HAVERHILL – Larry Fowle thought he was a pretty fast short distance runner as a freshman at Haverhill High in the late 1990s.
He soon realized he was wrong.
“I went out for spring track and thought I was a sprinter,” said Fowle, now 43. “It didn’t work out. I wasn’t really good enough to compete.”
But a meeting with his gym teacher and track coach at Haverhill High, Dawn Caputo, changed his life.
“She told me that she noticed I was probably more suited for distance, that I might be pretty good at it,” recalled Fowle. “So when indoor track started I began running the mile and 2-mile. I was pretty good.”
Mike Maguire, the long-time Hillies track and cross country, also deserves kudos, said Fowle, for always being supportive and pushed him to the next level.
And the rest is history.
Last week Fowle was one of three inductees – along with Colby Maiola (baseball) and Sercan Fenerci (basketball) – into the Northern Essex Community College Athletics Hall of Fame for his cross country career.
After graduating from Haverhill High, where he was All-Conference in track and cross country, his college plans were in a state of flux.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and finances were an issue, so I decided to start at Northern Essex,” said Fowle. “Then when I got there, Dawn Caputo had become the cross country coach. We chatted a bit. I knew her style. She knew me. It was a perfect situation.”
Fowle was the NECC cross country headliner for his two years, breaking the school record in the 8K race sophomore season. That record still stands today.
“Over twenty years later Larry’s performance at Rivier College still stands,” said Caputo, who resides in North Carolina. “He is the first and only cross country runner since the program’s inception in 1998 to go under the 27-minute barrier for 8,000 meters. For this effort he was selected NJCAA National Division 3 ‘Athlete of the Week.’ It was deserved.”
He later led NECC to a 10th place finish at the nationals in San Antonio, Texas.
“We had so much fun on that trip,” said Fowle. “I’ll never forget it.”
Fowle ended up matriculating to UMass Lowell after graduating from NECC, but his collegiate running career did not continue.
He noted some personal things going on in my life, and was too busy to continue running in college.
“But Northern Essex offered me the chance to continue to compete,” he said. “I had unresolved competition after high school and I was able to get it out of my system.”
Today, Fowle, who resides in Newton, N.H., is married with two children.
He is currently self-employed with wife in a counseling/therapy business and while he competed in road races after school, that part of his life has slowed down a bit.
“My 13 year old son runs for his middle school and for the New England Elite Track Club,” said Fowle. “I kind of passed the torch. He’s finding his place in running, his own journey. I love watching him compete.”