Nate Rosenthal

By Juliana Garofalo

Sports Editor

Senior Nate Rosenthal has been a highly visible and very well known member of the men’s cross-country and track teams due to both his vibrant personality and his athletic skills.

In addition to his commitments to his team as both a cross-country runner and member of the indoor and outdoor track teams, Rosenthal took on a hefty academic workload. He is graduating with a double major in educational studies and sociology and anthropology – and also found time to be named to the Patriot League Cross Country Academic Honor Roll on more than one occasion.

Rosenthal began his Colgate athletic career as a sophomore, although his participation during the cross-country season was stunted due to injuries. However, he was able to come back during the track season and post personal best times. He proved his talent as a cross-country runner during his junior year, when he was Colgate’s second best runner for the season and earned All-East honors.

He shared the team’s Outstanding Athlete award with junior Mike Hanlon that year and was also selected as the team’s Most Improved Runner. During the indoor and outdoor track seasons, Rosenthal broke numerous personal bests and he was one of the recipients of the Walt Fullam leadership award. In his senior year, the Raider runner broke his personal best time in the mile event during the indoor track season.

Although he will miss all the time spent with his teammates, Rosenthal’s best memories from his Colgate career have occurred during the graduation weekend.

“My favorite time of year at Colgate is graduation and some of my best memories are from graduation weekends,” he said. “I have gone to the past two to see the seniors off, and it has always been a blast. It’s going to be a lot different this year, now that I’m the one graduating, but I’m sure it’s going to be just as fun, if not more fun, as in years past.”

Being a member of the Raider track and cross country teams has had a tremendous impact on Rosenthal’s Colgate career.

“It has provided me with a great group of diverse friends, spanning from the class of 2002, all the way up to the class of 2009,” he said. “It has also provided me with the opportunity to work really hard and get really fit with a great group of guys. Without such a tight group, it would be a lot harder to get out there on the roads every day – sometimes, if we’re lucky, two times a day – especially when it’s snowing and there is a negative 20-degree wind chill.”

Times spent with the team are not always so serious, though. Rosenthal claims that the thing about Colgate that he will miss most is “Being woken up by [junior] Brett Merkel at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings, telling stories about the night before.”

“I am definitely going to miss all the guys,” Rosenthal said. “It has been really awesome to have such a great group of friends who I can run with day in and day out. I don’t want to think about what it’s going to be like not always having someone there who is eager to go on a run with me.”