It is both difficult and unlikely to head into a cross country season riding a huge wave of momentum. Noah Mondello, however, has managed to do just that.
The 15-year-old Gloucester native was one of 900 entrants in last month's first annual Run Gloucester! Road Race. The seven-mile jaunt around Gloucester featured a handful of professional athletes, some even ranked in the top-10 in the world.
Expecting a 15-year-old to compete in such a large and deep field is asking a lot, maybe even too much, but Despite the stellar field and the fact that he had trained for just two weeks leading up to the race, Mondello still had high expectations.
"I was looking for a good showing," said Mondello. "My goal was to finish first in my age group. I had only been running for two weeks leading up to the race so I wasn't sure how well I would do overall. I was just looking to see where I stood."
At the race's conclusion, Mondello not only reached his goal, he exceeded it. The sophomore won his age group easily and on top of that finished in the top-30 overall with a time of 43:34. He was also the second local finisher in the race beating several of Gloucester's most successful and well-known runners in the process.
Besting over 870 runners including several seasoned college veterans has given Mondello a boost of confidence heading into the 2010 cross country season.
"It felt really good crossing the finish line," Mondello said. "I'm really confident in what I can do this season."
As a freshman Mondello already proved that he is a forced to be reckoned with. He was one of Gloucester's top six runners on the cross country team last season and turned in stellar performances during the winter and spring track and field seasons.
Alternating between the mile and two-mile races, Mondello was relied on for key points for the track teams as well as the cross country team last fall. The then freshman's stellar season came to a peek during the spring season, when he won the two-mile race at the Northeastern Conference freshman-sophomore meet in May at Manning Field in Lynn with a time of 10:33.8.
While Mondello's accolades are already impressive at such a young age, they are even more impressive considering the fact that he just picked up the sport as an eighth grader two years ago and this will be just his third year of not just competitive running, but any running at all.
As a kid Mondello tried out hockey and football, but they just weren't a good fit for him.
"One day I just decided to try to run on the O'Maley school cross country team," Mondello said. "And I ended up doing pretty well so I stuck with it."
Mondello is looking to help the Gloucester cross country team improve on last year's 5-2 record. He along with senior captain and defending Northeastern Conference Champion Caulin Rogers with junior Wes Dunn and sophomore Winslow Powers return to the team this year. Gloucester head coach Dave Dunsky refused to provide information on this year's team and comment on Mondello.
"We are just looking to improve," Mondello said. "Our only goal is to get better as the year goes on and perform the best we can in every meet."
