John Ziegler is a 20-year-old sophomore from Pittsburgh, PA, and runs cross country as well as running for the indoor track and field team. 

Ziegler, a Baldwin High School graduate, is currently majoring in political science with a minor in mass communications. Outside of athletics, Ziegler is the Communications Director for the Student Government Association and a member of the Uno Club.

After college, Ziegler is interested in furthering his education and going to law school.

Ziegler said for this indoor track and field season he has a lot of goals for himself personally, and for the team as a whole.

“My goals [for this] track season would be to improve upon my 800 and 1600 times and score for the team at the conference meet,” Ziegler said. 

Ziegler holds a personal record of 1:59 for his 800-meter event and 4:38 for his 1600-meter event.

“For the team, the goal is to win the conference championship,” Ziegler said. “The team has been working really hard, especially with the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, and everyone has been taking it all in stride.”

Ziegler thinks that these goals are well within arm’s reach for the team based on progress made in previous seasons.

“Throughout the process, the event groups have seen major improvements from last year,” Ziegler said. “The sprints and jumps especially have been posting phenomenal performances to open up the season. The team is always seeking improvements, and after the Youngstown meet (1/29-1/30), the distance event group feels quite encouraged that we can continue to develop to bring down some of our times.” 

Ziegler also added that at the last meet in January, he ran into some issues during his races but prevailed and finished strong.

“At Youngstown State University (YSU), we ran the Distance Medley Relay (DMR), and everyone ran solid times for us. I’ve had better days in the past, but I was hampered to an extent by a migraine. We, fortunately, got to go back to Youngstown the next day and felt pretty good about my performance that day,” Ziegler said. “From here, we just have to reevaluate the positives and negatives of each race and implement it into the plan for the next races to come.”

Ziegler was also adamant about the many positive experiences he has had running for the Pioneers.

“It’s been a wonderful experience altogether, being able to run at the collegiate level. I have met a ton of great individuals from across the country that we compete against and have teammates I see on an everyday basis that serve as a great support system and help push each other to do our best on and off the track. The transition from high school to the collegiate level competition is not to be understated, and it pushes you to improve day in and day out,” Ziegler said. “The biggest transition was definitely the classroom. The independence in my studies from high school to college was a welcomed change, and it allowed me to fall in love with the learning process again.”

Ziegler also had a message for any incoming freshmen interested in running for the Pioneers.

“My advice for anyone who is interested in track and field at Point Park would be to get in contact with Coach Jim,” Ziegler said. “Coach is a great resource to have and has made my college experience a lot better.”