Flrunners.com: What was your most memorable race/moment?
Sean Doherty: My most memorable race moment was the first time that I broke 20 minutes in a 5k. It was the 2nd Annual Amelia Island meet, my sophomore year. Looking back, breaking 20 minutes seems so trivial and easy now, but at the time I was amazed that I managed to do it. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I proceeded to stumble my way to where my teammates were and collapse on the ground. It was also the last cross country race that I would run under my coach at the time, Rodney Smith, since he retired after my sophomore year. He has probably been the biggest inspiration that I had as a runner, so I wanted more than anything at that race to make him proud and end my season on a high note.
FLR: Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
SD: I would consider myself to be my biggest competition. As a freshman runner, I was dreadful at this sport and almost quit entirely. Not only was my first 5k time for cross country around 45 minutes, I managed to hurt myself so badly during the race that I had to sit the majority of the season out. I was able to come back by the end of my freshman year, though, and run just over 22 minutes for a 5k. Since freshman year, so much of how I've pushed myself to train harder and run faster has been in the spirit of always being better than I was the previous race. That mentality has helped me a lot in being able to compete with my own times and always try to improve.
FLR: What was your greatest accomplishment?
SD: I think that my greatest accomplishment as a high school runner was when the Stanton Prep boys' cross country team placed 10th at the 3A Region 1 meet in 2014. It was a terrible place, but we all ran personal bests and felt really proud of ourselves even though we weren't going to advance any further that year. It was also the last cross country race that I would get to run with my friend Brandon Battle, who was the captain before me. I ran my current 5k personal best at that race, and 18:02.7, and I felt really great about it because I had dropped nearly a minute from my previous best.
FLR: If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
SD: I would be a little less hard on myself after a bad race. Sometimes after a day when I ran badly, I would get really angry at myself for not working hard enough and I would find tons of ways to blame myself for the performance. I think that I could've been better about focusing on how to improve and enjoy the sport rather than berating myself for running poorly.
FLR: What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
SD: A lot of times, the biggest obstacles for me were in my head. I was so used to being the slower runner at the back of the pack, that even when I got faster and became a better runner I would be telling myself that I couldn't handle the pace or that I was going to choke. In a lot of my races as an upperclassman, it was difficult to boost my own confidence and tell myself that I was going to push through and that I had to overcome the self-doubt.
FLR: What will you miss the most?
SD: I'll definitely miss the feeling of family that running has given me over the past four years. Coming into high school I was reserved and wasn't good friends with many people at my school, but cross country became my way of meeting new people. The team became like my brothers and sisters and Coach Smith, as a former Stanton runner Wesley Norton put it, was like that one really funny uncle who cracks jokes all the time. A lot of my best friends are people who I met through running, and there are times like when Coach Smith would take us to Brevard, North Carolina to go to running camp that they'd really feel like a second family to me. I'm going to miss how that feels, and I'm definitely going to miss all of them since we're all going to different colleges.
FLR: What advice you would give to younger athletes?
SD: I would tell younger runners to trust themselves and their teammates to give their best at every race. If they respect the sport and do that, they can push themselves and their teammates to run terrific times. I would also tell them to cherish the time that they have with their team now, because looking back at it I only wish that I had more.
FLR: What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
SD: I've been lucky enough to have two coaches in my time at Stanton. My first coach, Rodney Smith, is one of the best guys that I know. He was the best possible coach that I could have asked for as an underclassman, always kind and encouraging and helping younger runners achieve their potential. When I was an upperclassman, he had retired but continued to come to my meets and cheer the team on. He influenced my performance in that he drove me to push myself to my best effort, and then push harder, and my life goals in that he showed me the type of man that I want to become. The coach who came after him, Kirk Tovrea, has also been a good influence for myself and the team. Working as a leader and eventual captain alongside Coach Tovrea showed me a lot about how I want to be able to inspire and teach new runners on the team that they can achieve great things that they don't realize yet.
FLR: What are your college plans?
SD: I will be attending the University of Florida this fall to study math.I'm planning to continue running road races, and begin training to run some longer distance races.
FLR: Who would you like to say thank you to?
SD: I'd like to say thank you to my parents, who have been really supportive of me through all of my high school career. They've been there to cheer me up after a bad race and congratulate me after a good one. I'd like to thank Coach Smith, who has made me a much better runner and a much better person. I'd like to thank my teammates from all four years, who have made cross country my favorite thing in my time at Stanton.
FLR: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
SD: I'd like to wish my teammates good luck for the seasons that they have left. I know that they're going to make all of the alumni, which somehow now includes me, very proud. Go Blue Devils and go Gators!