"He's Hungry"

On October 22nd, Matt and I traveled to Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, PA. The purpose of our trip: to spend the afternoon with Vince McNally, Coach Mike Craighead, and the rest of the Conestoga Valley Buckskins. McNally was on a separate schedule from the rest of his teammates. While preparing for the upcoming District 3 meet and a chance to qualify for the state meet, his teammates look on while McNally has his sights firmly planted on the state meet at Hershey; and perhaps further.

McNally's teammates pounded out a hard mile + 4x400 while Vince, with the assistance of a teammate returning from injury, pushed through 5x800. The Buckskins were focused and looked ready for the district meet. Excitement was in the air.

Vince and Coach Craighead said this will be the first time he has been healthy for a full year. His 4:08 mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals being a strong indicator what he was capable of after being healthy for only six to seven months. That begs the question, "What will he be capable of after being healthy for a full year?" The potential answers are all mind-blowing thoughts. Only time will tell what he is capable of, and we should all be happy that we will be able to bear witness to his senior year.

Coach Craighead, a state champion in the 4x800 and 800 himself, knew Vince was a gifted athlete when he saw him run 4:31 as an 8th grader. But he said what separates Vince is his attitude and attention to detail. He does all the little things one needs to do to succeed and personifies that quote, "A little on a little becomes a lot." The progression he has made is staggering in both XC and track. But there are still a few goals he would like to cross off his list before he graduates.

Coach Craighead has a myriad of adjectives to describe Vince: hard-working, humble, relentless, tough, aggressive, and the list goes on, but perhaps the best description he gave was, "He's hungry." It was something that was instilled in his freshman year, as the seniors on the team along with Vince ran 7:40 to win the 4x800 AAA State title. Vince and Coach Craighead both said these past seniors helped to instill an amazing work ethic in Vince and they displayed a ferocious tenacity as they charged after their goal. That work ethic was embedded into Vince's attitude and has morphed into something even greater as he races through his last high school season.

This tenacity roars on as Vince is focused now on the stretch run of the season that includes the state meet, the Foot Locker Northeast Regional, and hopefully a berth to the Foot Locker National Championship. The first of the trifecta is this Saturday, November 3, in Hershey and Vince looks to improve on his previous placings at states (13th-freshman, 4th-sophomore, 5th-junior) and claim the title.

There will be more on Vince leading up to the Foot Locker Regional including his workout video and team interviews. So stay tuned to the Road to San Diego.