Greenville, SC – The NCCAA is pleased to recognize Kate Janzen of Emmaus University as the 2024 Dr. Ray Bullock Award Recipient for Division II Women's Cross Country.
Senior Kate Janzen strives for excellence in everything she does, however her running career at Emmaus started in a way that displayed her true trust in God's provision. Janzen's first race at Emmaus was on a hot and humid day where she crossed the finish line and immediately went pale. After collapsing and drifting in and out of consciousness, athletic trainers had gotten her proper medical attention where an ambulance was called. While on the stretcher on the way to the hospital, Janzen mustered up enough energy to exclaim, "The Lord will provide!" The remark was seen by many as yet another display of Godly character that Janzen shows in her day-to-day life.
Since the start to her freshman season, Janzen has seen success in her running career at Emmaus, earning two NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week honors while qualifying for the NCCAA National Championships in three different seasons. Janzen holds a personal best time of 21:40 in the 5,000-meter, which ranks second in Emmaus school history. This season, Janzen has tallied a season best time of 23:42 in the 5,000-meter and a 27:22 in the 6,000-meter. Over her career she has earned four top 20 individual finishes.
Outside of cross country, Janzen also plays basketball at Emmaus while being involved in many other activities. She serves as a counselor at Byron Bible Camp, leads Sunday children's church, is a Dream Center volunteer, and serves on her church's audio/video team along with many other mission trip and volunteer experiences.
Janzen's excellence is also found in the classroom as she has maintained over a 4.0 GPA as a business major at Emmaus. She holds the highest cumulative GPA in her class and is graduating a year early. Janzen also has been the leading member of two All-Scholar Team honors at Emmaus University, where the women's cross country team has been presented as the winner of the highest cumulative GPA among all fall sports.
"Kate and her leadership have been instrumental to Emmaus cross country and Emmaus as a whole," said Head Coach Jeremiah Gerardy. "She has fully embraced being a student-athlete to the highest level as demonstrated by receiving the Emmaus Eagle Impact Award, an award recognizing achievement in the classroom, athletics, and leadership. While experiencing success in all she does, she does it with such humility pointing everything back to the Lord. To know Kate is to know someone who is incredibly joyful, even in hardships, and laughs a lot. She makes those around her better and is the first to volunteer in any situation. She is a trusted advisor to all."
Other Finalists
Amelia Spalding, Spurgeon College
Award Description
For many years, Dr. Ray Bullock dedicated himself to the development of cross country as a sport in general, but also as a ministry within the NCCAA. The NCCAA Hall of Famer (1999) led his teams to over 10 total NCCAA and NAIA national championships and coached dozens of All-Americans. Bullock has impacted the lives of countless student-athletes and coaches through his mentoring and sacrifice.