By Bob Nuse, Sports Editior
Atharv Kulkarni’s idea of a distance run has changed quite a bit in the last year.
“The funny thing is I didn’t even know what cross country was,” the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North sophomore said. “I moved back to America from India last year and my friend got me into it. He said it was distance running and I thought the most we would run would be a mile. I joined and the first day our coach tells me to go out and run three miles.”
Fast forward a year after that first day and not only is Kulkarni running three miles without any trouble, he has become one of the Knights’ top runners.
“Last year I didn’t know where I was going,” Kulkarni said. “I just decided to stick to it and our coach kept telling us that if you put in 100 percent each day you are going to get better and I did. I think this is good inspiration for other people who are interested in the sport but think they can’t do well. I’m sure if I told them my story they’ll see someone who can get better.
“I was one of the slowest freshmen on the team in the beginning. By the time JV states rolled around, I was fifth man for the freshmen. Now this year I am fifth man on the team. So from last year to this year that is huge improvement. My goal right now is to keep improving and hopefully I’ll be able to make varsity someday for college.”
Kulkarni and the Knights will join the rest of New Jersey’s runners in sectional meets throughout the state on Saturday. WW-P North will run at Central Park at Greystone Park in Morris County in the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 3 races. Princeton, Montgomery and West Windsor-Plainsboro South will run in the Central Jersey Group 4 races at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
The WW-P North boys are in a new section this year but head into the meet confident they can advance to the state meet the following week. Kulkarni has given the Knights a lift as a solid fifth runner behind Matthew Santamaria, Jonathan Logan, Shu Ming Teoh and Nicolaus Stalzer.
“Two keys to success for him are that he came out all summer and trained all summer and put in miles that once you miss those you can’t get them back,” WW-P North coach Brian Gould said. “He put all the miles in. And the other is that he’s tough. When things get hard and there is adversity he just bears down and digs in and runs harder.
“When that becomes the culture of your team and you have tradition, then you really have something. We’re fortunate that we have had that for years. What he is doing in terms of carrying that forward to a new generation of kids is so important. They hear stories about these kids like the (Jim and Joe) Rosas and the (Ryan) Sleepers and they’re way up here. But when you see your buddy doing it then it becomes much more tangable. They think if Atharv can do it then why can’t I do it? He’s a good kid who does everything you ask him to do.”
Kulkarni is hoping to continue to make strides forward as he continues his career. He’s dropped three minutes from his time of last year and hopes he isn’t finished.
“My coach always tells me to be with the fastest guys in order to do your best so that is what I did,” said Kulkarni, who ran 1718 at last month’s Mercer County meet. “I started slowly improving and made it to the varsity this year. Last year I wasn’t close at all. This year I have improved by about three minutes in my 5k. I made varsity in spring track towards the very end last year. I ran 4:52 for the mile and I just PRed now with a 4:46. So I feel like I am doing pretty well as a whole.
“Our top seven all race hard. We help each other out. We’re always sticking together and pushing each other through the workouts and the races. We’re very open with each other. It’s a good group of guys.”
Gould likes that Kulkarni is one of those guys who is in the fold for the next couple of years.
“His week to week improvement has been incredible,” the North coach said. “He is a real tough kid and is really driven. We’ve had stories of kids in the past who have improved a lot and came on because their buddy asked them to and they end up being phenomenal. But he has taken that to another level.
“If you put enough miles in the bank they’re there when you need to make a big withdrawal. He’s done that. Last year he was our fifth freshman. The freshmen won the county championship and it was because he dropped from running 22 minutes to 18. You see that with freshmen. It was a matter of him being counted on and rising to the occasion. He had a good winter and spring.”
