Junior Griffin Molino of South Williamsport made an impact in the post-season by winning his first District 4 Class A title, then moving on to the PIAA State Champs and taking the title there as well, tied for the 2nd best time of the date in an class with a 15:54. But qualifying for NXN in his first try? He believed. And he delivered. Read his take on last week and how never to give up in a race.
Thursday
-Thursday before NXR Northeast I woke up early to get in a workout before all of the Thanksgiving festivities. I met my good friend Dakota Rosenberg at South Williamsport’s communal park. Dakota is a member of South’s 4x800 team that unfortunately dropped the baton in the State finals to finish a disappointing 9th after running 7:58 at districts. Dakota and I quickly got to work as we pounded out 10 200’s across the grass at the park.This would be the last hard effort before the race. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching football, eating of course, and spending lots of time with my family.
Friday
-Friday was my last chance to shake out all of the pre race jitters and just concentrate on the task at hand. Friday I did my traditional pre meet, which consists of an active warm-up, a one to two mile run, and as many strides as I need to feel loose. The rest of Friday was spent relaxing and just getting my mind right for the big race.
Saturday
-Finally the race I’ve been waiting for since after the state meet. It was an early morning, with a stop at Dolly’s Diner in Williamsport for our traditional pre-race breakfast then it was off to the race. I finally arrived around 10:30, with plenty of time before my race to get prepared and warmed up.
The Race
-The final run outs felt pretty good as I reared up for the biggest race of my life up to this point. The gun finally went off and as my coach and I discussed before the race, I got off to a good start. I found myself in the lead pack right from the start, right where I wanted to be. I got my first glimpse of the condition of the course 1km in as a kid slid right down in front of me and I had to hurdle over him.
I was through the first mile in 5:00, which was a good opening pace for me. I continued to run in the lead pack which was new to me because before this race I’ve never been in a race as congested at the front as this one. Leading up to the halfway point, I took the lead right before the hills, but then decided to drop back into third, which is about where I crossed the 2.5km. The uphills quickly turned into downhills and I found myself losing ground and my great position I had established. I raced down the hills a little more cautious then most, trying to prevent myself from falling and taking myself out of the race. At the two mile I found myself around 15th place with a lot of ground to make up.
I passed a few more people and was in 11th with 1km to the finish. I knew if I even wanted to give myself a shot of qualifying I needed to get past a runner right in front of me cutting me off and slowing me down. I did just that and pushed hard towards the finish line. With 400m to go I was in 9th, by the final 200m I had passed three more people to gain 6th where I would eventually finish.
Summer Training
-This year I started back up slow in July, until August where we really started running hard. In the beginning training was hard and I found myself falling off pace often on distance runs and workouts. I continued to work hard and by the end of August I was back to my normal self and was ready to get after it this cross country season.
Season Highlight
-It’s hard to pick one out. There has been so many this season with breaking 16:00 for the first time, winning my first district 4 individual championship. Now I’ve qualified for Nationals, something I never thought of before the season started. My season highlight however was my winning run at the PIAA state championships. This was extremely special to me, because as a young boy I always dreamed of becoming a State Champion. It was even more special to share it with all of my friends and family that were able to attend and root me on to a win.
Team Goals
-Well South Williamsport doesn’t have a cross country team, but I’d like to give a shout out to Zach Lyons (Mountain Man), Sean Wither (SWITH), and my brother McGwire Molino. All of these guys ran hard all season long and ran PR’s, improving with every race. All of us will be back next year with the hopes of adding another member and having South’s first ever cross country team.
Shout Outs
-Big shout out to my coaches, who volunteer to coach cross country which is crazy considering the time they put in to making sure I run well. Thanks coach Matt DeBlander for always running with me, and helping me become the best runner I can be. Also to coach Ted Deljanovan for coordinating everything and always providing everyone with laughs and making sure we all have a good time no matter what. I couldn’t have done any of the things I’ve done this season without you guys. A special shout out to Ryan Foran and Dakota Rosenberg for stepping in towards the end of the season to run workouts with me so I didn’t have to do them completely by myself. Also a shout out to Colt Young, there is no way I’m where I am without you buddy. Thank you for being one of the biggest inspirations in my life, you’ll never know how much you truly inspire me. Lastly one giant shout out to all my friends in South Williamsport who are always giving me encouragement, and all of my family for always coming to my races and yelling for me even if I can’t hear you most of the time. It means a lot to me to have all of your guys support to keep chasing after my dreams and goals.
