SELINSGROVE, PA – In the spring of 2025 Susquehanna University hosted its annual Jim Taylor Duals outdoor track meet. As usual that Saturday meet in late March featured many great collegiate teams and student-athletes, along with the assortment of unattached competitors. Most usually are Susquehanna alumni staying loose and honoring the meet's namesake, longtime SU track and field coach Jim Taylor. Among the unattached competitors was Derick Blair, a first-year Susquehanna student who took on the 10,000 meters to start the day and finished first with a time of 33:35.00.
 
It was Derick's second semester at Susquehanna. His first semester that fall had him on the cross country team and showed promise. But as the season went on his circumstances changed and time away from the program was needed. It's common for first-year students to have challenges while getting acclimated to the college environment. Derick had the benefit of being close to family, growing up in Selinsgrove and having relatives that graduated from Susquehanna.
 

"I thought I needed some time away from running. What I really needed was some time to grow into a different version of myself both mentally and physically."

 
Throughout the winter and spring of 2025, Derick got to work getting on to the comeback trail. He stayed match fit entering himself unattached at several track meets, including Bucknell's Indoor Tune Up and Shippensburg's Paul Kaiser Outdoor Invitational a few weeks after the Jim Taylor Duals. His 10,000-meter performance at the Jim Taylor Duals reminded the home crowd and his team that given the opportunity, he would be back and ready to compete. That opening came during the summer after being cleared to return for his second season on the cross country team.
 
During his first season in 2024, Derick ran in five 8K races, timing in between 26 and 27 minutes with a season-best 26:17.3 at the Mid-Atlantic Region Championships. In his sophomore debut in 2025 he shaved over half a minute off that time at 25:45.4 at Lebanon Valley. His time led all Division III competitors that day and earned him the Landmark Conference's Runner of the Week. He would go on to earn Landmark weekly honors two more times in the fall as his times continued to drop. Derick ran out on the Lehigh University course for its legendary Paul Short Run, coming in at 25:18.8 to win his race, then broke out another huge improvement at Gettysburg's Aubrey Shenk Invitational with a time of 24:43.0.
 
It then came time for the Landmark Conference Championships. While Susquehanna's women's cross country team had recent success, it had been a while that the men found themselves at or near the top. Susquehanna had four Landmark men's cross country individual championships, with the most recent coming in 2011. Their last team championship was in 2013. In just one afternoon, Derick helped the River Hawks regain that glory, winning the individual title with a program-record 24:28.85. Two weeks later he earned All Mid-Atlantic Region after running a time of 25:47.82 for 20^th place.
 
At long last Derick continued sporting his Susquehanna uniform entering track & field season. In his indoor career debut in the 3,000 meters, Blair led the competition at 8:49.40. His first 5K put him in at 15:17.36. At the end of the winter season, Derick carried another Landmark individual championship, winning the conference 5K with a time of 15:20.24. The hits kept on coming as the team went outdoors as he scorched the 5K and 10K all spring. His highlight was running the 10,000 meters at Bucknell University's Bison Outdoor Classic, running a time of 30:57.78. Then came the Landmark Outdoor Championships, where he helped open the meet by winning the 10,000 meters with the second-fastest championship time at 30:49.41. He finished third in the 5,000 meters at 15:06.16.
 
Derick's story is no longer defined by the races he missed. It's defined by the ones he won, the records he broke, and the example he set—that setbacks don't have to be the end of the story. Sometimes, they're simply the beginning of a better one. The next chapter of his and the Susquehanna team's story begins this September as they return to the cross country course in hopes of reclaiming the Landmark cross country team championship back to Selinsgrove. The River Hawks are set to host this year's Landmark Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31 in Lock Haven, Pa.