Montgomery High sophomore leads boys’ cross country squad
By: Justin Feil
It didn’t take long to sell Craig Donnelly on cross country.
A year after taking up the sport at his mother’s urging, the Montgomery High School sophomore is making strides in a hurry. He has dedicated himself to the sport and it shows.
Saturday, he was the top Cougar finisher, 29th overall, in the E Division race of the Shore Coaches Invitational. Wednesday, Donnelly cruised to a win in front of teammate Chad Gorka as the Cougars dismantled Belvidere and South Hunterdon to improve to 5-2 this season. Donnelly consistently has been MHS’ top runner in the first half of the season, but that hasn’t surprised anyone.
"He was pretty good last year," Cougar head coach Jim Goodfriend said of Donnelly. "He was our No. 2 man last year. He came back in really great shape. He worked real hard. He’s done well."
Donnelly and the Cougars face Voorhees and Delaware Valley at DelVal 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. There he hopes to continue his strong running this year.
Donnelly’s success his first year running was enough to convince him to give up basketball this year for winter track so he can run year-round. He also runs outdoor track in the spring. It’s quite a flip-flop from his beginnings.
"My mom signed me up," remembered Donnelly, who won the Skyland Conference freshman race a year ago. "It was supposed to get me in shape for basketball."
Instead, Donnelly is following his mother and sister’s footsteps. His mother was one of the top runners in New Jersey and made the 1976 Meet of Champions, according to Craig. His sister, Jennifer, has been Kean University’s top finisher this season as a freshman. It took Craig, who moved to MHS last year from Wayne, just a little while to really start to enjoy the sport.
"It was very hard," Donnelly said of his first race. "I was tired. It was just so hard. I never knew that this would happen. I didn’t expect anything, especially that I would be able to run this fast. I did used to run a little bit when my mom would go to the track, but it wasn’t that good."
Oh, how times, and Donnelly’s times in particular, have changed. He almost tripled his overall mileage – to 440 miles – this summer. The result? He started this year almost 20 seconds ahead of his personal best.
"I tried to put the base mileage on and tried every once in a while to do a tempo run," the 15-year-old said of his summer workouts. "I improved over a minute in my 5k time last year. From the performances I’ve had this year, I thin I can drop more than a minute. I’m looking to break 17 (minutes for 5k). That’s my goal this year."
Donnelly conditioned himself by running over challenging courses like the one at Holmdel that the Cougars competed at Saturday. It’s helped him not only improve running-wise, but mentally it’s made a difference.
"I feel it’s a lot easier this year," Donnelly said of Holmdel, the site of the sectional and Group championships as well this year. "I felt a lot better this year when I ran it. I’m more confident.
"I had a lot more success because I worked harder this summer," he added. "That’s been a big part of my success. I knew I had to work a lot more to stay u with the competition because my class is very competitive."
It’s also been a help to have a teammate like Gorka, last year’s top Cougar runner, running close behind. Gorka, who consistently peaks at the end of cross country season, is helping the sophomore improve.
"We’re not really competitive," Donnelly noted, "but he pushes me to get faster times. I’ve improved each meet, until (Wednesday against lighter competition)."
Both Donnelly and Gorka have their sights on finishing in the Top 10 in the Somerset County meet later this month.
"Gorka’s times are starting to drop," confirmed Goodfriend. "But right now, Donnelly has been working so hard in practice. He never misses a practice. He had a real nice season last year in track and he really dedicated himself this whole summer.
"He’s going to get a lot better. When he fills out a bit, he’ll be real good. He’s good and he’s got a great attitude. He’s a workaholic. He’s already improved a lot."
Donnelly, a wiry 6-foot-1 runner, hopes to continue that improvement throughout the season and over the remaining two years of high school. From there, running has given him some direction for his after-graduation plans.
"I’m definitely looking to run in college now," Donnelly said. "That’s definite. That’s what I’m looking to do. But I have to think about this year first."
So far, it’s been just fine for Montgomery’s top runner.