Before the NJSIAA Meet of Champions cross-country race on Nov. 17 at Holmdel Park, Nick Lundberg wrote down his goals on a note card.
The Freehold Township High School senior wanted to finish in the top five and in under 16 minutes. He accomplished both.
He placed fifth out of the 183 best boys’ runners in the state, while he crossed the finish line in 15:57.
“Any time you go sub 16 at Holmdel, it’s an accomplishment,” Lundberg said. “And the top five against that competition is really good.”
Lundberg had run at Holmdel Park before, so he had intimate knowledge of the course. With that knowledge, he came up with a strategy.
“I wanted to go out conservative,” Lundberg said. “You run better when you go out conservative.”
The senior went out conservative, but he made his move earlier than expected. Around the mile mark, he was running alongside Mendham High School’s Jack Jennings.
“He made a move at the mile. I decided to stick with him,” Lundberg said. “And I just went.”
Running up a hill, Jennings lost steam and slowed down. But Lundberg sped up. Between the first and second mile, he passed multiple runners and caught two Christian Brothers Academy runners near the front.
By the second mile marker, Lundberg was racing steadily in seventh place. Then, in the third mile, he found a higher gear and sprinted even faster, charging into the top five.
“Coming out of the woods, I was in fourth, but (Cherokee High School’s) Ethan Wechsler found a little extra and outran me,” Lundberg said. “But I accomplished the goals from my note card, so I was satisfied at the end of the day.”
After crossing the finish line, Lundberg knew he had reached his goals. Lundberg’s Freehold Township teammates and his girlfriend greeted him and congratulated him.
Lundberg hugged them back and thanked them. But then, he asked a question.
“I kept saying, ‘Where’s my dad? Where’s my dad?’ He’s my biggest supporter and fan,” Lundberg said. “He was up by the tennis courts at the mile. But he made it over to the finish line. I saw him and gave him a big hug. It was nice.”
“I didn’t see him cross, but I saw him at the two and a half mile mark and he was in fifth. It was exciting and exhilarating,” said Bert Lundberg, Nick’s dad. “He’s been running for awhile so it was a great way to see him finish his career.”
Bert Lundberg got Nick into distance running when the son was a little kid.
“I saw that he had quite a bit of talent,” Bert Lundberg said. “So I started taking him to Shore Athletic Club races at Holmdel on Sundays.”
“I started crying after the Meet of Champions,” Bert Lundberg added. “I said, ‘That was awesome.'”
Nick Lundberg’s high finish in the Meet of Champions earned him a spot in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional on Nov. 24 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. Lundberg came in 26th with a time of 16:18.
The Meet of Champions and Northeast Regional capped a fantastic senior season for Lundberg.
He also placed in the top five in the other three big championship meets, the Shore Conference championship race on Oct. 25 at Ocean County Park in Lakewood, the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 4 sectional championship race on Nov. 3 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg and the NJSIAA Group 4 championship meet on Nov. 10 at Holmdel Park.
He even had one other awesome highlight, in the Shore Conference’s A North Division championship on Sept. 27 at Freehold Township. Lundberg came in first by 41 seconds, and got to be the big man on campus for a moment, something few cross-country runners get to enjoy.
“Football and baseball get all the attention. But everyone, soccer players and football players, were at my division race because it was at the school,” Lundberg said. “Everyone came up to me in school the next day and was like, ‘Oh my God Nick, that was nuts.’ To have everyone in my school see it and do that was awesome.”
Lundberg will probably run in college next year, too. He is just not sure where yet.
“My decision is coming soon, hopefully,” Lundberg said. “The mile and long distance events will be my events for the rest of this year (in winter and spring track), to prepare for distance in college.”
