CORNING'S GREGORSKI READY FOR ONE LAST CHANCE AT H.S. GOLD BEFORE RUNNING FOR PRINCETON NEXT YEAR (2022-06-09)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
Tomorrow afternoon Corning’s Jack Gregorski and Myles Hogan of Fordham Prep are set to continue their friendly rivalry in the 3200 meters at the New York State Track and Field Championships.

It’s a rivalry that saw the two both go under nine minutes in the indoor state meet, and also earlier this season in an invitational outside of New York City.

While the two have battled back and forth on the track this year, next year things will be different as the two call each other teammates at Princeton University.

“It’s definitely super exciting to have someone I have already competed against and have worked against and worked with in races,” Gregorski said. “Knowing in the future I’ll get to train with him everyday, we’ll get to push ourselves every day, that’s something I’m looking forward to.”

Gregorski has had a year for the ages for the Hawks. On Wednesday he was one of the Corning athletes honored for winning state champions this year. The thing is, he still has a shot at more state titles as he runs in the 3200 meters and the 4x800 relay at states this weekend.

“Super excited,” Gregorski said. “This is sort of like the last one (race in high school). I know everyone is going all out, trying to race their best. For a lot of people it’s their last race in high school. I am just super excited to race the competition and I Just hope good things happen.”

Hogan is the top seed in the race, Gregorski is seeded second. The two are two of three runners in the field under nine minutes this year, a milestone that Gregorski was the first ever in school history to hit. He’s the Section 4 record holder in the 3200 indoors and outdoors and he won the public school title in the race indoors, while Hogan won the Federations title indoor.

All of that came after Gregorski won the state individual title in AA in cross country and helped lead the Hawks to the state title as a team as well.

For Gregorski it’s fun to race Hogan, and the great field in the race, Friday with a race time of 6:30 p.m.

“I am super excited, he’s (Hogan) an amazing runner,” Gregorski said. “Just to compete against him is super exciting, all the athletes in the field, it’s a stacked field for the 3200. I’m really just excited to run it, give it my all and see what I can do.”

While Gregorski has run some great times in the 3200 this year, his goal on Friday is just to try and win the race.

“I haven’t really been thinking as much about the number, because I know at states often times races are super tactical,” Gregorski said. “If the race goes out fast I would love to try and hit a PR, but if it doesn’t, it’s all about trying to hold on and get the best place I can.”

Gregorski will also have one of his teammates, Matt Gensel, running in the 3200 with him.

“I look forward to running with him,” Gregorski said. “Knowing your teammate is in the race is always special. You know they are there with you.”

For Gregorski runners like Gensel and Ashton Bange, who will run the 1600 at states, and so many others like Gabe Cornfield and Tevin McLaren, who will run the 3200 relay with Gregorski and ran cross country states with him, give him guys to push him every day in high school.

“It really helps tremendously,” Gregorski said. “They push you every day in workouts and on easy runs. They are just there to keep you company and we are all working together. We are bettering ourselves.”

What would also be special this weekend would be to help the 3200 relay win a state title.

“That would be pretty awesome,” Gregorski said. “I think we have been running pretty well and I think all of us think we have PR potential in the 800. If we can put all that together I think we can run something really special.”

How good has Gregorski been running this year? At the state qualifier he ran the 3200, and then turned around and ran a 4:12 in the 1600, the fastest time in the state this year, breaking the Corning school record. And, it was in an event he isn’t even running at the state meet.

“The race was definitely just sort of a proof of concept,” Gregorski said. “Sort of working on doing some faster stuff and it was super exciting just to see I could do that and just knowing I have that speed going into the states weekend, that’s pretty exciting.”

With a 1600 time like that it makes Gregorski believe he’s capable of a fast 800 time in the relay as well.

I think before, when I was running slower miles, it made less sense for me to think I could run a faster 800, but now that all my times are getting down there I think a fast 800 is coming,” Gregorski said.

For Gregorski there is states and then nationals and those will be his last times running for the Hawks.

“It’s sad, but I”m looking forward to the next chapter as well,” Gregorski said. “I have a lot of good memories here and I hope to keep that up in college.”

Gregorski will get a chance to really show what he can do in college. Princeton’s men were ranked 16th in the nation going into nationals. They sent 11 athletes to nationals, the most in the region, and had a national champion this year.

“Just my progression, I felt like I wanted to give the higher level (of college track and field and cross country) a chance,” Gregorski said. “I really just love the whole Princeton team, Princeton coaching staff, I think they are going in the right direction.

“The Princeton team is a really good group of guys and I look forward to running with them.”

The decision to go to Princeton was a tough one. For Gregorski academics was always a priority, and he had considered MIT for a while. However, in the end, he just felt like Princeton was right.

“It was definitely a difficult decision,” Gregorski said. “I definitely really wanted to weight my options, consider all the factors, but when it all came down to it, Princeton just seemed like the right place for me.

“Academics is just tremendous at Princeton and what their program is doing is something I am super excited for.”

Whether he had gong to a Division III team or a Division I team he knows he would have faced good competition, but he knows at the Division I level there will just be so many more top level runners to compete against.

“I think there are so many great competitors in D3 and D1,” Gregorski said. “But, I think they are just so much more abundant in D1, so just going there and seeing what I can do.”

It’s exciting for Gregorski to kind of start over in college at the bottom and work his way back up to the top like he is now in high school.

“Something I’m looking forward to is hitting the reset on the skill level of the whole team,” Gregorski said. “Starting back on the bottom, I think it will be exciting to finally be able to climb back up and compete with those guys at the higher level.”

College also may be a chance to run some even longer distances for Gregorski.

“I am definitely leaning toward longer distances,” he said. “5K, 10K, but I love the 3200 now, so the 3K is definitely an option. And, if I get to college and I start to develop my foot speed more, if that starts working, maybe the 1500/mile.”

Corning graduates have had a lot of success at the collegiate level, with just this year Lindsey Butler winning an indoor national championship in the 800 for Virginia Tech.

For Gregorski, watching things like that just makes him feel like anything is possible.

“It’s definitely super exciting to see all the potential runners who have come from here,” Gregorski said. “It’s (winning nationals) something I am hoping for. We’ll see how college plays out, I am just looking forward to it.”

Winning nationals would be a dream for Gregorski one day.

“One day (he would love to), that’s still a ways away, if it’s even possible, but always set higher goals than are easily achievable so you’ll always have something to work toward.”

And, who knows, maybe one day even a dream of getting to the Olympics?

“That’s always a dream,” Gregorski said. “You have to see how everything plays out. I don’t keep those as the goals I focus on, but it is nice to dream about them, think about them.”

No matter what the future holds, Gregorski knows that Princeton will be a place that will let him see what he’s capable of.

“I think Princeton is a school where I can push my boundaries academically and athletically.”
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STSR FILE PHOTO