Jacob Kanzenbach reflects on breaking Manitowoc Lutheran track and field mark set in 1983

MANITOWOC — Jacob Kanzenbach began his high school career at Manitowoc Lutheran three years ago debating if he should join the football team.

There wasn’t much appeal so he was convinced to give cross country a try by a school advisor despite having absolutely no knowledge of the sport or how it works.

“I had no idea anything about it, I didn’t even know it started with a gun,” Kanzenbach said with a laugh about his surprise on how cross country meets begin.

Fast forward to last Tuesday’s track and field meet in Cedar Grove-Belgium, where Kanzenbach broke the school record in the 800-meters, a record which had stood since 1983.

Kanzenbach finished with a time of 2 minutes, 2.38 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 2:02.7 set by Jim Lorenz over four decades ago.

“When it’s an old record that is always pretty cool,” Manitowoc Lutheran Lancers coach Abbey Bubolz said. “That means in the last 41 years, nobody has run it that fast.”

Neither Bubolz or Kanzenbach were too surprised the record was broken given the time and effort the junior has put it.

“It’s definitely an honor,” Kanzenbach said of breaking the record. “I kind of expected to get it this year because I ran all winter and I’ve been injury free for the longest time during my cross country or track season.”

Added his coach:

“It was something him and I had talked about for quite a while,” Bubolz said. “After his first 800 this year we knew it was in the realm of possibility. Tuesday night it was good weather, good competition and he carried out the plan.

“That was part of the plan, get it out of the way early if we could. So he didn’t have to worry about time and could just race the rest of the season.”

One of the downsides of Kanzenbach’s unfamiliarity with running has been a propensity to pick up nagging injuries, such as a hip sprain suffered over the summer.

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The injury set him back and caused his cross country season to be rough, not reaching the state meet after having qualified as a sophomore.

“It showed me how important form and consistency is and how important rolling out and stretching, everything behind the scenes before a race is,” Kanzenbach said. “I’ve been stretching more, doing other work outs than just running such as an ab workout. Just doing that little bit extra because I don’t want to get hurt again. That’s my biggest fear.”

Bubolz says Kanzenbach hasn’t competed in the 800 at sectionals due to an injury and illness his first two seasons, but he did qualify as part of the Lancers' 800 relay team last season.

Because of that, Kanzenbach is determined to correct his flaws.

“Just cutting corners when I shouldn’t,” Kanzenbach said of his biggest mistake. “I’m pasting those corners back together. It’s been working.”

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If there’s one race Kanzenbach prefers in track, its the 800.

“I just love the 800 because its one of the hardest races,” Kanzenbach said. “It’s sprinting but its also a distance event. I’ve always been intrigued by it.”

Ensuring his place in Manitowoc Lutheran history in at least one sport feels really good, too.

“It felt really good to get that off my chest,” Kanzenbach said. “We have a board for cross country in the 5K and I haven’t even gotten top 10, so that’s been a struggle for cross country because of the distance.”

Lorenz reached out through an assistant coach to congratulate Kanzenbach on breaking his record.

“It was definitely awesome to see he was happy about it,” Kanzenbach said. “He gave me confidence going forward and pride.”

Bubolz sees the confidence growing in her runner.

“It’s definitely a great jumping off point and gives us an idea where he’s at currently,” Bubolz said. “We have a lot of season left and we’ll see how it works.”

Added Kanzenbach:

“I’ve come a long way since freshman year,” Kanzenbach said.

Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Lutheran's Jacob Kanzenbach breaks 41-year-old school record