You don’t realize how much it can change your life. You just know that it’s fun and that you like doing it.

Providence Journal

Olympian Molly Huddle helps revive cross country program at Woonsocket Middle School

Published: December 22, 2014 09:41 PM
By BILL KOCH

Journal Sports Writer

bkoch@providencejournal.com

WOONSOCKET — For someone usually so focused on the finish, Molly Huddle is finding equal rewards at the start with Woonsocket Middle School’s cross country program.

In this season of giving, Huddle doesn’t need shiny wrapping paper and a red bow to offer up something of value. Her name alone — one instantly recognized as belonging to America’s best female distance runner in three decades — can open doors for those in need.

In this case, it was one that had remained shut since 2009. That’s the year the city’s middle school programs were cut from the budget and discontinued until further notice.

Those programs — and the 50-plus kids they served this fall — made a triumphant return. And according to the future plans of NE Distance, the Providence-based nonprofit that counts Huddle among its board of directors, this won’t be the last success story.

“I’ve given to causes before without a press release attached to it,” Huddle said. “I’m kind of hoping this attracts maybe a little more funding so that they can run for the next couple years at Woonsocket Middle School.”

Huddle’s involvement and the program’s vision were born out of a conversation she had a few years ago with NE Distance president Nich Haber. Huddle was looking for a healthy outlet to take some of the focus off her training. Haber saw an opportunity to partner the knowledge and experience of elite athletes with those who needed it the most.

What developed was NE Distance’s athlete-in-residence program, which offers fellowships that help defray cost of living and lifestyle expenditures. Lara Crofford, David Goodman, Katrina Spratford and Henry Sterling served as the initial four coaches for the Woonsocket program.

“They need other ways to make it,” said Haber, who estimated the standard income of an unsponsored track and field athlete at roughly $15,000 per year. “It’s really hard to become a great track athlete.”

Haber linked up with several area contacts to pull his project together. NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley program deputy director Christian Caldarone, Woonsocket High School principal and city native Carnell Henderson and George Nasuti, the Villa Novans’ longtime coach and athletic director who passed away early this year, were all consulted.

“I had the coaches that were willing to help,” Haber said. “I had the athletes. I had a gear sponsor. The main things I was missing were affordable housing and the programs to work with.”

Haber said it was Nasuti’s suggestion to build up from the middle school level, bringing kids into the sport early and, hopefully, retaining them long enough to run for longtime coach George Briggs at the high school level. The last thing Haber needed was someone with star power.

In stepped Huddle, who was already living in the area and training under longtime Providence College coach Ray Treacy. She competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics and has since set national records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, the latter breaking a mark established by Mary Decker 30 years earlier in 1984.

“It was huge,” Haber said. “She is arguably the best runner in America right now. Everybody is paying attention to what she has to say.”

Huddle is one of the fortunate few who was able to continue her career after college without the worries of finding a 9-to-5 living. Her 10-time All-American career at Notre Dame earned her an endorsement deal with Saucony and secured her immediate future.

“There is a whole class of runners that maybe aren’t good enough to secure contracts like I got out of college,” Huddle said. “In a few years time they could be at the Olympic Trials. They just need that support.”

Huddle’s advice applies to runners young and old, and she knows what it’s like to be without a team. She competed as an individual in her high school cross country days at Notre Dame in Elmira, N.Y., developing into a state champion on her own. Her journey to stardom began just a few short years earlier at the same age Woonsocket’s kids are now.

“You’re not very serious about it” at that age, Huddle said. “You don’t know if you’re going to be good at it or that you’re going to be bad at it or if you’re going to do it for the rest of your life. You’re just running track and field with your friends.

“It’s something to do after school. You don’t realize that it’s healthy and fit. You don’t realize that it could lead to a scholarship in eight years. You don’t realize how much it can change your life. You just know that it’s fun and that you like doing it.”

If Huddle and NE Distance have their way, Woonsocket’s kids will soon have a year-round opportunity to compete. Including neighboring communities — particularly in the state’s urban areas — was identified by Haber and Huddle as being among the organization’s next set of goals.

“If we can connect these young athletes with these middle school kids, there’s no more positive change in their lives,” Haber said.

“Judging from the feedback of how much interest we get from the kids and how much they like it, I’d like to keep doing it,” Huddle said. “I’d love to see it be able to continue.”

On Twitter: @BillKoch25