Emma Langlois described her fall cross country campaign at the University of Miami as “a little bit tough.”

With one indoor track meet in 2022 for the Hurricanes, Langlois turned the trajectory of her senior season around.

In cross country, she placed 90th as an individual at the NCAA South regional and 113th in the Atlantic Coast Conference championships. But the Richmond-Burton graduate followed that by “crushing workouts” in preparation for the indoor season.

“Adversity is a huge thing in athletics,” she said. “When things don’t go your way, that’s where your true character comes out. I knew I could do something special.”

The result was two top-five times in school history – in the mile and 3,000-meter run – at the UAB Blazer Invitational last month in Birmingham, Ala.

Langlois, a graduate student at Miami, won the mile in 4 minutes, 54.98 seconds to post the fourth-fastest time in Miami history. A couple of hours later, she put her offseason training to work by securing the fourth-fastest 3,000 time of 9:59.40.

“It did a lot for my confidence knowing I can still run sub-10 [in the 3,000] after a pretty solid mile effort,” she said. “It’s just a reminder that I’ve been here, I’ve done this, and I can do it better.”

Pulling double duty in a pair of events less than a few hours apart “was a little bit tough,” she said. “That’s always like ripping the Band-Aid off. It was definitely a mental challenge.”

On Jan. 22 at the Carolina Challenge in Columbia, S.C., Langlois bettered her 3,000 time with a 9:56.29 effort. In the mile, she posted a 4:55.26.

“The time isn’t always the main thing, but I do want to get under 4:50,” she said of the mile. “That’s the next goal. For the 3K, I want to get an all-time [personal record]. Last year outdoor, I ran a 9:51.”

The overriding aim, according to Langlois, is to get on the podium at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships Feb. 24-26 in Blacksburg, Va.

“The goal is always to get points at ACCs, because we’re trying to get that indoor [team] title,” she said. “I’m pretty excited to see what I can do.”

St. Pierre contributes at Milwaukee: After three seasons at NCAA Division II UW-Parkside, Richmond-Burton grad Joey St. Pierre has become a fixture in the starting lineup at D-I UW-Milwaukee this season.

St. Pierre, a redshirt junior, has started 21 games at center for the Panthers (7-15). The 6-foot-10 St. Pierre is averaging 5.6 points while posting the team’s second-highest rebounding average at 5.6 per game.

His 33 blocked shots this season leads Milwaukee and ranks second in the Horizon League.

Litwin launches into top 5: Huntley grad Ben Litwin, a senior track and field athlete at DePaul, ranks fourth this season in the indoor weight throw in the Big East Conference.

Litwin’s career-best toss of 56 feet, 1¼ inches occurred in December in the Blue Demon Holiday Invite. On Jan. 22, Litwin placed second in the event at the Notre Dame Invitational with a throw of 55-8.

Ferrante in NU lineup: Northwestern freshman wrestler David Ferrante (Huntley) is starting this season at 165 pounds for the Wildcats. He owns a 6-6 record.

Ferrante posted a second-place finish earlier this season at the Michigan State Open, where he posted a win by fall in 1 minute, 9 seconds and three victories by major decision.

Schirmer shines in hurdles: Finn Schirmer (Marengo) has won the 60-meter hurdles individual title in two meets this indoor track season. A sophomore at the University of Minnesota, Schirmer is competing unattached.

Schirmer won the title at Minnesota’s Jack Johnson Classic last weekend in 8.1 seconds in the final after posting a career-best time of 8.07 in the preliminary round.

On Jan. 22, Schirmer posted a winning 60 hurdles time of 8.19 at the Cyclone Open at Iowa State University.

• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.