Talon Talk Ep. 6: "All Gas, No Brakes" -- Nathan Jubran

He doesn't touch caffeine.

He only uses headphones when he is running on a treadmill.

A 4:25 mile time is run-of-the-mill for him.

Men's cross country's and track and field's Nathan Jubran clearly isn't like most people and his times insist that he isn't like most runners.

Since coming to the University of North Florida in the summer of 2018, Jubran has been dominant on courses from Gainesville, Fla., all the way to the Bronx, N.Y.

Jubran helped the men's cross country team win the 2018 ASUN Championship while racking up countless individual honors in just a year and change in the Navy and Gray.

Jubran's Cross Country Accomplishments

2018 All-South Region
2018 All-ASUN First Team
2018 ASUN Freshman of the Year
2019 USTFCCCA All-Academic
2019 ASUN XC Preseason Runner of the Year
Two-time 2019 ASUN XC Runner of the Week

The curious thing is, Jubran didn't find out about his penchant for running through cross country. Rather, he discovered it in football practice as a freshman at Bishop Kenny High School.
"It's a funny story," Jubran said. "During my freshman year of high school I tried out for the football team and our defensive backs coach had us doing sprint drills. He also had us doing a mile-time trial, and I dusted everyone in the mile. He's like, 'you don't need to be doing this, you need to try out for the track team."

Jubran joined the track and field team that that spring and the men's cross country team the following fall. After a few years under his belt he hit his stride as a senior, dropping his time to the attention of schools at the NCAA level.

The Jacksonville, Fla., fell in love with the UNF men's cross country and track and field programs and eventually committed to stay in his home city.

The sophomore has lived up to his 2019 ASUN Preseason Runner of the Year accolades, winning the dual meet against No. 10 Florida August 30 as well as the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 14. After a top-five finish at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo., Jubran finished as the first-scoring runner at the FSU Cross Country Invitational in a field of 20 teams.

A naturally-competitive runner who admits to pushing a little too hard even on "easy training days", Jubran states that the coaching staff has helped him reframe his approach to running.

"In terms of our coaching staff, they have helped me a lot in running relaxed," Jubran said. "One of the biggest pitfalls for me here was always putting 100 percent effort into everyday and not getting the necessary rest. I've also learned that faster isn't always better."

Jubran joined freshman Aidan O'Gorman in the sweep of the ASUN weekly laurels Oct. 14. Next on the docket for Jubran and the UNF cross country programs is the ASUN Championship in Fort Myers, Fla., Nov. 2. Following that is the NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 15.

"We aren't going to make any drastic changes [over the next few weeks]," Jubran said. "We are going to do our long runs, keep the mileage consistent and maybe taper off a little bit during that last week before ASUN."

Players Mentioned

Nathan Jubran

Aidan O'Gorman

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