Burrell graduate Faith Remich looking to finish strong for W&J track team

For the first time as a competitive runner, Faith Remich is trying to slow down.

The Burrell graduate and Washington & Jefferson senior’s career is nearing its end, and she is trying to soak in as much as possible.

“I feel like in general, due to covid, I have a greater appreciation for everything, even going to practice,” said Remich, a two-year captain for the cross country and track teams. “I’m taking everything as if it’s the last thing because I know I only have so many more meets, but I just want to do the best I can. I’m kind of a little harder on myself.”

Remich arrived at W&J the same year Derek Workman was promoted from assistant to head coach, and the two have helped rejuvenate the program. The team took second at the outdoor Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships last spring, its best finish in 10 years.

“We try to not talk about it because I don’t want her to cry or start thinking about negative things, but boy, the end is coming near,” Workman said with a laugh. “She’s like, ‘I’m not ready to talk about it. I’m not ready to talk about it.’ And I’m not, either.

“She’s a student of the game. I’ve told her, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do without you next year.’ ”

Remich’s specialties are the 800 meters and the mile, but she also contributes in other events. At the indoor Jim Wuske Invitational on Feb. 5 at Mt. Union, she placed second in the 3,000.

She is part of the 1,600 relay team that holds the school record and is second all-time at W&J in the 800. Breaking that record is on her checklist of goals for this year, along with a PR in the mile.

“I like shorter distances over longer distances because I can focus more and not get in my head,” Remich said of the 800 and mile. “It’s a lot of mental strategy, and you have to push the whole time. There’s no surges or change of pace. It’s just running on your pace.”

Remich is far from a running lifer. She didn’t pick up the sport until her freshman year at Burrell, when the track coach recruited her after seeing her play basketball.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Remich said. “I was going to be a sprinter initially, and then the distance coach kept asking me to join his workouts. I remember the day I ran 3 miles straight, I was so proud of myself because I had never done that before.”

Now, Remich estimates she runs 40 miles a week during the season.

As Remich has evolved as a runner at W&J, so has her leadership role.

“She came in as a freshman and was our best runner,” Workman said. “She felt like she was stepping on people’s toes because she was running faster than them. But I think as she’s grown, she understands that this is her team.”

Remich also has helped host future W&J runners during their recruiting visits, including sophomore Cassie Carr, who was a national qualifier in cross country in the fall.

“She loves W&J,” Workman said of Remich. “She loves this program. She loves this team. She’s just a team person.

“I would like to think she helped set the bar that hopefully our women can stay where we’ve been and crush where we’ve been going forward because Faith was the one who helped us get there. Because without Faith, we don’t get Cassie. And now hopefully Cassie can carry the torch that Faith started, and we can bring in another class of girls that can carry on the legacy that Faith started from the ground up.”