Northern Arizona All-American George Kusche, who placed 37th at the NCAA Division 1 cross country final Nov. 20 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., to help the Lumberjacks capture their fifth championship in six seasons, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss setting the South African indoor record in the 5,000 meters Dec. 4 by clocking 13:28.95 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University. Kusche revisits running 14:22.75 while competing for Nebraska at the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championships and how proud he is to produce such a significant improvement. He also shares the confidence gained from having teammates Abdihamid Nur (13:22.24), Nico Young (13:22.59) and Drew Bosley (13:26.19) in the race with him and how they all worked together to elevate into the top 25 among all-time collegiate indoor 5,000 competitors. Kusche also explains how meaningful it was to be part of a race that produced four national indoor records, along with Young achieving the American Under-20 all-time mark, as Olli Hoare (13:09.96) secured the best Australian performance, Geordie Beamish (13:12.53) eclipsed the New Zealand record and Butler's Barry Keane (13:25.96) lowered the Irish standard. He reflects on returning to the 10-kilometer cross country distance for the first time since the Division 1 final March 15 in Stillwater, Okla., and expresses gratitude for Northern Arizona coach Mike Smith deciding not to have Kusche compete in the 10-kilometer race Oct. 29 at the Mountain Regional in Provo, Utah, in order to prepare for the national final. Kusche explains how he was recovering from mononucleosis leading up to the championship race in March, contributing to him placing 229th in Stillwater, and he shares how proud he was to showcase his improvement in Tallahassee to contribute to the Lumberjacks winning the team title. He speaks about the running culture and tradition present at Northern Arizona, as well as in the Flagstaff community, and how much he has enjoyed the collaboration with Smith and the entire coaching staff. And he examines how impactful the training group has been on his development, and how beneficial the focus on process has been in the Lumberjacks reaching their goals. Kusche also analyzes his Masters program in statistics and speaks about how important the degree is for his future, in addition to talking about planning for a December 2022 wedding with his fiancee Lizzie, an aspiring lawyer in South Africa, and how much he is looking forward to her eventually moving to the United States.