On a winning course
Connolly eyes 3rd state title
NATICK – Grace Connolly has won state and all-state titles in both indoor and outdoor track, but the Natick senior standout admits to a special love for cross country.
“I just like that you can run a lot of different courses and still be that 5K distance,” Connolly said. “There are different hills, different routes that you can run and I like that freedom of variation you have running cross country.
“I also love the team aspect of it, I feel cross country is a little more team oriented than track because you have more events there.”
Connolly’s ability to excel in all three running seasons made her a desired commodity to many colleges. She ended her recruitment recently with a verbal commitment to Stanford.
“There were just so many different aspects that I loved about it,” Connolly said as she wore a Stanford Cardinal warmup. “I went on my three official visits to other schools and saw bits and pieces that I really liked. Stanford just had all of it and encompassed everything that I wanted in a college.
“The team is amazing and I had the best connection with the girls. I feel like a lot of the girls I would be friends with outside of running. The coaches there were so optimistic about what I can do there the next four years and beyond. Just hearing that was really inspiring and showed their dedication to me.”
Natick cross country coach Ashley Davidson Sloan knows what it takes to be an elite runner. She was a 12-time Bay State Conference All-Star in her time at Natick and went on to run competitively at U Mass. Davidson-Sloan points to Connolly’s eternal quest to get better on a daily basis.
“She is good for many reasons, but the main points are her dedication and commitment,” Davidson-Sloan said. “She has the raw talent, but she puts in the time every day from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. That’s what has moved her from her freshman year to where she is today.”
Connolly will prime up for the divisional and all-state meet, in which she is a twotime defending champion in both. There is one goal Connolly admits is in the back of her mind – the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals.
After a solid fourth-place showing as a sophomore, Connolly went to New York last season as one of the primary contenders. Connolly was in the top five with a kilometer to go when she took a nasty tumble and fell out of contention.
“I felt like it was the end of the world at that moment,” Connolly said. “But I learned that one race can’t dictate everything. It just pushed me to compete harder during the outdoor season.
“I am going to the Northeast with an open mind and really don’t have any insurmountable pressure. Obviously it would great to get to the Foot Locker Nationals again, but I’m not going to put any pressure on myself as I did last year.”
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