Kankakee Times

In terms of honors earned this season, Olivet Nazarene's Jeremy Brassard and the ONU men's cross-country team seem to be racing each other.

Brassard recently earned his second Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week honor for leading the Tigers to the team title at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships on Sept. 30 at Aspen Ridge Golf Course in Bradley, which was the second meet they've won this season, onutigers.com reported.

Jeremy Brassard | ONU

As of Oct. 12, according to naia.org, the Tigers were ranked 15th in the nation.

“After winning the team title at the Illinois Intercollegiates, the confidence of the entire team has grown even more,” ONU head coach Mike McDowell told the Kankakee Times. “No matter what the season yields in terms of success, our future is exciting.”

The present certainly is exciting as far as Brassard is concerned. He finished first in the season-opening Midwest Classic on Sept. 9 in Bourbonnais, crossing the finish line in a time of 27 minutes, 32 seconds. That led to his first CCAC weekly honor this season.

In ONU's second meet, Brassard, a sophomore from Strafford, New Hampshire, placed 14th in a time of 25:52.2 at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational on Sept. 23 in Rock Island. Then, at the Illinois Intercollegiate meet, he finished in 26:02.8.

Last year, his highest placements came near the end of the season, when he was 19th at the Great Lakes Challenge and 18th at the CCAC Championship. Brassard also ran for the Tigers in the NAIA Cross Country National Championship, finishing 83rd as ONU ended up 10th in the team standings.

“Jeremy is a student of his sport and is very coachable," McDowell said. "He is always seeking to understand the why behind everything he's assigned. As a leader, Jeremy had the opportunity to watch some great leadership and some not-so-great leadership. He has learned from all of that and became a tremendous team leader.”

McDowell said Brassard's talent was obvious in high school, with Brassard once finishing a 1,600-meter run in 4:12 with the ability to be better at the collegiate level.

“I could also sense that he had leadership qualities and was very well-supported at home,” McDowell said.

McDowell said Brassard's strengths are his competitive nature and his willingness to put his teammates first. As far as improving, McDowell said he didn't know if “improve” is the correct term to use.

“I'd prefer to say that I'd like to see him continue to mature as an athlete, a leader and as an individual,” McDowell said.

Brassard wasn't the only high finisher for ONU at the Illinois Intercollegiate meet. Wesley Meyer was third in a time of 26:22.8, and Rylan Larkin was fourth, at 26.23. Also for ONU, Matthew Meehan was 15th in 26:47.7, and Jason Reynolds was 17th in 26:50.

The Tigers are seeking their fourth-straight top-10 finish at the national meet. They were also third in 2014 and sixth in 2013.