Age: 18
Major: Majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of New Hampshire.
Class rank: Ninth, 4.40 weighted GPA
Sports played: Soccer, football and indoor track, and outdoor track. Captain of soccer and track. Kicker on football.
Athletic highlight: “Winning the Meet of Champions as a junior in the 300 hurdles. This was very exciting for me as I knew I still had another year and had the potential to go on and achieve bigger goals.”
Toughest class: “An engineering class I took. A couple of my friends and I had to find a problem in everyday life for us and then come up with a solution. After creating a solution, we had to make a prototype and present our project to a room full up engineers, alumni, teachers, and our peers. We had to document every part of the process and put it together for a final grade.
Outside of your parents, my biggest influence: “My sister and my girlfriend. My sister goes to Endicott College and does the 400 hurdles. She is the person who inspired me to start hurdling my sophomore year, the same year she won states in the 300 hurdles. My girlfriend is also a hurdler. She trains and competes with me almost every day. Both of them are there for me every race cheering me on.
Best advice I could give to upcoming freshman: “Hard work pays off in the end. As a freshman usually you are at the bottom, but if you keep working hard and stay motivated, you will make it to the top and it will be the best feeling knowing your hard work paid off.”
Balancing athletics and academics: “It’s not easy, but with the right mentality it can be easy. If you do your work in school and save time after sports to do school work then you won’t even stress about not having time for one or the other.”
Success means to me: “Reaching your goals that you set. At the beginning of every season I would set a goal time or distance I would want to reach for all of my events. I only consider the season successful if I reach those goals.”
I’m most proud of … : “My success in the hurdles. I didn’t start hurdles until the end of my sophomore year, but once I started, I set goals and wanted to get better no matter what. Once I got that spark for hurdles, I put in a lot of hard work during practice and a lot of times after practice too. I am proud that I was able to come so far through my hard work in such a short amount of time.”
My favorite moment as an athlete: “Was when my team won the state championship. As a senior it feels great to have won a championship as a team and individual before leaving the school. It was also the first time we won the championship as a team, so it was historical for our school.”
The best advice I have received from a coach: “I was actually from my soccer coach. He said ‘Practice like you would play in a game.’ This inspired me in track. Everyday in team practice and when I practice on my own, I put everything I have into it and act like its a meet.
My hero is: “My grandfather. He was not a hurdler or amazing track athlete, but he is a strong man. He served in the Navy while he was younger, and then started a family when he came home. He just turned 80 years old and even though he is fighting through cancer, he still stays strong for our family.”
In ten years I hope to: “Have a stable career and still be involved in the running community. Even if I am not hurdling I hope to still be a frequent runner and stay fit in the gym.”
High school accomplishments:
Winning a team and multiple individual championships in track
Graduating with high honors
Being a part of multiple Honor Societies