Matthew Lara '25 Recruiting Profile

From an early age I enjoyed the traditional sports of a young boy, playing soccer in the fall and baseball in the summer. When middle school arrived I added wrestling in the winter. But as time went on, I began to lose my passion for these sports. I did not see myself as good enough to continue with them at a high school level. As 8th grade arrived, so did the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the cancellation of all the sports I played. Trapped at home with nothing to do, I began playing constant video games and forgot about all the health standards I once held myself to. I saw myself drop to an all time low as I reached a peak weight of 180 pounds at 13 years old. Once I reached high school, I realized I had a choice -  return to the sports I had lost interest in during middle school or try something new. My brother participated in Cross Country but I had honestly never given it serious thought. That summer I began running. I quickly found that no sport I had played before required the level of mental strength that running did. Running sometimes seemed impossible and I came very close to quitting many times, but through the pain I found enjoyment in doing the hard work to accomplish my goals. By the end of the summer I had lost 45 pounds but still lacked any real running talent or accolades. 

I improved in every race of my freshman Cross Country season, but remained one of the bottom runners on the team. After that season, I chose to continue running, joining the winter Indoor Track team where I gained a liking for mid-distance events. It was not until my first Outdoor Track season where I began seeing myself succeed as a runner. From then on, I consistently ran mid-distance, running the 4x800m, 800m and 4x400m at every meet. By the end of the season, I ran 2:07 in the 800m, placing 5th in our Shoreline Conference, as well as being part of a 4x800m relay which placed 3rd in the State Class M Championship.

My sophomore year went by in a flash but I kept a steady line of improvement in Cross Country as I ran below 20 minutes in a 5,000m for the first time, with a season PR of 19:20. The same can be said for the Indoor and Outdoor track seasons where I developed a liking for the 600m running 1:30, as well as improving my 800m to 2:03. I was also part of a 4x800m relay which won our Conference and placed 2nd in the State Class M Championship.

But it was the summer before my junior year where I truly became devoted to running. I trained harder than I ever had before and quickly saw myself improving. I moved into a varsity spot on the Cross Country team, consistently placing 4th on the team all season. As the season progressed I became more confident in my running abilities and was able to produce a PR of 17:45. As championship season began, our team hoped to win back the title of Shoreline Conference Champions that we had lost the prior year. That day I ran the greatest race of my life, running a 90 second PR of 16:15.6 and placing 4th in the entire Shoreline Conference. Finishing the season with All-Conference awards and over a 3 minute time improvement from the previous year was tremendous but I never let myself settle because I know there is always improvement somewhere in me. I carried over this momentum into the recent winter Indoor Track season where my varsity 4x800m relay team won the Class S Championship, gaining an All-State award.

The Haddam-Killingworth Cross Country and Track programs have been an amazing guide to me as a runner which has allowed me to find success in distances from 300m to 5,000m. My love for running has grown astronomically in the last year and running in college would allow me to participate at a more competitive level, as well as let me keep enjoying the sport of running.