Ethan Saiki ’27 is a junior pre-engineering major here at Covenant College. He has spent the past three years on the cross country (XC) and track and field teams. His college journey began with being named the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Cross Country Rookie of the Year in 2023.
Ethan’s (or Saiki as many call him) prolific career at Covenant includes school records in the indoor 3-kilometer (3k) and 5k and the outdoor 5k and 10k. This year at the CCS Conference Championship meet, Saiki took gold in the 1500 meter, 5k and 10k and was awarded track athlete of the meet and overall athlete of the meet.
I was able to sit down with Saiki and discuss the highlights and challenges of his time at Covenant.
What made you want to run in college?
"I love the sport and ever since I started Cross Country in high school. It's about loving the daily process. That process is something I really enjoyed in high school and is something I wanted to continue. Also the people in the sport are awesome and that wanted to make me continue the sport."
Why did you choose engineering?
"I've been an engineer my whole life really. I would build contraptions and circuits. I would build paper airplanes and work on the design to improve them. I thought about math and physics, but engineering is something I've been doing my whole life. It's a path that's hard and challenging, but I love doing the hard things."
What have some of the difficulties been with balancing a sport and a heavy academic workload?
"Fomo. I love going and hanging out with friends. I know the stereotype that most engineers don't go out and do that, but it's really because of the workload. Another thing is time management. How do you use the time that you have for school work and when do you recover? The work rest balance is an important part. Fighting through fatigue is difficult. It can be fighting through fatigue from running or from schoolwork. The reality is that the day in and day out of being a student athlete is really difficult, but it's also really amazing. It's all about enjoying the process.”
What skills or habits did you develop to help with that workload?
"I have developed many skills of discipline, time management and the ability to achieve that work-rest balance. A big part of the habits I've built comes from developing those habits in high school. Being well prepared for college is very important. To take the difficult things that didn't seem necessary in high school really make an impact on those skills in college, of all the habits I mentioned discipline is paramount. If you have not discipline, you have not success. Humility also is hugely important. Being humble unto the Lord is important."
What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you about being a student athlete?
"Realize that there is joy in uncertainty. My freshman self hated uncertainty. I wanted to know how things would go. That mindset of wanting everything so certain is focused on outcomes, not the process. It's important to remember that nothing is certain in this life, we don't know what kind of job we will get, what school we will get into, what grade we will get on this test. There is joy in the uncertainty, joy in the process. It takes humility before the Lord to trust that process. Sometimes you have to embrace the uncertainty and give it over to the Lord."
What are some of the highlights from your time on the track and XC teams?
“Racing at Berry. Experiencing the Berry magic. We go to Berry late in the season, and everyone is rested and ready to run fast. We all run the 5k, which is my favorite event in track and field. We go back and do the 800m on the second day which is another of my favorite events.
“Myrtle Beach. We've gone all three years I've been here. We go during spring break. We typically don't have a lot of homework. To see everyone so relaxed and chill provides a lot more opportunities to hang out. It's a really sweet good time, and we see a lot of PRs. It's also been cool to cook with the team and have my parents drop by while we're there.
“Team Dinners. A meal is a seemingly small thing. It's a mundane type of thing. But there was a book I read for Doctrine II called “Liturgy of the Ordinary.” It reshaped my view of the ordinary. The things we don't see as significant. It's changed my view to see how we can glorify God and love others in the mundane. I like to think that having a meal with others, with friends is a very unique and special thing. Jesus had a meal with his disciples. It is a very important thing to observe that meal. Just talking and enjoying the company of fellow teammates.”