From a KLAA Championship record to competing at New Balance Nationals in Boston, junior Jack MacGregor’s 2025-2026 season has been one defined by milestones, setbacks, and an unrelenting drive to push further. But what the average spectator would not know is the work, dedication, and mindset it takes to get where MacGregor is.
Behind the finish line, there is a much bigger story.
Hard work, training, and discipline have made MacGregor one of Howell’s best runners.
“He just has an unrelenting drive… we try to explore the boundaries of what we think our body is capable of… he will turn himself inside out and go to the point of blacking out or puking, to get the job done,” cross country Coach Clay Woll said.
Every athlete starts somewhere, and for MacGregor, that was in middle school.
Looking back, MacGregor believes being pulled up played as a slingshot in the right direction for his development as a runner.
“The summer of seventh grade, I started training with the high schoolers, which was a big wow. It was a big jump, they just kind of pulled me along, and that gave me a little bit of a slingshot… I had more discipline going into high school, because I was already training at a higher level,” MacGregor said.
The eight to ten-mile base runs, the workouts, speed and strength training, and finding a balance of rest are something that MacGregor has been able to achieve and balance over the years.
“I started in middle school running three miles, which felt like a lot, but now, my base runs are 10 miles. It puts into perspective how much I’ve grown just in the sense of training,” MacGregor said.
MacGregor noted that success on race day brings more than just physical strength.
“You can train as much as you want, but at the end of the day, it’s mostly mental… I do a lot of self-talk… My coach says your mind will quit much, much quicker than your body will. So just being able to tell yourself, you know, I only have to run for three more minutes until the finish.”
In just the time of fifteen minutes and four seconds, MacGregor crossed the finish line at the KLAA Championship, placing first, setting a new personal record, and setting a new 5K record at Howell High School.
“Heading into the race, I was running on fumes. It had been a long day, and honestly, I had very little confidence. It’s a strange paradox, but sometimes the races you least expect something from are the ones where your body surprises you and delivers your best performance,” MacGregor said. “My immediate focus was just pulling off the win in such a competitive conference. I didn’t even realize the record had fallen until my coach told me. When he did, it felt like a wave of relief, a record that had been long overdue.”
From there, the season continued, MacGregor competed at NXR Midwest while battling a sinus infection and narrowly missed qualifying for Nike Nationals in Oregon at the Brooks qualifier.
On March 13, 2026, MacGregor competed at New Balance Nationals in Boston, MA, running the 5K on a 200-meter indoor track and setting a new personal best of 14:48.
“I wanted to be like, lower 4:40’s and that was the winning heat time,” MacGregor said of his performance.
Still, the experience of competing at that level left a mark.
“When you go to those types of high competitive meets, you kind of realize, wow, there is so much talent. And I think that just pushes me to want to be better and compete with the higher-end athletes. I think it’s just a lot of motivation,” MacGregor said.
For MacGregor, competing against the best in the country has only reinforced what has driven him all along.
“When you race against good competition, you continue to get better,” MacGregor said. “I don’t like when people are faster than me, there’s always going to be someone who is working harder than you, faster than you, but I guess that just makes me want to work harder,” he added.
