Briggs feeds off success

Junior has grown into MHS XC leader

By: Justin Feil
   Mike Briggs is proof that success does breed success.
   The Montgomery High School junior has grown passionate about cross country. Less than three years after taking it up as something to do in the fall, he has become the top runner for the Cougars. It’s an idea that would have sounded preposterous to the freshman Briggs.
   "In the beginning, I really did not like it," Briggs said. "It was so hard for me. The first couple weeks were so hard. I had never done any type of running coming into it."
   Briggs’ father had and he thought that Briggs had a runner’s body. At the time, Briggs was more interested in playing baseball. He stuck with cross country through that first fall, but took a step back when he didn’t run spring track. He showed improvement as a sophomore and followed it up by running spring track last year. His big break came when he ran a personal record to finish second among junior varsity runners in a meet against Somerville and moved into MHS varsity’s top seven shortly thereafter.
   Fast forward one year to Wednesday and Briggs led the Cougar boys with a fourth-place finish overall as they beat Bridgewater-Raritan and Bound Brook while losing to Somerville to finish the dual meet portion of their season with a 4-3 record.
   Briggs covered the 5-kilometer White Oak Park course in 17 minutes, 8 seconds, just ahead of teammate Trevor Thomas, who was in his first meet back from injury.
   "Last year, I PR’d at the same place," Briggs said. "But I wasn’t on varsity at that point. I was 12th or so at that point. I jumped to the seventh spot. That’s where I came into my own. It was about the same time last year."
   Briggs finds himself in a far better place this year. He is building on new milestones every week. Consider that he averaged 6:35 per mile in last year’s sectional finals, and that at the Shore Coaches Invitational on Saturday, he clocked 6:02 per mile. With every taste of success he has, he seems to want more.
   "In the last two weeks, he’s really picked it up a lot," said MHS head coach Jim Goodfriend, who also saw his girls’ team sew up the Skyland Conference Delaware East title with a sweep Wednesday. "That’s really got him going. Trevor went down hurt and then (Briggs) had a really good race. At the last home race, he ran great. He got out-sprinted by the kid from Watchung, but he was right there. Then he ran a nice time at Shore Coaches.
   "He’s really come a long way. He’ll be our No. 1 man next year. I see nothing but good things coming out of him."
   It has certainly been encouraging for Briggs to see that the practice he has put in has paid off handsomely. It’s helped motivate him to push harder for even better results.
   "I’m really happy," he said. "I’ve been putting the work in in the practices. I’m trying to stay in the front. I’m happy to see my times are really dropping.
   "It’s a completely different phase, from going from near the back, to working all the way up to the front."
   Briggs has tried to keep the same approach, but it’s a little more challenging now as the Cougars’ frontrunner. He’s trying to set a good example for his teammates while keeping himself pushing forward.
   "I’m definitely a lot more nervous," Briggs said. "I try to plan more ahead. I’m eating better now. I’m working hard in the practice. I’ve caught on to my captains and watched them for a couple years."
   Briggs, too, has shown the qualities of a leader. Though he is not a vocal leader, his example of perseverance and determination is inspirational to anyone.
   "He worked really hard in the summer," Goodfriend said. "He came into practice with a real positive attitude. Trevor went down hurt and he had a chance to be No. 1 and he took advantage of it. He’s kind of quiet. He doesn’t say much. But he works really hard in practice.
   "He made the varsity spot last year. He’s grown a little bit and gotten a lot stronger. His attitude has changed. We had a workout the other day and he just grinded them out. He made sure he was No. 1 every single one. It’s paid dividends."
   Those dividends feel now like they’re doubling and tripling themselves through his steady progress. Briggs is looking to continue his fast start when the Cougars run in the Old Bridge County Classic on Saturday.
   "I definitely feel like I can still improve," Briggs said. "My goal (Wednesday) was to beat my PR, but my real goal was to break 17. I just missed. I feel like I’m almost there. I’m so close."
   Briggs will be helped by the return of Thomas. The two can push each other to new bests as they did Wednesday while helping MHS reach one of its preseason goals.
   "The team is really excited," Briggs said. "Mr. Goodfriend really wanted us to be over .500. I didn’t know how it would go racing Somerville and Bridgewater. We weren’t sure we’d be able to make it."
   There was a time when Briggs wasn’t sure he’d make it as a cross country runner. Now, he’s at the front for the Cougars and those questionable days may seem long ago as the memories of his tough beginning has been replaced by the sweetness of success. As Mike Briggs is proving every week, success does breed success.