ACC’s Adam Wolffis competing in national XC race today
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ALPENA -- Adam Wolffis has checked a lot of boxes for the Alpena Community College cross country team this season.
An outstanding work ethic? Check.
A coachable athlete? Check.
A leader, both on and off the course? Check.
Checking all those boxes has led to a strong year for Wolffis and it's propelled him to a place no ACC runner has gotten to before.
Wolffis will compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association Cross Country Championships today in Tallahassee, Florida, becoming the first ACC runner to do so.
It's the culmination of a strong season and the fulfillment of a dream Wolffis has had since he joined ACC this fall.
"I'm feeling good about it," Wolffis said. "It's been my goal since the beginning of the season and it will be the last (college) race I'll get to compete in."
Wolffis graduated last May from Muskegon Community College after starring there and joined the Lumberjacks thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted to athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACC coach Mark Jacobs knew Wolffis was talented, but the initial conversations between the two had very little to do with running. Instead, Jacobs wanted to make sure Wolffis was a good fit for ACC's culture and had high expectations academically.
"We talked about expectations of our program here, culture and about academics," Jacobs said. "We talked very little about running and race times which probably seems strange to most people, but maintaining our culture is and always will be the most important thing to me."
It turned out to be the perfect fit too for Wolffis, who came to ACC for its concrete tech program and appreciated Jacobs' mixed training program.
"We won the lottery when we picked up Adam," Jacobs said. "He's been a coach's dream. He does the right thing all of the time. His work ethic and leadership are outstanding. I've never heard him complain about anything, not even once. He's a 4.0 student, a gentleman and has been a perfect fit for our program."
Wolffis has been the Lumberjacks' top finisher in every race this season and has posted two personal bests in the process. His fastest time came during the Jayhawk Invitational last month.
Wolffis will be surrounded by many of the nation's top runners today -- more than 200 completed in last year's men's race alone -- but he's looking forward to the challenge the race brings.
"I've been running since middle school and this will be a good way to end my college running experience," he said.