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03/02/2016 11:00 PMMost high school athletes aspire to go out with a stellar senior year and, only two-thirds of the way through his, Cameron Garrelts has exceeded that goal, while establishing himself as one of the most decorated runners in Haddam-Killingworth history.
Cameron was coming off a junior year in which he earned First Team All-Shoreline and All-State honors for the conference and Class SS champion Cougars’ cross country squad. He then repeated those feats in helping HK defend both team titles last fall.
After that, the indoor track campaign yielded more sizzling postseason performances for Cameron, who claimed Shoreline crowns in the 1,000 (with a mark of 2:43.61), the 1,600 (4:38.71), and 3,200 (9:47.07, a new meet record) before capturing Class S titles in those latter two events behind times of 4:27.95 and 9:50.28, respectively. Cameron then finished things off by placing as runner-up in the 1,600 at the State Open with a school record mark of 4:22.61.
“This indoor postseason has been amazing and I can’t really attribute it to one thing. All of our coaches do a great job in getting us prepared throughout the season,” says Cameron, who helped the Cougars finish second at Shorelines and states this year. “They are great with getting us ready to race with hard training leading up to the postseason. They just tell us to go out there and do the best we can. I was nervous before the State Open race, because it’s been hard for myself to do well there with the competition level being so high. Yet I was happy to run my lifetime best in the 1,600.”
Enduring marathon days on such big stages might be taxing for some athletes, but not for Cameron. Instead, he takes things stride by stride and solely focuses on his own two feet.
“I try to focus on not getting too stressed out or focused on the other competition. I believe that if I run how I’m capable of running, then everything will fall into place. I don’t let the pressure of the event get to me and I trust our coaches,” Cameron says. “I take things one race at a time and worry about the task at hand.”
Based on Cameron’s accolades, along with the character he displays both in and out of competition, HK indoor track coach Dick Dupuis says that Cameron sets the quintessential blueprint for future Cougars’ success.
“Cam has given HK four great years in cross country and track. Throughout the process, he has formed ambitious, but realistic goals and has worked hard to achieve those goals. His senior year at HK has seen the fruition of those efforts,” says Dupuis. “Throughout it all, Cam has been a team leader and a role model for a talented, but young group of distance runners currently in the HK program.”
Cameron had previously competed in another sport that led him to long-distance running, which is an activity that provides him with discipline, as well as a means of decompression.
“One of my middle school coaches in swimming suggested cross country to me after I kept up with many high school kids in a dry land workout when I was only in 6th grade, along with the fact that I had a strong lung capacity for running,” Cameron says. “I always liked long-distance running. I just keep going and love setting goals for myself. Running taught me some life lessons. Once you get into the distance running, it’s a really great time. It gives me some quiet downtime, too.”
As Cameron prepares for one final outdoor track season that will see him continue with the 1,600 and 3,200, in addition to some relays, he reminisces on a storied tenure at HK that’s been highlighted by the cross country club’s two championships from 2014.
“My sophomore year, that team was myself and a lot of juniors. It was really close between us and Old Lyme and we finished second to them in Shorelines and states, which was tough for us to swallow. Yet we worked hard to get back and it was nice to get those titles,” says Cameron, who thanks parents, Mary and Tim, along with all of his HK coaches. “Last spring, we were very close to setting the school record in the 4x800 relay at states, so I’d like to get that, and I’m the only returning member from that relay. Personally, I’d like to place high at states in the 1,600 and 3,200 and win the 4x8, along with having a great day at the State Open.”