by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Darius Diver finished in 28th place (27.31.3) at the recent Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Cross Country Championship. Teammate Josh Schraeder won the 8,000-meter race in 25:38.7. As with all cross country and track races, a matter of less than a minute or two can include several to a dozen or more runners in between.
Darius is a sophomore runner for the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and the team won its 35th league championship in program history and third straight with 28 points. Although not scoring points, Darius is a member of the team and he is striving to improve his future potential every day. He is making strikes forward after considering going home after his freshman season last year.
“Freshman year found him trying to get comfortable not only with the team but on campus,” said Derek Stanley, UWL head cross country coach. “Although UW-La Crosse emphasizes diversity on campus the school is continuing to improve in its growth toward this goal. Darius struggled that first year and even contemplated leaving. His resilience shined through in his decision to stay at UWL. Despite those initial struggles Darius found something in UWL cross country that brought him back, and we are all better for it. In this way, Darius is being a leader not only for our team but also for anyone who would identify with him.”
Darius is from the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and his parents are Patricia BigJohn and Steven Diver of Lac du Flambeau, WI.
“The strengths I bring to the team is positivity and motivation,” said Darius. “I pick people up who are down and give them something to be proud of and I just give off groovy vibes all the time. Just all around a chill dude that is happy and it rubs off on the team.”
“My tribal values make me the person I am,” said Darius. “Funny, lots of jokes, and highly respectful towards elders and other adults.”
“I will be a health educator,” said Darius. “Athletics helps me stay focused, and to be a student athlete, you need to be fully committed to succeed. Not only does knowing about health help my performance in sports, but it just teaches me how to be a healthy individual as well.”
“Without my High School Coach Dan Claussen, I would not be running in college,” said Darius. “Without him, I wouldn’t be in college. During high school, I just thought I was a average runner but he showed me what I was truly capable of, he sat down with me and helped me apply for college otherwise I would be working some part-time job and a average jogger.”
“I really stared running because I just happen to be the best in middle school, then I started running more as I got older and I knew how I didn’t want to end up,” said Darius. “I felt one with the land, like our elders did. That is why I am becoming a health educator, to go back and help my people.”
Darius had great success individually and with his team at Lakeland Union High School, Minocqua, WI, in Cross Country and Track. “In Cross Country, we were 4x conference champs, 4x regional champs, 3x sectional champs, 1x state champs, 3rd place finish at state, 5th place finish and 4th place finish at state. In Track, we were 4x conference champs, 4x regional champs, 4x sectional champs all as a team. 4×800 relay state champs, runner-up finish at state and all as a team. Individually for track, I was a 1x conference champ in 3200, 1x conference champ in 1600, 2x runner up in 800, and 2x runner up in 1600.”
“He is still developing as a runner. It takes time for men to adjust to the 8,000m race distance in college. Now that he is in his sophomore year he is starting to see those fitness gains. The training coupled with his incredible work ethic is a recipe for success in the sport of cross country. He has taken a big step forward in our program this year and will be a vital member of this championship program in the coming years toward his graduation,” added Coach Stanley.
“Darius is a strong individual,” said Coach Stanley. “He works hard. He doesn’t complain. No one will grind a workout better or harder than Darius.”
While sharing advice with others in his shoes, Darius follows what he shares: “Stay motivated and remind yourself who you are and why you deserve to be there.”
Photo Credit: Tari Wolfe.
