Last modified: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:40 AM EST
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| Seekonk’s Johnny Gregorek heads up the hill and towards the finish line in a record-setting time of 14:45 over Bishop Feehan’s 2.9-mile course earlier this season. Gregorek ran the second-fastest time at last weekend’s MIAA State Championship Meet. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) |
GOBIS: Born to run
It would be all too easy to say that he should be a great runner, a thoroughbred. After all, both of his parents were NCAA All-American runners at Georgetown University.
It would be too easy to say that his genetic composition enables his feet to hardly ever touch the ground, that often enables him to fly along cross country courses, on winter track ovals or around stadiums during the spring season.
But, ask any runner, of any distance, to explain just how hard it is, not only to train and excel at running a specific distance, but to also engage competition and consistently finish among the elite.
Seekonk High School's John Gregorek has an asterisk next to his name - and for all the right reasons.
A perfect physique for running, possessing the body mechanics to move him at an accelerated rate and having an appetite to finish faster and ahead of everyone that is (not too often) running at his heels.
And to think, he's only been "seriously" running for two years.
"All they say is have fun with it and do your best," Gregorek was saying of his dad, John Gregorek (Hoyas class of 1982) and his mom (Hoyas class of 1981 and also a former Seekonk High great), their influence and impact upon him becoming one of the best distance runners in the Commonwealth.
Only one other high school runner in the Commonwealth, Oliver Ames High's Mark Moverman, ran at a faster pace than the Warrior junior Saturday on the Franklin Park course in Boston at the MIAA State Championship Cross Country Meet.
It was wet and muddy. It was a crowded field. But on the five kilometer (3.1 mile) course, Gregorek still managed to clock a personal best time of 16:19.8 (second only by 15 seconds to Moverman), 20 seconds faster than he ran the previous week on the same course in taking fourth place at the MIAA Division 4 Meet.
Such a showing enabled Gregorek to be entered among the field for the Foot Locker Eastern Regional Championship Meet Nov. 29 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City, the qualifying race for the national interscholastic meet in December in San Diego.
Not long ago Frank Mooney, Seekonk High's Hall of Fame coach and past president of the Mass. State Track Coaches Association, was going through his notes and charts from the past three decades and favorably compared Gregorek to former Seekonk High and Stanford University runner Billy Crowley. "Billy finished second in the state meet as a junior too and then became an All-American," said Mooney. "He was a tall, lean guy too, he has that same kind of style."
And like several other Seekonk High distance running greats - Jimmy Harrison, Rob Welch, Gary Crowley - "you have to have the heart," added Mooney of the competitive drive. "You really have to want it. And with John, he can't wait to get going."
Gregorek is the two-time champion at the South Coast Conference cross country meet, winning the 2007 title in 16:45, winning the 2008 title (by 21 seconds) in 16:05. Gregorek owns the Seekonk High 2.67 mile course record of 14:07. Gregorek most notably also eluded the pack of reigning MIAA Division 2 Meet champion Shamrocks of Bishop Feehan on their home course no less in record time.
Last fall, Gregorek took sixth place in the MIAA Division 4 Meet and was sixth at the MIAA State Meet.
During Gregorek's spring sophomore season, he won the Auerbach Freshman-Sophomore Meet title in the two-mile run, bettering his nearest challenger by 22 seconds. He won the SCC 1,000-meter title, then took third place in the mile run at the MIAA Division 4 Meet and ninth at the MIAA All State Meet. He runs the mile indoors in 4:08 and outdoors in 4:13, all a few scant seconds shy of the Seekonk High records.
"He's real determined, he has great strength and he can finish off races," said Seekonk High coach Eli Mello. "He puts in all the work, he studies the sport. He's intense, confident and super-competitive.
"What we really like about him is that he's not arrogant at all, he's down to earth and polite. He's made a big jump this fall. People know who he is."
What a lot of people don't know is that Gregorek only ran to play soccer, to play basketball, to chase a baseball before arriving on the Arcade Avenue doorstep of Seekonk High. He ran in a few of the CVS Charity Classic road races and he's jogged alongside his sister Rachel, now a junior and running at Providence College.
"I just liked the people who ran and once that I got good at it, it was a lot of fun," said Gregorek after a routine jog around the roads of Seekonk. During the summer months, he would run around 50 miles a week. When the cross country season began, 40-50 mile a week workouts were the routine.
"That was a good base for me, but it also had me keep thinking of goals for myself," said Gregorek. "You're out there running in all kinds of weather and you're saying to yourself, 'this stinks,' but it's all for a better goal."
Similarly with Gregorek's academic standing, among the top 20 in the junior class, with Advanced Placement courses in calculus and history. If he can run for hours on end, Gregorek can fight fatigue and do research and homework for hours on end.
"It's not too hard to find time for something if you really want it," said Gregorek. Like at South Coast Conference meets where his best competition is teammate Sam Spencer. "It might be tougher to run in meets like that because you don't have someone pushing you," said Gregorek. "Sometimes, it's like doing a workout, sometimes you're running against the clock."
Standing six-foot tall and weighing in at a slight 145 pounds, Gregorek is built for distance running. "I think that it's kind of fun to hear that stuff (the name recognition, the already fast-filling mailbox at home and at school from collegiate recruiters). Most of all, I like to see who I can beat next."
All the guys who finished ahead of him at the Division 4 Meet a week ago, he beat at the MIAA State Meet. "That's the thing about running, it's a test for everybody," said Gregorek. "It's never really over until you cross the finish line.
"During races, you're always telling yourself to go faster, to push ahead - it's about catching the person ahead of you. You're racing against the clock all while trying to keep your form right."
Gregorek might chat with his parents about running, but he's more inclined to listen to Mooney talk of Warrior running greats of the past, to Mello, explaining the roles of strength and conditioning, to Spencer, his training partner.
"At the state meet, the course was a little slippery, it was hard to get your footing," added Gregorek. "Though the course was slower than usual, most of the people faded back after the first mile. It was still a fun day for racing.
"Running cross country, running distances, it's hard mentally, it's hard physically. It just comes down to working hard every day. I really think that running cross country is the hardest thing to do."
Yet, Gregorek makes it look so easy.
PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com |
