GRAND FORKS, N.D.--Student-athletes face continual pressure to balance their school work and their respective sports.

Cross country junior runner Josh LaBlanc's work ethic has allowed him to be the excellent student and runner he is today.

"He's a very hard worker, very dedicated to his sport and a good student, which makes him a great student-athlete," said UND men's head cross country coach Mike Grandall. "He puts in a lot of hard work and a lot of time into the sport, along with his academics as well."

LaBlanc has had to work extra hard this season after missing last season due to an internship.

As an electrical engineering major, LaBlanc is enrolled in a strenuous academic program. When the opportunity of the Boise, Inc. internship came up, he was torn by the decision between the knowledge he could gain from taking it and having to leave campus and redshirt in cross country.

"At the time, I wasn't sure if it was the right decision because I knew how hard it would be to stay in shape and just be back home when everyone else was away at college," said LaBlanc. "It took some convincing from my parents to finally make the decision and redshirt, and even then I wasn't convinced on the issue.

"I remember going home at the end of the school year thinking about calling my boss to tell him I didn't want the job anymore, but I couldn't back out on the company and therefore ended up fulfilling the internship. When all was said and done though, the work experience gained through the process was undoubtedly beneficial when it comes to finding a job after college. I can't even express how much I learned on the job compared to what I have learned in the classroom thus far."

As an intern, LaBlanc worked with the power distribution equipment inside the mill, much of which had very high voltage. The mill at which he was employed was unique in that it made its own power and bought power, so LaBlanc learned to work with electrical generators, hydro and steam generators, both in the mill and in switch stations coming from the power plants.

Josh spent his semester at home running late at night after work, sometimes over ice and snow. That led to unfortunate falls and a severely sprained ankle. After that, he changed his training routine to be less hazardous. LaBlanc returned to UND last spring in time for the outdoor track season and began training with the team again.

Running the outdoor season worked out well for LaBlanc, as he was able to "knock the rust off a little." All of Josh's hard work has helped the team progress toward Saturday's Great West Conference Championship, hosted by New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The cross country team left today for New York City, where it will compete in the final event of the year. Grandall is looking for a strong race from LaBlanc, who has been the team's number one runner in three of its five meets this year.

"It's our time to peak, because we have nothing after this," said Grandall. "It is our big meet of the year. Hopefully Josh can go out there and run a great race and be the low number in scoring because that's what we need."

When asked how he felt about being at the top for three meets, LaBlanc replied, "I don't like considering it a competition with my teammates, but rather a competition against opposing schools and myself. I am by no means saying I will just let one of my teammates beat me, but if I was the last runner on the team and we won the conference meet as a team I would probably be one of the happiest guys on the planet, along with my teammates, of course."

As the team prepares for its final meet of the year, LaBlanc is looking ahead to other Fighting Sioux sports with these words of encouragement, "From the cross country team, good luck to all other sports and Go Sioux!"

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