Connor Daigle '22 Recruiting Profile

Milesplit interview:  link: https://me.milesplit.com/videos/503837/connor-daigle-interview

Update Spring 2021: Won the state title for the 3200 by 16 seconds! Broke school record in the event with a 9:39 PR.  Ran a 1600m time trial after my outdoor track season at Bowdoin college with a time of 4:29.

My background on running: My love for running is something I discovered late into my freshman year of high school. Growing up in a basketball family I gave all my athletic focus on basketball and looked at cross country and track more as good conditioning for basketball. As it would turn out I would soon fall in love with the sport of running and ever since the end of my freshman year I have been doing everything I could do to get better at the sport.

Success in running:  Due to coronavirus not allowing me to show the running talents I have had to run a lot of time trials hoping that they would get collegiate attention.  My personal bests from my freshman and sophomore year do not do me a whole lot of justice because honestly, I have put in SO much work since then (basically 50 to 65 miles every week since the start of march 2020). Some of my notable time trials last summer were: 1600m: 4:38, 3200m: 9:54, 5k: 16:15. 

Training: If you are interested you can see most (if not all) of my training through strava (link: https://www.strava.com/athletes/44984971). To summarize, my usual training week consists of a total of 50-85 miles (depending on the week). Two of those runs are on the track and they are usually hard track workouts like mile repeats, 800 repeats, or a ladder workout with a focus on speed (5by1600m/mile repeats all under 5 minutes 2-minute rest, 8by800m repeats all under 2:30 2 minute rest, and ladder consists of 2 400s, 2 800s, 2 1600s, 2 800s, 2 400s all at 5k pace). Hill repeats are a personal favorite of mine. Fart lek workouts (20 30 40 off on) are another favorite and these usually are at 5:40 pace for about 5-9 miles. I always start and finish my training week with a long run these typically range from 10-15 miles and are at a comfortable pace usually around 6:30-7:00 minute pace. On top of my running, I always end my day with a lifting workout these workouts are usually 30 minutes to 2 hours long depending on the day and I do these workouts at least 4 times a week. I typically do core every day before my runs.

Goals and aspirations: My goals are something that is dear to my heart. Here is a list of the goals I plan on achieving by the end of my high school running career.

Cross country:  qualify of nationals, run at NXR or footlocker, place in the top 10 at new Englands, Win the state title in cross country (I am the favorite to win it next year for Maine Class B), break 15:20 in the 5k XC, win an individual regional and KVAC title, break my school record for the 5k (16:29).

Indoor Track: Qualify for nationals, place top 5 at New England's, win a state title in the 1 and 2 miles (got 5th place my sophomore year), break 9:20 in the 2 miles, break 4:25 in the 1 mile, win KVAC titles in the 2 miles and 1 mile (got 1st in 2mile and 2nd in 1 mile sophomore year at KVAC championship).

Outdoor Track: Qualify for nationals, Place top 5 at New England's for the 3200, break my own school record in the 3200 and 1600, Win a state title in the 3200m and 1600m, break 9:20 in the 3200m, break 4:20 in the 1600m, win KVAC title in 3200m 800m, and 1600m.

What makes me a great candidate for your team: I strongly believe I am a great candidate to run at the collegiate level. My willingness and determination to get better at running every day is something I will bring to your program. I find myself to be the type of person who thrives when doubted and told what I can and can not do. My motivation towards running could not be any more apparent in my opinion. Through the consistent and hard training I have done during a global pandemic I have learned to make the best out of a horrible situation and have learned the importance of never giving up on my dream. I feel like I have so much untapped potential in running and I feel like if I were to run at the right program and under a great coach I could make huge strides in collegiate Track and cross country. 

What I look for in a collegiate program: During my high school career, I have never gotten much help in terms of coaching1. Medomak Valley High School does not have a strong history of having great cross country and track teams. I have never had coaches or teammates to push me and I have always had to plan out training plans for myself without any help. One thing I look for in a collegiate program is a coach who can coach me and use me properly so I can reach my full potential in running. I believe I have a lot of room to grow as a runner and I hope to reach new heights when running in college.