder of my teammates.”

Julian ran 16:03 at the regional at Salisbury Community Park, but he felt like he had maximum effort and carried out a maximum game plan on a course that usually inflates times with multiple hills and switchbacks.

Downs agreed that qualifying for the state as a team made Julian’s season a success.

That was his priority.

Julian ran sick part of the season. He has some bouts with congestion, and congestion can be a horror story for a runner.

He kept going. His team needed him to keep going.

“No championships for us in Eli’s senior year, but he was the perfect model for the young guys in the program,” Downs said. “He showed them what it takes to be the best. He loves being pushed, loves being challenged, loves to work for all of his success. Kids like him, that’s why coaches stick around and put in the countless hours.”

Julian’s third county championship tied him with his older brother, Noah. His mother Rebekah Frick Julian, also won three county cross country championships.

That’s nine for the family. It’s 11 when you throw in the two that Eli’s uncle, Benjamin Frick, Rebekah’s twin brother, won for East Rowan in the early 1990s.

Julian actually ran in more big races following the 3A State Championships, taking on some of the best in the region and the nation. He did it for the learning experiences and for the benefit of college coaches.

He’s made his college visits, but he hasn’t announced a decision yet. He’s weighing his options.

“It’s a tough decision to make, but I realize how blessed I am to be in the position of needing to make this decision,” Julian said.

His future probably will be in criminal justice or political science, degrees that could lead to law school, but there are a lot of races to run before that.