Catching up with Bellarmine HS senior Stephen Sziebert

Today, we catch up with Bellarmine senior, Stephen Sziebert. Over the past two years, Sziebert has helped Bellarmine secure a 2nd place team finish at the 2024 CA state cross country meet and a 6th place finish in the 4 x 800 relay at the 2025 CA state track and field meet. Individually, Sziebert qualified for the 2025 CA state track and field meet in the 1600m. with a new personal best of 4:12.65 at the CCS final. This past XC season, Sziebert was the CCS individual champion in Division I and finished in 4th place at the state meet with a new personal best of 14:58.0. Sziebert will be attending Columbia University next fall. The photo to the right is courtesy of Malcolm Slaney. 

1) How did you get your start in running? What other sports did you play?

I began running my freshman year during cross country as an opportunity to meet other Bellarmine students. My parents and I thought it would be a good way to become involved in the community since the team had such a large roster and practices started a few weeks before school. My only experience with running prior to joining the team was running around my local 0.8-mile loop in flip-flops. Shortly thereafter, when I joined the team, I met some good friends and fell in love with the sport.

Previously, I practiced martial arts for about 10 years from ages 5 to 15, overlapping slightly with my running career. As I grew, my core of Krav Maga branched out into Muay Thai kickboxing and Jiu-Jitsu to sharpen aspects of my training. I believe the emphasis on technique, discipline, and competition throughout my years of martial arts has significantly shaped how I approach both training and racing now.

2) How did you end up deciding to go to Bellarmine? What stood out to you when you visited the school? 

Academics are very important to me, so I hoped to find a school that would allow and inspire me to become as strong a student as possible. I’m very happy to say that I found this at Bellarmine. To make my decision, I shadowed on campus to get a sense of the community and classroom environment. Specifically, I focused on teacher passion and school culture during my visit. I saw students helping each other study, hanging out, and having fun in a way that I could envision myself being a part of, too. During the visit, I also shadowed in on some very interesting classes, one of which was European history taught by Coach McCrystle (which I am taking now). Overall, the Bellarmine brotherhood and communal drive to become better every day were inspiring and seemed to fit perfectly with what I was looking for.

3) Where do you feel like you made the biggest improvement during your freshman year? What do you feel contributed to that improvement?

The most significant improvement I made during my freshman year was in form. Throughout that track season, I solely ran the 800 and 400, except for an unofficial 1600m time trial at the end of the season. To be exact, I ran the open 800 ten times that season and tried to learn from each race. I eventually landed on improving my technique as the quickest way to PR week over week. Videos of other runners, mostly fast high schoolers and some professionals, helped me further isolate the best mechanics for my racing. So, in my final few races of the season, I PR’d by huge amounts by striding up on my toes and playing “hot potato” with the ground. In this way, repetition and analysis were the largest contributors to my breakout season.

4) During your freshman and sophomore years, who were the leaders on the team that helped you develop as a person and runner? What did you learn from them?

I’m very lucky to say that there were many great leaders who influenced me in my first few years. That being said, I will try to keep my answer brief as I can’t cover everyone. Erik and Anton Matlack (class of 2025) were sophomores during my freshman year who welcomed me into the community and taught me about the intricacies of the sport. They lent me pairs of spikes and explained the importance of proper gear as well as the science behind it. Shrey Chettiar (class of 2025) was a constant example of hard work, dedication, and the results of setting high expectations for oneself. Tyler Craven (class of 2024), a junior during my freshman year, was a model of positivity who always knew how to bring out the best in people and challenge them to be better. I am extremely grateful to everyone who went out of their way to make my experience as a student athlete at Bellarmine so wonderful. Everyone mentioned above and many others continue to inspire me to achieve the standards they set as team and community leaders.

5) You ran a school record 15:00.2 on the Woodward Park course at the Clovis Invitational. What was the race plan going into the race? Did you have a time you were shooting for?

The plan was to go out and compete as well as I could with an emphasis on maintaining contact with my group through the 2nd mile and closing the last mile quickly. More than anything, the race served as a test of my fitness and as an opportunity to gain confidence moving into later races. My goal going into the race was to run 15:10-15:15.

6) What does a typical training week look like for you? How many workouts? Typical mileage? Longest run? How many days a week are you doing strength work?

I run 6 days a week and take Sundays off. Each week my teammates and I do 2 weightroom sessions in the morning before school and typically have our workouts in the afternoons on those days. We tend to have 2-3 workouts per week. Mondays and Wednesdays (during XC) were almost always workout days while Fridays would occasionally be used for speed development, assuming we wouldn’t race on that Saturday. While my weekly mileage varies significantly throughout the season, I max out at 55. My longest run ever (by a good margin) was 14.75 miles during cross country, but most long runs fall between 11 and 13 miles.

7) Tell us about the Bellarmine coaches and how they have helped you develop into the runner you are today.

One of my coach’s favorite lines about his and the other coaches’ roles is that they “mold clay, not polish diamonds.” I feel that this line speaks to a few key facets of the Bellarmine program. The focus of the team is to help produce whole people, according to Jesuit values, who serve their communities as men for and with others. In this way, performance is secondary to personal growth. So, I believe the coaches have most significantly impacted my career as a runner by helping me develop as a person. I am much more intentional in my actions and conscious of their impact now than I was as a freshman. These lessons also inform how I train. This intentionality in combination with my coaches’ knowledge allows me to trust the process and, as a result, improve consistently.

8) Bellarmine has been one of the most successful boys' teams at every level (varsity, JV, F/S, freshmen) for decades. From your perspective, what are the key elements that have led to that success? 

In my experience, community and knowledge are the staples of the Bellarmine program which bring the team consistent success. With such a conversational and supportive culture, the team helps foster a love for the sport which motivates athletes to engage and work hard. Also, members of the team are deeply knowledgeable and willing to share about new shoes, recovery techniques or even their own personal experiences, allowing younger athletes the opportunity to learn beyond their years. In short, the brotherhood makes Bellarmine such a competitive force year over year.

9) Favorite cross country course? Woodward Park

Favorite cross country invitational? Clovis North Twilight Invitational

Favorite cross country workout? The Michigan workout is my favorite because it feels quite dynamic in comparison with traditional repeats or tempos. We do longer intervals at race pace on the track with short, explosive intervals up a hill in succession.

Favorite track event? 1600m

Favorite track invitational? Dublin Distance Fiesta

Favorite track workout? 400m repeats at target 1600 pace with 200m and 300m repeats at 800m pace

Favorite free time activity? I enjoy traveling whenever I get the chance. Otherwise, I enjoy riding my bike, hiking or playing video games as a fun way to entertain myself while recovering between runs.

10) You have committed to Columbia University. What other colleges were considered? What led you to choose Columbia as your future educational institution?

I considered schools with strong academic programs who also have cohesive, competitive teams. I am a student athlete (in that order), so I prioritized the educational opportunities provided at the schools I considered. Luckily for me, I found an amazing balance of world class academics and a great team at Columbia. When I visited campus, I could envision myself both attending the school and being a part of the team, which made the experience quite compelling.

11) What advice do you have for a talented freshman runner with aspirations of competing with the best runners in the state?

There are many experiences that a young runner will encounter throughout their career, so I recommend that they open themselves to change and relentlessly pursue new opportunities as they appear. Improvement does not come overnight; they should trust the process and be patient. There is always something to improve upon, it just needs to be found and, if my own experience is any indicator, form is a great place to start. Most of all though, having fun and enjoying the process are key to getting the most out of running.

12) Last year's senior boys were one of the most successful classes of distance boys we have ever had in CCS. Can you tell us a bit about some of those boys and what you learned from them?

I really enjoyed shadowing on their processes and asking them questions. Miles Cook, as another WCAL runner, was very accessible, and we had some great conversations, especially later in my junior year. Ben Bouie was also a great role model and mentor throughout the season. From the Dublin Distance Fiesta onward, we would warm up and cool down together whenever possible and I really appreciate that he let me tag along. Once CCS came along, lots of the local 1600m guys ran together for cool downs, providing insight into their thoughts and strategies for the day’s race and the larger season. The competitive environment those guys established demanded serious improvement too. I would venture to guess that very few sectional meets in the country had 4:12 in 6th place (and that race was a massive PR), but that’s exactly why the experience was so special. The opportunity to run with the best 1600m class to ever come from the CCS is one of the main reasons why I have been able to improve so much throughout my career. More than anything though, those graduates should be remembered for how encouraging and kind they are. Their actions made the CCS better and uplifted track as a sport.

13) Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you very much for your time, Stephen. AJC