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\u201cNone of the places we\u2019ve lived are places I would have chosen to live,\u201d says Lewkowicz, who talks freely and often about his Christian faith. \u201cWe\u2019ve been led from place to place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first season, he told his athletes that they would be laying the foundations for new and improved track and cross country programs. It was a fundamental task that very few would likely appreciate once the whole house had been built. The cross country teams didn\u2019t do well at the conference meet, but they actually had enough runners to score as a team \u2013 itself a step in the right direction. The track team finished last at the conference meets, both for the indoor and outdoor seasons. \u201cHumbling\u201d is the word Lewkowicz uses to describe that first year. Success, though, isn\u2019t something he measures only by points and scores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want God to be glorified in everything that we do,\u201d he says. \u201cThat can be done in victory or defeat all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pursuing excellence, glorifying God<\/h3>\n
Lewkowicz\u2019s coaching philosophy involves a general pursuit of excellence everywhere, be it in an early-morning biology class, in cross country practice later that afternoon, and on the race course on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn life, there are only really two things you can control: your effort and your attitude,\u201d he says. \u201cWhatever moment you\u2019re in, be present in that moment that God\u2019s called you to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some moments, like perhaps that biology class, can significantly shape life and career in years to come. Be excellent.<\/em> Others, like an early season track meet, particularly if you\u2019re a middle-of-the-pack NCAA Division III runner, aren\u2019t probably going to carry quite the same significance. Still be excellent.<\/em><\/p>\n The numbers alone show that Lewkowicz\u2019s athletes are responding to his approach and his enthusiasm. This fall, the cross country roster runs close to 40 deep, and about 30 runners travel to meets. Ohio and Pennsylvania have been great recruiting grounds for distance runners. Lewkowicz has had his best luck here in Virginia for other track athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has brought a vision for what the program can become, the knowledge of how to get there, and the energy and work ethic to do it,\u201d says King, who recruited him to EMU.<\/p>\n Lewkowicz\u2019s athletes also value the individual attention and support they receive, even for interests that can conflict with sports.<\/p>\n \u201c[EMU] made me feel like a person rather than an athlete,\u201d says Richard Robinson, a junior who runs hurdles for Lewkowicz. \u201cI chose to come here because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n A star in high school, Robinson was humbled by a last-place finish in his first collegiate race. Lewkowicz told him he\u2019d just collected some \u201chumble swag.\u201d Everybody needs some, the coach said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just feels great to be around,\u201d adds Robinson.<\/p>\n Jolee Paden, a junior on the cross country and track teams, first met Lewkowicz at a running camp while she was in high school. The two kept in touch, and when Lewkowicz came to EMU for the job, Paden found herself considering a school she\u2019d never heard of before. The school\u2019s cross-cultural programs sealed the deal for her. Study abroad is so ingrained at EMU that athletes are supported by their coaches even when they\u2019ll miss an entire season of competition, as Paden did when she went to the Middle East during the spring of her sophomore year.<\/p>\n While on the trip, Paden was inspired to complete a writing project that had been several years in the making: a collection of \u201cThat is something he says that has really stuck with me over the years,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Lewkowicz ran track and cross country in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina, before walking onto the track team at Appalachian State University as a high jumper. He finished a history degree, then stayed for a master\u2019s in higher education administration. Within a few years, he\u2019d become the director of residence life at the University of Virginia at Wise; to get himself out of the office, he started coaching the cross country team. Somewhere along the way, he \u201cgot the coaching bug\u201d and, before long, was looking around for full-time positions.<\/p>\n Then came the move to Hannibal, and then, when things fell into place at EMU, the Lewkowiczes made yet another long-distance move. Jason and his wife, Wendy, had two sons when they moved to Missouri. They had three when they moved to Virginia, and now, they have four between the ages of 1 and 10.<\/p>\n Lewkowicz\u2019s father was born in France to Jewish Holocaust survivors who later emigrated to America. His Cherokee biological mother left when he was 5, and Lewkowicz was later adopted by his father’s subsequent wife, whom he considers his mom. (His paternal grandparents eventually returned to France, and Lewkowicz spent many summers at their home on the Mediterranean coast.)<\/p>\n The family wasn\u2019t religious. Lewkowicz discovered Christianity through an older sister and her husband. Before he was old enough to drive himself to church, he often spent Saturday nights at their place so he could accompany them to church the next morning. Eventually, he says with evident joy, his parents became believers. Now in Harrisonburg, he and his family have joined Aletheia Church, where Lewkowicz is involved in music on Sundays.<\/p>\n \u201cI see this as a ministry,\u201d he says, of his coaching. \u201cMy job is to show the love of God to my athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mennonite approach to Christianity was new to him. He has discovered pluses (singing, peacebuilding, working with the marginalized), yet he voices a desire \u201cto feel certain that Christ is always<\/em> at the center of the university\u2019s mission.\u201d He and his runners wrestle with these sorts of things sometimes on runs.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t expect perfection,\u201d he adds, referring to the EMU community. \u201cI\u2019m not perfect.\u201d Overall, he feels the three years and counting that he\u2019s been at EMU have been rewarding.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very interested in engaging in dialogue,\u201d says King. \u201cI really appreciate that about him.\u201d<\/p>\n Back to the whole excellence thing. In 2013, the women\u2019s cross country team finished second in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship meet. The men were fourth.<\/p>\n Things are looking a little more excellent in the performance department. Sights are set on conference titles. And on the third Saturday in September, at the Shenandoah Valley Invitational, the women\u2019s cross country team achieved the ultimate in cross country excellence: a sweep of first through fifth places<\/a>, earning a rare and perfect score of 15.<\/p>\nDeep roster now<\/h3>\n
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Not just one’s athletic ability<\/h3>\n
Student inspired to write book<\/h3>\n
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devotionals for runners (Spiritual Runner: A Runner After God\u2019s Own Heart<\/em>). The Lewkowicz-inspired philosophy of the cross country and track teams is scattered throughout the book, in sections like the one encouraging runners to step onto the course acting like it\u2019s the most important thing in the world, but knowing that it\u2019s not.<\/p>\nFrench-Jewish Holocaust heritage<\/h3>\n
Wrestling with questions<\/h3>\n