This week’s notebook features Souderton senior Connor McMenamin and Neshaminy junior Rusty Kujdych.
By DENNY DYROFF
At the 2015 District 1 Class AAA Cross Country Championships, five of the top 12 finishers were runners from the Suburban One League – including district champion Jake Brophy from Central Bucks East.
Three of those five graduated last spring – Brophy along with Central Bucks West’s Rock Fortna and Brian Iatarola. Of the top 10 overall finishers, seven were seniors while the 11thand 12thplaces were taken by sophomores.
The highest-ranked finisher coming back this year was silver medalist Josh Hoey, who has run for four different schools in four years. Last year, he wore Downingtown West’s colors. This year, he’s running for Bishop Shanahan.
The other top returnees are Souderton’s Connor McMenamin, who was seventh in 2016; West Chester Henderson’s Spencer Smucker, a sophomore who was ninth a year ago; Owen J. Roberts’ sophomore Liam Conway, who placed 11th; and Neshaminy’s Rusty Kujdych, who checked in at Number 12.
Not surprisingly, McMenamin and Kujdych are the premier runners in the Suburban One League this season – and two of the best in District 1 and the state.
“This is Connor’s fourth year on varsity,” said Souderton coach John Donahue. “He was inexperienced when he started as a freshman and he was our top runner by the end of the season. At the league meet, he missed a medal by one place.”
Running was not always McMenamin’s main sport.
“I’ve had always done soccer and I’ve always been on swim teams,” said McMenamin. “Then, I did track in middle school and loved it. My parents wanted me to stick with running.
“I had been around swimming a lot because my family came from a swimming background. My dad swam at La Salle High School sand Washington College. My sister swam too. So, I was thrown into it.
“I preferred running because of the friendly environment – and because it was different. Running was more suitable to how I’d manage training and academics.”
McMenamin’s freshman year was a learning experience. He finished 29th at leagues an 152nd at districts. As a sophomore, he was fourth at leagues, 11that districts and 31stat states.”
“Heading into his junior year, Connor realized that he could be one of the best runners in the state -- and run in college,” Donahue said. “It became more serious for him.”
Last season, McMenamin - whose extracurricular activities at Souderton include National Honor Society, jazz band and PSAC (Principal’s Student Advisory Council) - won the bronze medal in the conference championships and followed with a seventh-place finish at the District 1 meet. Then, his race at states was a bit of a disaster.
“I was running in the front group at states and then fell with 200 meters to go,” said McMenamin. “I went from top 10 to 41stafter falling two times. I was exhausted and my legs gave out.”
McMenamin’s spring track season also had an unexpected setback.
“Connor was running really well,” said Donahue. “He did 4:21 (in the 1,600) at a dual meet and then got hurt in late April with a stress reaction in his foot. His spring track season was done after that. So, I know he’s really excited about his senior year.”
McMenamin has been able to excel in academics as well as athletics. He is in the top five percent academically with a 4.6 GPA (on a scale of 4.0). An Eagle Scout who is also involved in community service, McMenamin has been taking all honors and A.P. courses. He plans to major in math and/or physics in college. He is looking at the U.S. Naval Academy, Bucknell and Lehigh.
Right now, one of his main focuses is on cross country. In invitational meets this fall, he placed second at the PIAA Foundation race, sixth at the PTXC8, second at the Harrier Invitational and first at the Souderton Twilight Invitational.
“There’s a lot I want to accomplish – focus on staying healthy and getting my grades down,” said McMenamin. “I want to finish in the top three at districts and top five at states. I just have to stay healthy.”
Kujdych has similar aspirations for the PIAA Championship meet.
“My goal for states is maybe top five – at least top seven,” said Kujdych, a junior.
Neshaminy coach Syd White said, “Looking at it right now, Rusty is certainly one of the top five. He has the potential to win it. When the level of competition gets tougher, we’ll plan for it and he’ll have to execute the plan.”
Kujdych started the season on a high note with a gold medal performance at the Mill Street Run. He also logged wins at the Council Rock Invitational and the William Tennent Invitational and picked up bronze medals at the Paul Short Invitational and the Briarwood Classic.
“His time at William Tennent was the fastest ever on that course,” said White. “It was the same thing at Mill Street. Certainly we thought there would be improvement between his sophomore and junior seasons, but to show this kind of improvement is unusual.
“Rusty is a smarter runner this year. He’s an aggressive runner who likes to take it out hard. He was pretty much start-to-finish leader at the three invitational meets that he won.”
Kujdych, who is also a top academic student taking A.P. and honors courses, said, “This season has been going well. I was kind of hoping it would go this way.
“Mill Street was a solid race. Briarwood was tough but I ran better there than I did last year.
“The Paul Short Invitational was a really good race for me – good competition. I tried a different strategy and it worked. I didn’t go out as fast as I usually do. So, I had more left at the end and I picked off a couple people. At Council Rock, I was really familiar with the course and I used it to my advantage. I ran my own race. Then, I was in good form at William Tennent.”
Kujdych was a true rookie as a ninth-grader.
“I had never run cross country until I got to high school,” he said. “I ran track in middle school but not seriously. I keep learning more about running and I’m getting to be a smarter runner. The more races you run, the more you learn. It makes racing easier.”
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