Shortly after arriving in Flagstaff, Ariz., Kelton Cullenberg went for a run.

Flagstaff is in the mountains of northern Arizona — approximately 7,000 feet above sea level — and Cullenberg didn’t give his body time to acclimate to the conditions.

“The first day I ran, I got altitude sickness a few hours later,” Cullenberg said.

To Cullenberg, the headache and nausea that comes with altitude sickness was just something new to overcome, another sacrifice in a long line of them.

“Within three days of being there, he ran 22 miles and biked 40,” Kelley Cullenberg, Kelton’s mother, said.

A graduate of the University of Maine and Mt. Blue High School, Cullenberg was recently named the first winner of the America East Conference’s Man of the Year Award.

“It was cool to be nominated,” Cullenberg said. “I wasn’t really expecting to be a finalist.”

The conference Man of the Year award capped a strong collegiate career for Cullenberg, both academically and athletically. A captain of Maine’s cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and field teams, Cullenberg placed second in the America East cross country championships last fall and became the first male Maine runner to compete in the NCAA championships in 24 years.

This past winter, Cullenberg placed second in the 5,000-meter run at the conference championship meet. In the outdoor season, he took second in the 5,000 at the Penn Relays with a time of 14 minutes, 25.06 seconds, and won the America East title in the race with a 14:29.42.

Academically, Cullenberg was a superstar.

Cullenberg — a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society — graduated with a degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science with a 3.92 grade point average, and earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in four of eight semesters. He was an America East all-academic selection in three sports, and earned the Presidential Scholar Award four times.

“He’s the kind of young man, he’s so humble,” Kelley Cullenberg said. “He hardly ever told us about (awards), because he never thought it was a big deal.”

In his recorded acceptance speech (Cullenberg left for his internship in Arizona the day of the America East awards dinner), Cullenberg spoke of the sacrifices he made in college to achieve academic and athletic excellence.

“A big part of it is, I didn’t have the typical social experience (in college),” Cullenberg said. “I think everybody I know is from the track team.”

Cullenberg had heard it was possible to do two of three things well, academics, athletics and social life. He focused on the first two. Being a three-season athlete — on the road almost every weekend between September and May — was a grind.

“With so much travel, you make some pretty good relationships with your teammates and coaches,” Kelton Cullenberg said. “I know they’ll be my lifelong friends.”

“His life was go to class, go to practice, go to meets, study and try to get as much sleep as possible,” Kelley Cullenberg said.

Even with all his academic accomplishments, Cullenberg thinks he could have done better.

“I know I could have been a better student if not for track,” he said.

Cullenberg is in Flagstaff through the end of July working as an intern with Hypo2 High Performance Center, a chiropractor practice that caters to athletes. When he returns home in August, Cullenberg will run in the Beach to Beacon. In the fall, he’ll begin graduate school, studying physical therapy at the University of New England.

Cullenberg’s parents, Kelley and Arvid Cullenberg, accepted his Man of the Year award on his behalf.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s your kid or not,” Kelley Cullenberg said. “It’s really awesome to see somebody who has worked that hard get that recognition.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

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Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM