A long way back for Williamstown runner

Since Williamstown senior Paul Szulewski missed his junior track season because of stress reactions in both shins, it appears as if has been running uphill.

Szulewski has had to overcome injury, then illness and finally doubt from recruiters that both situations created.

Yet Szulewski maintained strong faith in his ability, reasoning that once he regained his health, everything would fall into place.

And that is exactly what happened.

Even though he couldn't train during the summer while recovering from his injury, and even though he came down with Lyme disease early in the cross-country season, Szulewski finished the fall season strong and has been riding the momentum ever since.

He followed up an impressive ending to cross country with an even better winter track season. Shortly after it was over, Szulewski secured his future by accepting a combination academic/track scholarship to St. Joseph's University.

And now he is looking forward to the spring track season, one that he missed so much last year while battling his injury.

"I am so excited, and healthy, knock on wood," Szulewski said. "Everything is going well, and I am getting my rest and I am ready to surprise people."

Actually, he took away the element of surprise with the end of the cross-country season and his effort during the winter.

In the fall, his final race was his most impressive, finishing eighth in the Meet of Champions in 15 minutes, 55 seconds.

During the winter track Meet of Champions, he ran a season-best time of 9:19.69 to finish fourth in the 3,200 meters.

So what he does from here will be no surprise.

What was, if not surprising, at least humbling to Szulewski was that so many schools backed off from recruiting him in the fall.

"After last spring, I still got letters and calls in summer from schools because I had run fast times indoor," Szulewski said. "As soon as I got Lyme disease, most schools began dropping off."

Two that didn't were St. Joseph's and William & Mary, Szulewski's final two choices.

"The upside with Paul is that he has a lot of potential," said St. Joseph's cross-country and track coach Mike Glavin, a former standout at Paul VI now in his 22d year at St. Joseph's.

"I look at it as once he was healthy, he ran 15:55 at Holmdel [site of the cross-country Meet of Champions]."

Glavin said Szulewski's injury and then illness weren't a concern, which is why St. Joseph's didn't back off.

"What I saw was somebody who really wants to run, who has a great desire to succeed," Glavin said.

During recruiting, a coach has to establish a relationship with the athlete, and most of all, a trust has to be developed by both sides.

"I really connected with Coach Glavin," Szulewski said.

And there was more to choosing the school than just bonding with the coach.

"The thought of training under him is something I look forward to, but the school also had a strong business program, which is what I'm looking for," Szulewski said. "It felt like the perfect fit for me."

Szulewski prides himself on being a cool customer as a competitor, but he concedes that until he made his college decision, there were more than a few anxious moments.

"I was stressed out for a while," he said. "I was worried that all schools would lose interest."

Not all the schools lost interest and Szulewski didn't lose belief in his own ability, although going through the adversity wasn't easy. Through it all, Szulewski learned a lot about himself.

"It showed how strong I could be if I stayed persistent," he said.

And he was rewarded for his belief in himself.

"The whole time I was always itching and never lost faith that I would be able to come back," he said. "It showed I could pretty much overcome anything, whether in running or in life."