AUBURN, Ala. – Newly minted men’s cross country Scholar-Athletes of the Year Max Hardin leads Auburn into Friday’s SEC Championships in Columbia, Missouri.
“This is the most consistent and healthy I’ve been throughout the entire fall semester,” Hardin said. “We haven’t really gone to a race with the intentions of blasting the doors off, but this is the one where we’re ready to go out and show some people what we’ve done over the past few months.”
Wearing a captain’s C on the left shoulder of his cross country uniform, Hardin seeks to set an example worth emulating.
“It’s a lot less leading by telling them what to do and more so giving my best effort and showing them the effort they give is going to pay off, whether it be in character or a time. It’s worth it,” said Hardin, hopeful of a top 20 individual Friday. “We’ve become a group of brothers. We do every run together, we do every practice together. It’s really felt like a family.”
A biomedical sciences major with a 4.0 GPA, Hardin plans to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon, though he’s open to other specialties.
“I just want to help people,” he said. “However I end up helping people is going to be where I need to be.”
Athletics and academics, for Hardin, complement one another.
“It works together,” he said. “The better I’m doing in track, the better I’m doing in school. Instead of one taking away from the other, they help me better at both because how I do track is going to be how I do school and how I do school is going to be how I do track.”
Hardin becomes Auburn’s third SEC cross country scholar-athlete, joining 2014 winner Ty McCormack and Max’s former Tiger teammate Ryan Kinnane, a three-time winner from 2022-24.
“The first time he won Scholar-Athlete I thought that’s my goal. I want that,” recalled Hardin, the SEC 1500m silver medalist as a freshman in 2024. “I know I might not be able to win an SEC cross country meet but I know sure as heck I can make the best grades of anyone on that start line.”
Hardin’s perspective evolved – from cutthroat competitiveness to gratitude – when his father passed away from cancer last November.
“I can go out and honor the people who have gotten me here,” said Hardin, Auburn’s program record holder in the 1500m and indoor mile. “I know I’m blessed to have this gift to run. In the midst of all that tragedy, I got to witness God be so good with getting to see family and all the people my dad had impacted. I’m doing this because I want to not just set up my family one day to pursue dreams but also impact the people around me like my dad did at work and pour into them and serve them.”
A second-generation Auburn student-athlete, Max’s father, Michael Hardin, played basketball at Auburn and bought season tickets every year since Max was in elementary school.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Max said of the connection. “It’s legacy. I get to leave a legacy and hopefully my kids will come here one day and leave a legacy of their own, whether or not they’re athletes.”
Hardin’s affection for Auburn matches his academic and athletic achievements.
“It feels like I’m walking into my house every day on campus,” he said. “That’s super special. I don’t think I’d get that experience anywhere else at another university.”