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12/01/2021 11:00 PMWhen he was in 7th grade, Nico Boyle picked up running as a hobby to do in his spare time. That hobby soon became a much more serious endeavor for Nico, who recently completed his first season with the North Haven boys’ cross country team as a sophomore.
After picking up running, Nico joined North Haven’s boys’ outdoor track squad in his freshman year. Nico liked the experience of competing and decided that he would sign up for cross country in his sophomore season this fall.
“I just liked running. I saw I was pretty good at it. I just wanted to do it for my school,” says Nico. “I did outdoor track my freshman year. Everyone saw I was pretty decent. They said I should do cross country. I thought about it and thought I should probably do it.”
While he was excited to do cross country, Nico quickly realized how difficult the sport can be. Nico didn’t really feel comfortable in his first meet of the season and struggled as a result. However, as the competitions went on, Nico found his footing and started to see more success.
“My first meet was pretty nerve-wracking. I never ran the distance we run against other people. I didn’t do too well. But after that, it got pretty good,” Nico says. “I didn’t really know what to expect. This was my first year. As the meets went on, I got into a rhythm and knew what I could and couldn’t do.”
On Oct. 2, Nico competed at his first SCC Oronoque Division Championship for North Haven. The sophomore ended up finishing in 10th place out of 37 runners with a time of 18 minutes and 15 seconds, which is currently his personal record (PR). Nico’s goal is to finish a race in less than 18 minutes in his junior season.
“That meet was on a flat course, and I knew I could go for a PR. I started off slower than I liked, so I had to make up for time at the end,” says Nico. “On the second mile, I could feel my legs get fatigued, but I told myself to keep going. As I crossed the finish line, I knew I PR’d, and I was pretty happy.”
One week later, Nico and his North Haven teammates competed at the Wickham Invitational. Nico finished in 68th place among 218 runners by posting a time of 18:45, which was the fastest mark out of anyone on his squad.
“I was pretty happy that I did it. It was a tough course with a big hill and an incline at the finish,” Nico says. “I was the first to cross the line and, when I saw my time, I was pretty happy.”
Head Coach Carl Jackson was impressed with how much Nico improved throughout the 2021 season. While this was only Nico’s first year with the team, Jackson says the sophomore is progressing nicely and has high potential as he moves through the program.
“In his first year as a cross country runner, Nico was outstanding. He worked very hard to learn key strategies to be a successful runner,” says Jackson. “I’m very happy for the contributions Nico made this season.”
When he’s on the course, Nico’s main strategy is to stay in control and keep his feet moving. Nico never wants to stop running and is always looking to put his best foot forward in order to record the fastest time he can.
“I tell myself to just keep going. If I run faster then, it will be over faster,” Nico says. “I just try to keep calm so I can control my breathing and just focus on running.”
After initially running just for fun, Nico is now embracing the competitive side of the sport. Whenever he takes to the trails for North Haven, Nico feels proud to go up against some of Connecticut’s top athletes.
“It’s pretty nice to say I run against some of the best people in the state,” says Nico. “It’s pretty fun.”