Joshua began his freshman year at St. Mark’s on the JV cross country team, running a 19:47 5k in his first race, and ended it as the third fastest runner (after two seniors) on the varsity team, improving to a PR of 17:09 in the final race of the season. He was named the team’s most improved runner and earned All-ISL recognition. He continued his training with Emerging Elites that summer in preparation for leading the varsity team in the fall.
During his sophomore campaign at St. Mark’s, Josh continued to stand out as the team's top runner as an underclassman. Running consistently and peaking at the right moments in his season, Josh saw multiple top-10 finishes at numerous championship meets.
In the 2019 ISL Championships Josh led his team with a 4th place overall finish of 16:34. The following weekend, Josh and the St. Mark's team competed in the NEPSTA Division I Prep New England Championships. Josh finished as St. Mark's top runner, placing 9th overall.
In Josh's final race of the 2019 cross country season, he raced in the Boys Sophomore/Freshman race at the Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Regionals, running a very solid 16:47.6 on the Van Cortlandt course. Overall, Josh placed 6th in the Sophomore/Freshman race on November 30th and was the fourth fastest sophomore.
During the 2019-20 indoor season, Joshua stepped out of his comfort and onto the track! In his debut track race at the Greater Boston Track Club Invite at Harvard University, Josh ran in the Scholastic Mile where he placed 1st in his heat crossing the finish line at 4:43.80. He followed that up a few weeks later with another 1st place finish for his heat and a time of 4:41:45. Although his races in the winter and spring ended prematurely due to COVID-19, Joshua kept training faithfully with Emerging Elites on Zoom throughout the spring and summer, fall and is continuing to do so this winter.
The ISL did not hold official in-person races in the fall of 2020; however, in a virtual race with several other schools Joshua ran 5000 meters on a local 300m track with his teammates and finished first with a time of 15:33. Two weeks later Joshua represented the Emerging Elites Club in the annual USATF New England XC championship in Mine Falls Park in Nashua, New Hampshire, finishing 11th (top high school runner) with a time of 15:37.
Joshua first discovered his passion for track at two indoor meets with Emerging Elites just before the pandemic shut everything down. That passion was further ignited the summer before his senior year when he ran with Emerging Elites in a number of track events, most of them for the very first time. Based on these experiences, and in light of the fact that his high school didn’t have a track program, Joshua made the difficult decision to complete his high school experience at IMG Academy, where he is looking to continue his progress in both cross country and track. As part of the IMG cross country team, Joshua has already begun to see results, completing three of four races in under 16 minutes, with a PR of 15:31.8
Josh Bergers '22 Shines in N.E. Championship XC Race
"Virtual Races" Highlight SM Boys' Cross Country Season
Josh Bergers, St. Mark's '22, Shines in U.S. Track and Field N.E. Championship XC Race
Josh Bergers, IMG Academy '22, 1st Place Seffner Christian Invitational
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