GRAHAMSVILLE – After several years of dominating long distance running at the high school and national levels, Tri-Valley’s most decorated male athlete, Van Furman starts his new journey at the collegiate level. 

For an athlete of his caliber, one would imagine that there’s a special way to mentally prepare for competition, but for Furman, he takes it all in stride. While his physical preparation is a daily routine of running roughly, about 35 miles a week in high school along with conditioning, for competition days he says, “I just listen to what my coaches have taught me during training. 

To prepare for his college season Furman’s conditioning and running schedule combined add up to roughly 50 miles per week.  The pressure is definitely there,” he says, but Furman uses that pressure to his advantage. Regular training and conditioning consume most of Furman’s daily routine. 

And when asked what hobbies he [Van] has outside of sports, both Furman and his grandmother, Carol Furman, who sat in on the interview, chuckled. 

Van prefers hard work on his family farm to stay occupied when he’s not training but also found time over the years to be a member of a few other extracurricular activities, including the National FFA Organization (formerly known as Future Farmers of America), high school band, Eagle Scouts and the National Honor Society.

 Furman has also carved out a bit of time to take flying lessons nearby to become a pilot. “Most of my schedule are my athletic responsibilities but I just try to find time to make sure my schoolwork gets done and make sure my other responsibilities are taken care of.” 

When asked what he would like to accomplish over the next five years, Furman replied with a humble, “I just want to follow what my coach at Georgetown wants me to do and have that lead me.” Sentiments his parents Chip and Julie Furman echo in agreement. “We think Van will go very far and think Georgetown is a great fit for him. He’s very talented and humble.”

After graduation, Furman would like to utilize his degree in Business & Finance to help run Furman Farms in Grahamsville. A beef farm that has been owned and operated by the Furman Family since 1820. “I love this area, and after I graduate, I would really like to come back.”

See the full  list of  Van’s sports  accomplishments below: