BUTLER TWP — Adam Knauer doesn't have any specific plan for doing his 80-minute run regiments assigned to him by Washington & Jefferson cross country coach Dale Boring.

Knauer, who is a 2015 Butler graduate and incoming college freshman, tries not to do the same route.

When he runs in the woods near his parents house in Connoquenessing, Knauer is always looking for different paths.

“When I'm running, I see other places I like and I'll try to run the next day,” Knauer said. “Tomorrow I'll go there and make it up as I go. I run until I'm 40 minutes away.”

Knauer, along with fellow Golden Tornado graduate Patrick Fullerton, are two of 13 freshmen listed on the Presidents' roster. Washington & Jefferson, which competes in the Division III Presidents' Athletic Conference, only has one sophomore and junior and no seniors.

“They are a big part of what we're going to do in the future,” said Boring, who coached track at Knoch and Mars. “They are talented kids and are hard workers. I have very high expectations for them not just this fall, but for the next four seasons.”

Fullerton and Knauer have both been hustling to try and get ready for the year.

After a short break following the end of the spring track season, they got their programs from Boring.

“I feel like I've settled into a groove,” Fullerton said. “It was a grind.”

Every runner in the program gets a different workout plan from Boring based on a number of factors. Boring likes when his kids put in the mileage and focus on the races when they get to campus.

“I want them to follow the plan we've set together,” Boring said. “Mileage is a No. 1 goal of ours, we don't have a one-size-fits-all program. We don't want kids getting in a lot of races, we want them to be salivating to do that when get into a W&J uniform.”

Knauer and Fullerton were key cogs on the Golden Tornado's 3,200-meter relay team — along with Josh Rader and Brandon Critchlow — that finished with the top time in Butler County of 7 minutes, 59.49 seconds last spring.

While it didn't have much impact on their commitment, Knauer and Fullerton will also be rooming together at W&J.

“We've gotten together and ran a couple times,” Knauer said. “A lot of the time we run on our own.”

Running on their own takes finding some extra motivation. Both work jobs several days a week on top of their six-day training regiment. At least they get to pick their own routes.

Even if heading out the door to start them can be the hardest part.

“It can be tough sometimes,” Fullerton said. “I can't sit down or it's over. I have to keep moving.”