Senior Ben Bailor has committed to Quinnipiac University to continue his athletic and academic career at the Division I level. 

Bailor only joined track during his sophomore year and began running cross country the following fall but achieved great success in his time in the program. Over the past winter, Bailor ran a half marathon for the first time, placing first in his age group by over 30 minutes and seventh overall out of almost 1,000 people. 

Bailor credits his mom for being his biggest inspiration and instilling the value of hard work into him and the DV track and cross country programs for teaching him time management skills and accountability.

“At DV, there are not always formal practices during the summer,” Bailor said. “It would have been really easy to skip out on runs or take the summer off, but the value I had in my team made me work to be my best for the benefit of us all.” 

Bailor’s plan was never to go DI, but Quinnipiac gave him the opportunity to continue running and provide great academic opportunities. He is entering their four-year accelerated master’s program to earn a master’s in cybersecurity and a bachelor’s in data science. 

“I had opportunities to talk to other coaches of all divisions, but I really loved everything about Quinnipiac and the team, and I decided [on going there] before I looked at other schools too seriously,” Bailor said. 

Bailor’s favorite memory from cross country was winning the league championship this past fall and the pure excitement of the team as the bus pulled into the Krispy Kreme parking lot. 

For Bailor, the most challenging part of being a part of the track and cross country teams is figuring out how to balance his other extracurriculars, school, work and his personal life on top of it, but the reward of feeling the work pay off is what keeps Bailor dedicated to the sport. 

“The most challenging part is definitely prioritizing my commitments and what’s important to me,” Bailor said. “The most rewarding part is when paces that used to feel hard become easy, and I can start hitting my old race paces in the middle of workouts.”

The most valuable lesson Bailor learned from running at DV is to be grateful for the opportunities he receives. 

“Running at DV helped me learn to appreciate what I have,” Bailor said. “Something as simple as being able to run is so easy to take for granted, and I learned to enjoy it while I can.”