Athletic Spotlight on John Rueckel ’16

John Rueckel '16 (Hamburg, NJ) has established himself as one of the best men's cross country runners in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Conference (HVIAC) during his first year of collegiate competition. The rising freshmen star has put together a memorable rookie campaign. Rueckel has received multiple Rookie of the Week honors from HVIAC and became the first men's cross country runner in Vaughn College history to place at the HVIAC Championships, finishing eighth out of 60 runners. Recently Rueckel competed in the JFK 5k Runway Run where he placed fifth out of 1,163 runners. He completed the race with an overall time of 18:00 minutes and received a silver medal for finishing second in his age group.  Rueckel's success has drawn a lot of respect and notoriety from his coaches, competitors, and peers. Rueckel hopes to bring the Warriors cross country program to prominence in the next couple of years and also wants to play an active role in starting a track and field team at Vaughn College.