Chris Miltenberg Elevates UNC Men’s Cross Country to Top 5

Building a Winning Mentality in North Carolina

Forging a winning attitude in any sport involves more than just having a wealth of experience. Miltenberg, in trying to create a successful running team, needed athletes that would cultivate a new mind-set. A huge credit goes to ex-Tar Heel Brandon Tubby for promoting this change in attitude for the men’s team.

The first month of practicing at Umstead Park came with a memorable incident. Tubby had to halt his run just 20 minutes in, having failed to eat adequately before training. Meeting an annoyed Miltenberg as he returned to the team vans, Tubby received some stern advice. He was told that if he truly desired excellence, he needed to properly plan his meals.

According to Tubby, Miltenberg wouldn’t hesitate to call out his runners whenever he identified a potentially detrimental habit interfering with their objectives.

Fostering Growth with Individual Plans

Miltenberg rolled out weekly personalized plans for his athletes with the goal of facilitating growth. The results were evident. During the 2021 indoor and outdoor track seasons, Tubby recorded an under four-minute mile for the first time at the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships. He also qualified for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the first time in his career.

Miltenberg’s recruiting strategy seeks runners who can adapt to the rigorous running lifestyle expected throughout the year. He’s always maintained that he doesn’t try to “convince anyone to join.”

He vividly remembers being questioned by a team member why no recruit hung around for the Saturday football game after his first recruiting visits in 2019. That was the whole point. The visit symbolized the challenge that recruits were expected to embrace.

“We probably scare people off, and we’re okay with that,” Miltenberg remarked.

Infusing Fresh Talent, Reaching New Heights

The recruits who weren’t deterred played a vital role in fostering a competitive culture. Unlike older teams that doubted their capacity to excel, the new recruits took on the challenge fearlessly.

Highly-rated high school runners like junior Parker Wolfe, who was the 2020-21 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year, were drawn to Miltenberg’s program.

Wolfe chose to build something new at UNC under Miltenberg’s guidance, despite having opportunities to join established programs. He was thrilled to team up with old rivals like Ethan Strand in Chapel Hill after competing against them in national races.

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\”There’s something special about building something remarkable with your best friends and striving to be among the best teams in the country,\” Wolfe enthused.

Wolfe thrives on the team culture that Miltenberg established prior to his arrival. He relishes running alongside teammates who share his ambition of running professionally. Wolfe often discusses the possibility of qualifying for Olympic trials with Strand.

“I initially saw running as part of my college experience,” Wolfe stated. “But these guys have really made me realize how much I enjoy it.”

Wolfe was among seven runners who qualified for the NCAA Championships last season. In contrast, UNC had no qualifiers in 2018, the year before Miltenberg’s arrival. Wolfe has since become UNC’s first individual conference champion this century.

The quality of talent has increased. There were no unique strategies in attracting this talent. The transformation in North Carolina’s culture spoke for itself in creating a nationally competitive program.

\”Winners and losers all have the same goals. So, it’s not about the goals,\” Miltenberg concluded. \”It’s about what you do every day and the systems in place to achieve those goals.\”

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