At every outdoor track and field meet Will Geoghegan competed in, he kept seeing the same thing.
A runner would compete in the first of a handful of events, and between each race, he or she wouldn’t eat anything. Geoghegan, meanwhile, opted for sandwiches — peanut butter and strawberry jam.
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“You have to eat a lot of (carbohydrates) and over the course of the meet, a lot of people don’t eat anything,” said Geoghegan, who graduated from Brunswick last month. “I’ll bring sandwiches to fuel up. It’s a good mix of carbs and protein, and I like them.”
Fueled by a food typically found in lunchboxes, as well as a keen knowledge of the dynamics of his discipline, Geoghegan not only won three distance events but helped Brunswick win the Class A team championship — an accomplishment he values the most.
“The number one goal for me this year was to help the team win the state championship,” Geoghegan said. “I had my eye on some of the all-time state records and I came up a little short, but I’m happy with the season. I was a captain, and our team really had a strong sense of working together to get the points we needed to get.”
Geoghegan is the the Maine Sunday Telegram’s boys’ outdoor track and field MVP, and the first athlete to be named an MVP in three sports in one school year. Last month, Geoghegan was named the Maine Sunday Telegram’s Male Athlete of the Year, and was also named the state’s Gatorade outdoor track athlete of the year.
“The hard work, the diligence, all of that pays off,” Brunswick Coach Dave DeLois said. “He’s an excellent worker and his mind is great for track. Watching him (at the Class A finals) and at New Englands, it showed the determination he had. He had guys bear down on him and he was able to put it away. He has that drive.”
At the Class A finals June 5 in Augusta, Geoghegan won three individual events — the 1,600-meter run in 4:12.57, the 800 in 1:56.11 and the 3,200 in 9:26.26. He also helped the Dragons finish second in the 3,200 relay behind Cheverus.
“It feels good to be able to be there, scoring points for the state meet, and you know you had a hand in your team winning,” said Geoghegan, whose team won the Class A title with 82 points, 16 ahead of Cheverus. “We had a deep team and we were very balanced.”
A week later at the New England Championships in New Britain, Conn., Geoghegan won the 1,600 in 4:13.15.
At the state meet, he was less than two seconds off the state record of 1:54.54 in the 800.
“In the back of his mind, he wanted to get a state record, but he didn’t quite get there,” DeLois said. “But part of that is because he wanted the team to do well. In order for the team to do well, he had to do the hard work himself, too. If he wanted a state record, he would have concentrated on the mile or the two-mile. But he wanted to see the team win.”
Geoghegan will attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., this fall, where he plans to study computer science and compete in cross country and track. But through his four years at Brunswick, he has learned about the complexities of running — the psychology and the physiology of it.
“It’s important for running because it’s the purest form of competition you can get out of your body,” Geoghegan said. “It’s important to maximize your body’s potential.”
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com
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