Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Morgan Grudi
School: Canon-McMillan
Year: Junior
Sports: Cross country
Grudi’s week: Grudi broke away from Chloe Grzyb of Peters Township in the final third of the 3.1-mile course to win the girls race in the Washington County Coaches Cross Country Meet at Mingo Park. Grudi has medaled in every event she competed in this season and finished the county meet with a personal-best time of 19:20, which shattered the home course record and broke the school record of 19:50, set by Sarah Grossi nine years ago. Among Grudi’s better efforts was a ninth-place finish in a field of 185 at the PIAA Foundation Invitation in Hershey Sept. 26.
“I’ve stayed pretty strong in races this year,” said Grudi. “Going into the season, I would go out running with my dad riding the bike next to me. He helped me a lot.”
Steady as she goes: One of Grudi’s strengths is a consistent stride, never needlessly wasting energy at the beginning of a race. That, says Canon-McMillan coach Mark Galley, has saved her strength to finish strong.
“She really doesn’t have a kick,” said Galley. “She is such a strong runner. You watch some kids and seems they are running faster than they are. Some kids seem to be running slower than they are. Morgan covers a lot of ground with her stride. She is strong and very consistent.”
Grudi says part of that comes from watching her older sister Madison run at Canon-McMillan and part comes from maturity and hard work.
“During the summer, I would run the Montour Trail and my dad keeps time for me,” Grudi said. “He’s persistent. This year, he’s reminded me to drop my arms, relax a little, lengthen my stride and at the end of races move my hands faster. I think that helps a lot because I got so used to it while doing mileage in the summer.”
Nerves? What nerves? Grudi said she does have butterflies before races so she searches for ways to calm down.
“It can mess with you,” she said. “If I have a race after school, I’ll be sitting in school super nervous, tapping my foot. It’s important to relax. I mostly try to talk to my teammates to get my mind off it. They make me feel better and gives me confidence.”
Grudi has a strict prerace regimen and will do so to prepare for today’s WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Cooper’s Lake in Slippery Rock.
“I go through the same warmup and I have a lucky pair of socks I like to wear,” said Grudi.
“The girls team has a hair ribbon they all wear so nothing goes wrong. You never know if that stuff helps you, though.”
So far, it hasn’t hurt Grudi.
Compiled by Joe Tuscano