Nico Young sets national record
Pulse racing, lungs burning, legs pumping and arms swinging, Nico Young, junior, sprints towards the finish line, desperate to win. The crowd’s cheering fades away as he focuses on breathing. In, out. In, out. Holding their breath, the crowd watches as Young wins the race, running the fastest time in school history.
When he first started at age six, Young just wanted to run as fast as he could. Ten years later, Young is still running as fast as he can, now accomplishing achievements he never thought possible.
On Sept. 15, 2018, Young raced against 231 high school runners from across the nation in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. In the race, the Panther Boys’ placed second overall in the Sweepstakes race (the fastest heat at the invitation) and set a new school record for fastest team in school history. Young ran 14:01.1 for three miles, not only winning the race, but also setting the fastest time across the nation.
Young was extremely pleased to see the results of his hard work. “I feel really good because that means colleges are going to notice me. It’s really nice to know that what I’m doing is working,” Young said.
Sean Brosnan, head cross country coach, knew Young had a lot of potential when he joined freshman year, but he did not have a lot of experience. Now, Brosnan says Young is doing workouts “I don’t think most college guys could do. He’s running really fast at a really high level, so as a coach I really believe I’m almost having to hold him back right now.”
From a Brosnan’s perspective, Young seems to have a confident and cool aura around him, even before races. “He’s confident he’s done the work, he put in the hard workouts, and I believe that he thinks he’s one of the best in the country and he can beat anybody at any given day,” Brosnan said.
This mentality is what helped Young win the Woodbridge race. “You have to go into it knowing that you can do it, and that it’s possible to do what you want to do in that race,” Young said. “At Woodbridge, (Brosnan) said that I could win it, so I just thought ‘I knew I could,’ so then I did. If he never told me I could win I probably would not have won the race.”
On average, Young runs more than eight miles per day and puts a lot of time into training. “I think people don’t really realize that we practice seven days a week, and practice goes until five each day, and we have morning practice twice a week,” Young said.
While practices can be a struggle, Nicholas Goldstein, sophomore and teammate, can see that Young is determined and hard working. “Nico is always ready when he’s given a workout. He thinks, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a little rough,’ but he always puts in his best effort,” Goldstein said.
While racing, Young’s focus never wavers from the race at hand. The thoughts that run through Young’s head are simple. “It’s either, I do it or I don’t,” Young said. “I don’t really have the energy to think about anything.”
Ever since Young won the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, the team sees Young as an inspiration. “(The team has) started realizing he is one of the best in the country, but I also think he’s brought our other teammates up,” Brosnan said. “They start believing that they can get better, and they can get faster, so it’s just kind of a snowball effect.”
Young is a key teammate that could allow the team’s goal of making it to nationals become reality. “My specific goal is to win the Division 2 state meet for cross country, so our team can make it to nationals,” Young said.
Young also strives to run fast enough to be noticed by colleges around the country, and believes that many coaches look for not just an athlete but also a leader. “He’s a great student, he’s a great athlete, he never complains and he’s just always willing to put the work in,” Brosnan said. “I think that’s contagious. And I think the good thing is having him as being one of our lead runners, it trickles down to the JV guys and all those guys and they see what the effects of the hard work.”
Young is proud of his accomplishment. “It just makes me feel really good, because that was my goal. I never knew I would be that good, but it’s really nice to know.”
