What was your most memorable race/competition?
My most memorable race was at the Carlisle Invitational, when I broke 16:00 in the 5k for the first time. I felt terrible the entire week and I felt very weak on the starting line, but I still decided to race. The gun went off, and one of my teammates shot off the line like a rocket. I decided that I was in no way going to try and do that so I decided that I would sit mid pack of our team and then slowly move up during the race. I remember at around the 1.5-2 mile point I saw my coach. He was screaming at me “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, you need to WAKE UP!!!” At that point, I started to move up the field and ended up finishing 7th and running 15:50.
Where did you face your biggest competition? or What was your favorite meet and why?
My favorite meet was the Disney Classic at the ESPN Sports Complex in Orlando. The whole experience of getting to go to Disney World with my team was amazing and it something I will never forget. The best part was that we travelled so far and still represented ourselves well and we able to win the meet as a team. Getting to go for free was just an added bonus for us.
If you could, what would you do differently with your high school running career?
I would start working harder earlier. I didn’t start taking my training seriously until sophomore year. I ran outdoor track in North Dakota, but I didn’t really take it that seriously. Then because of injury I didn’t get a real track season until my junior year.
Out of all of your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
Winning the 1600 at the 2014 state meet. The first time I ran for Robinson was at the Monroe Parker JV meet, which I won, and I feel like it is fitting that my (almost) last race I also won. It is the first varsity race I’ve ever won. I went into the race with my coaches and I thinking that at best I could get 3rd. The look on my coach’s face was priceless. I think I almost gave him a heart attack he was so excited.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
Getting injured my sophomore year was a huge setback for me. I got tendonitis in my peroneal, which is a tendon on the outside of the calf. I didn’t tell my coaches that I was injured and I kept running on it. Obviously, this was a mistake as I ran myself into the ground. I was out for 3 months without any physical activity. My coaches gave me a running plan designed to slowly get back into running again. It took until Cross Country the following year for me to get back to running normally again. All told it took about 8 months for me to be healthy again.
What was your most difficult workout?
This is a tough question, I’ve had a lot of hard workouts over the 3 years. The hardest during cross country was 5xmile at 4:50 on the loop around our school. On the track it was probably the Master Blaster that we did which was 12 200’s at 30 seconds with 30 seconds rest in between or the 5x1000 at 2:58-3:02 followed by 4 200’s at 30 seconds.
What will you miss the most?
My teammates and my coaches. They truly became a second family for me. I am going to miss all of them and I hope that they have amazing seasons in the future.
How have your coaches influenced your performances and your life goals?
My coaches have been a huge influence on my life goals and my performances. I started running for Robinson without really having any idea of what I was going to be able to do or what my goals in running should be. In my first two years of running I was a bit of a head case. I would have one good race, and then if I started doing poorly in another I would freak myself out do much worse than I expected. It took a lot of discussion with my coaches, but we finally realized that I needed to just race rather than think about making a race plan and try to stick to it. “Race with purpose” as my coach told me, was a much better way for me to race. Halfway through my last outdoor season, something clicked when I heard this, and I began to race with more fervor than before. Also because of my coaches, I did not give up on my goal of running in college when I was initially told that I was not good enough to. I told them that although I was not going to be able to run in college, I still wanted to break the school record in the mile. With their encouragement and training plans I was able to do just that. I owe so much to my coaches and I would not have been able to do all that I did without them.
What are your plans for college?
Running at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and majoring in Systems or Chemical Engineering.
What is your advice for an incoming freshman running/competing in the same events as you did?
The little things like stretching, eating right, and going to bed are more important than you realize. They all add up and can make a huge difference over the course of your career.
Shout Outs?
Dustin and Hunter Jutras, Luke and Reid Sharkey, Brendan O’Connell, Brendan Cevasco, Patrick Myers, Nick Hite, Nathan Schulte, Lauren Berman, MK Mastaler, the rest of RDE, the Robinson track and cross country team, the other amazing teams and runners in the Northern Region, my coaches, and lastly my family and friends for supporting me throughout my entire career thus far.
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