NORMAL, Ill. – Transitioning between high school and college can be intimidating, yet freshman Max Weber has been up to the challenge during the 2026 cross-country season.
A high school graduate from Civic Memorial High School in Bethalto, Illinois, Weber has begun a new chapter in his life at Illinois State University this fall, officially signing back in November of 2025.
Weber was extremely active growing up in southern Illinois. He competed in numerous sports at a young age, including cross country.
"My mom said, 'I'm just going to put you in every sport,'" said Weber. "I went to a private school, so I just did every sport that was possible, but cross country was the first one that started, which I fell in love with."
Weber pursued cross country more intensively in middle school, guided by his head coach throughout the journey.
"Coach Redding was a really good coach in middle school and that kind of made me fall in love with the sport more," said Weber.
That love didn't diminish when Weber entered high school, as he continued to be inspired by his coaches over the next four years.
"When I got to high school, Coach Peal was my coach, and he had run marathons and other events," said Weber. "He was a great coach, as he would run with us at practices, too. This showed that he believed in what he was doing and that seriousness really inspired me."
Coach Peal's inspiration played a massive role in shaping Weber into the person and athlete he is today, propelling him to a state championship during his senior year in the Boys Class 2A three-mile run with a time of 14:08.54.
Now a few short months later, Weber has started a new phase in life, competing at the Division-I level in cross country and track & field.
"Max went quickly up our radar, just in how he presents himself as a young man, the character he has, the quality he brings in the classroom, his leadership, and his attention to detail," said ISU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee.
WHY ILLINOIS STATE
The opportunities presented at Illinois State University for Weber were invaluable in his decision to compete and attend the institution.
Majoring in actuarial science, the opportunities to learn aligned with Weber's best interests in the classroom.
"First thing that stuck out was the academics, as Illinois State fit well for me," said Weber.
Another major factor that Weber prioritized was the team-bonding aspect of the Redbirds, wanting to be a part of something more than just a collegiate program.
This all began when he took an overnight visit to Illinois State in high school, where he got the chance to meet other student-athletes and have conversations with them.
"I felt this team was actually close and they all wanted to be around each other, like a big friend group," said Weber. "So, that was something I looked for. It's what I wanted, like you want to have people enjoy being around each other."
Building those relationships early on helped Weber come to his decision to commit to the Redbirds. It was through these bonds that he understood that the team was serious about their performance and had high expectations.
"Along with having fun with them while I was here, they wanted to win and wanted to be good," said Weber. "Hearing that people came here to get better was exactly what I wanted."
The coaching staff reflected that commitment, as Weber had several conversations with them about the processes and strategies, going back to his senior year of high school.
Specifically, gaining insight from Bovee was extremely impactful with building that relationship and understanding what's necessary to succeed at the next level.
"Talking with Coach Bovee to see how they talked about training and everything else was helpful," said Weber.
These phone calls further cemented to Bovee how great an athlete Weber was and could be, based on their discussions about his performances against high-level competition, especially racing the eventual Missouri state cross-country champion.
"It was how he described it, articulated it, and processed it that really sold us on him and be like, 'This guy's going to be really good,'" said Bovee. "We felt like he was going to really do some big things and then went on to do that. It was after that that we decided we had to go all in on Max at that point."
Assistant Coach Jake Gillum was a crucial part of Weber's commitment, sharing his experiences over the phone from his athletic career and how he approached coaching the student-athletes.
"Coach Jake was an athlete here, too," said Weber. "That does kind of give you some confidence to see that if he's doing it, he definitely believes in it."
The immediate support and transparency between the coaches and players allowed Weber to understand his role and the expectations entering the program.
ADJUSTING TO COLLEGE LIFE
Weber graduated high school almost five months ago. Now, he is front-and-center on the Redbirds' men's cross-country team, racing in all three meets so far in 2026.
He, along with the other freshmen, first stepped foot on campus as student-athletes around the start of the academic year in August, where they got acclimated to their new surroundings immediately.
"It was just good to get to know the guys pretty well that first week and get situated here," said Weber.
Shifting from high school to college can be difficult, as Weber mentioned. There are many factors that student-athletes deal with to balance their time with homework, practice, recovery, dieting, and more.
"It's a lot of learning how to balance everything, but I think I've done pretty well figuring out a balance between being a student and an athlete," said Weber.
The jump to Division-I athletics has been an adjustment for Weber compared to high school sports, as he is surrounded by like-minded student-athletes opposed to anyone who signs up for the cross-country team.
"Everyone is a Division-I athlete, where they dedicate their life to this," said Weber.
Regular workouts and runs are a few aspects of what makes a student-athlete successful, but additional measures are needed and provided to get better and develop over the years.
"It's how our team sleeps more, recovers harder, and eats more, as everything we do is just trying to get better," said Weber.
Recovery and dieting have been major differences Weber has noticed, specifically with the number of resources Illinois State provides to assist student-athletes maintain their physique and endurance.
"We have all the needling tools, cupping tools, and recovery tools you could ever need," said Weber. "For the nutrition side, we have a meeting to talk about options, which I didn't know we'd have something like that, which is good. We get smoothies after working out and lifting weights. Everything's super nice."
Bovee has expressed the importance of these responsibilities, while moving at a steady pace for Weber and other newcomers to adjust to these enhanced habits, emphasizing quality sleep, dietary, and training habits.
"We're getting adjusted to training around other really good guys so that we don't overtrain and keep things in check and make sure that we're staying healthy so that we can train long-term consistently, and then we will start to see the gains of that," said Bovee.
Bovee has seen Weber and others adapt quickly to these processes, which he credited the experienced student-athletes with helping them adjust to their surroundings.
"It's the testament to their teammates that bring these guys along and teach them how to do our training and make sure they do the things to recover," said Bovee. "That's really the key to what their improvement is going to be, their ability to recover from the hard training."
The necessary measures taken by Weber have proven successful in the early stages of his collegiate career, collecting some impressive times and finishes in the first three meets of the cross-country season.
Weber led the Redbird men in his collegiate debut at the Fighting Illini Invitational (Sept. 4) with a time of 18:07.7 in the 6k, placing 10th among all competitors.
He participated in his first career 8k race at the Redbird Invitational (Sept. 18), finishing seventh on the team and eighth among the field with a time of 25:05.0 to help the Redbirds win the event for the third time in four years.
"That's a big leap for a high school senior to go to freshman year of college from three miles or a 5k to an 8k, which is quite a bit of distance," said Bovee.
Weber improved his time significantly at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 2) in the 8k race, crossing the finish line at 24:20.7 for third best on the team and 43rd overall.
"There's lots of learning curves involved for all new collegiate athletes, but he quickly absorbed it and made a big jump at Notre Dame with his time," said Bovee.
The upcoming Bradley Pink Classic will provide Weber another opportunity to improve his time and confidence.
MOVING AHEAD
With postseason competition on the horizon, Weber and the Redbirds want to finish the regular season strong with the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday, October 16.
The event will consist of familiar foes for Illinois State, having faced Bradley as recently as a few weeks ago in South Bend, Indiana, along with other programs in the Missouri Valley Conference and Midwest Region.
"College running is really good, and we've seen Bradley at Notre Dame, and they're a really good team," said Weber.
Weber isn't letting the nearby MVC Championships and NCAA Regionals affect his or the team's mindset heading into Friday.
"We just got to keep believing in ourselves and be ready to go do it on that day," said Weber.
Bovee expects nothing less from Weber and his teammates heading to Peoria.
"We expect Max to run in our top seven, top five on any given day. We have different guys that can step into different roles," said Bovee.
It's been encouraging for Weber and his coaches to have confidence in him from his few experiences during his first cross-country season at Illinois State.
These experiences and lessons are something he looks to carry over into the upcoming indoor and outdoor track & field seasons.
"Learning how to compete from the middle of the pack and working together with my teammates has been a big part of the cross-country season," said Weber. "I think during the track season, it will really help having that experience under my belt."
Beginning the first season as a freshman can be intimidating, yet Bovee believes the extended time now on campus will positively impact Weber and the other newcomers' transition into the winter and spring seasons.
"You tend to see freshmen in year one be a lot more prepared for track because now, they've had time to assimilate to academics and being away from home," said Bovee. "So, I think that he's going to continue to get better as we go through the year."
The indoor track season will present some challenges with adapting to different tracks. Nevertheless, Bovee has the upmost confidence in Weber to adjust to his surroundings to compete in potentially many events.
"He's a guy that's got the ability to run anything from the mile to the 5,000 meter," said Bovee. "Indoor is always a big adjustment with banked tracks, as a lot of high school athletes don't get to run on many banked tracks. So, that's going to be a learning curve for him. The training part of it will be a lot easier because he'd been here a while now."
The learning curve will be welcomed by Weber, as he looks to be an immediate factor on the men's track & field team that clinched last season's MVC Outdoor Championship for the first time since 1999.
"He's a competitor, and he wants to win and help our team be successful," said Bovee. "There's a sense of urgency with him, like he's not a guy that wants to wait another year. He wants to be good now."
