QUICK Q&A:  JACOB JANKOWSKI, SENIOR, FOREST LAKE

How did you start running? In junior high, it was ''Workout Wednesday'' and I needed extra credit points. You got one extra credit point for every lap you ran. I decided to run all of them, and I must have done pretty well because the coach said I should go out for cross-country.

Did you take to cross-country quickly? No. It took me a while. It didn't start clicking until my sophomore year.

How many miles a week do you run? I don't really keep track -- my coach does that -- but it's probably about 50 to 60.

Do you have a favorite route? There's a back road to the General Store on Big Marine Lake that I like. And there's North Shore Drive along Forest Lake. But my favorite is William O'Brien State Park. It's all grass trails, and it's a beautiful landscape.

How do you motivate yourself when you just want to stop? I tell myself I'm not going to be a champion if I quit now. There are plenty of other people as good as me and they're not quitting.

2012 victories: Two.

Best race this year: At St. Cloud Apollo, I PR'd. I ran 15:46, the first time I broke 16 minutes. I finished fourth behind some of the top competition in the state.

You'd rather have a better time than win a race? I won a race at St. Francis where I won by, like, 40 seconds. I'd rather push myself and get better than win easily.

JIM PAULSEN