Male athlete of the week

Name: Joshua Christopher Sport: Cross-Country Year: Freshman Major: Undecided Favorite Oakland… Name: Joshua Christopher Sport: Cross-Country Year: Freshman Major: Undecided Favorite Oakland Spot: Veracruz

Standing on the starting line, with freshly digested Swedish Fish in his stomach, Josh Christopher is telling himself one thing.

“My No. 1 rule I tell myself is to not slow down,” he said. “I keep that in my mind, so I never start out too fast, but I don’t finish slow. I always finish at least at the pace I held the whole time.”

Before the race, he doesn’t have any superstitions but does enjoy a few Swedish Fish.

The freshman, who cites some his favorite albums as The Queen is Dead by the Smiths, Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth and Loaded by The Velvet Underground, says he also likes to listen to “something fast, usually some type of rock music that’s going to get me motivated and ready to go.”

Christopher even takes his joy of music a step further than just listening to it. He also plays bass guitar.

Along with music, he likes reading and watching movies.

Christopher says two of his favorite books are “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger and “A Clockwork Orange,” by Anthony Burgess.

A few of his favorite movies are “Fight Club,” “Without Limits” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

When Christopher first joined a cross-country team during his freshman year of high school, he hadn’t planned on doing so beforehand.

“I was cut from the basketball team,” he said. “I wasn’t doing too well in baseball, so I tried track and was getting pretty good at it. I started running cross-country just to get in shape.”

So far it has worked out for both him and the cross-country team. In his first two races this year, he finished with the fastest time of any male on the Pitt team.

In the Duquesne Duels, he finished fourth overall with a time of 26:12 and finished the Lock Haven Invitational with a time of 32:27, which once again placed him fourth.

The men’s team finished second overall in both meets, and Christopher says he has a lot of hope for the team.

“We’re just going to get better as the season progresses,” he added.

“I think for us the sky’s the limit. Not only are we going to get better this season but next season and the year after that. I’m really looking forward to it.”