Krister Sjoblad sets the pace and honors father at Athens Drive

It's an overcast day in Raleigh. If you drive past Athens Drive high school and their new football stadium you'll eventually hit a dirt path. That road leads to Williams Stadium which has become a sanctuary for their runners.

"We call this wood chip trail," senior cross country runner Krister Sjoblad said. "We use it a lot for hill repeats, tempos, thresholds...anything that's cross country related and has a good amount of distance."

After a warm up, Krister sets off on a run through the woods that surround the stadium and track. If life's a race, Krister is built to win.

"It's really about envisioning the mindset you want to put in the work and to get the results you want," Krister said.

Krister currently holds Athens Drive's 5K school record at 15:07. He's their team captain and has helped elevate the whole program to one of the best in the Raleigh area.

"We are just so lucky to have him," Athens Drive cross country co-head coach Lori Lair said. "Not only because he's so talented but because of what he means to this team."

On the weekends Krister has organized team runs ranging from eight to thirteen miles. Lori believes it's the first time any student athlete has done that in ten years.

"He knows that even though running is so individual that it's really a team sport," Lori said. "Our boys team made it to states for the first time ever from our school. A lot of that was due to his leadership."

You could say Krister is just following the footsteps of his father.

"He was definitely a big figure in my life and really helped me realize what I wanted to do," Krister said. "Both in my academic goals and personal goals off the track."

Krister acquired his love of running from his father Jon Sjoblad. Jon would regularly run eight to nine miles before work.  One morning when Krister was in eighth grade something went horribly wrong after a run.

"He was downstairs and I had just gone in the shower and then I heard screaming," Krister remembered. "I went downstairs and he was on the ground and that's the last thing that I saw before they took him away."

Jon underwent two hours of chest compressions, but medical professionals weren't able to save him from sudden cardiac arrest. Jon never got to see Krister run a high school race, but Krister believes he still feels his father's presence when he runs on a path near his house. Running is a way for him to keep Jon's memory alive.

"I run for him whenever I do run," Krister said. "I keep him in mind. Him and God are the two biggest points of motivation for me."

Krister has a 4.27 GPA and a walk on offer to run cross country at NC State where he plans to study engineering. His accomplishments earned him WRAL's Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award.

"I like to think he's proud," Krister said. "I know there's still things that I want to see myself do that I'm sure he'd want me to do too. So it's really about staying tough mentally and achieving what I want to do.  I think that he's looking down from heaven and smiling."