By Kiley O’Donnell
Staff Writer
Hailey Gattuso, a junior captain on the St. Bonaventure women’s cross country team, led the Bonnies at last weekend’s Atlantic-10 Championship in Richmond, Virginia, running her fastest time of the season, finishing the 5k at 19:33.5.
Although some girls were unable to compete in the A10 Championship due to injury, it did not stop Gattuso and the rest of the team from keeping the best mentality they could.
“I’m very proud of those who did compete. We went into that meet knowing we probably weren’t going [to] place well, but that didn’t stop anyone from putting forth her best effort,” said Gattuso “I’m very proud of the work we’ve all put in this season. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but a lot of our freshmen really stepped up for A10s, which I think shows the potential our team has in the upcoming years.”
Gattuso takes her role as captain very seriously on such a young team.
“I just try to lead by example by working as hard as I can and staying mentally tough,” said Gattuso. “I think our biggest overall strength as a team is our work ethic, but our biggest overall weakness is admitting when we need help.”
She talked about how pushing through injury can hurt the team in the long run, and wants to help prevent those experiences for others as a captain.
“Everyone wants to push through the pain, and while I admire the dedication, it isn’t serving us well in the long run,” said Gattuso. “As a leader, I want to be someone my teammates feel they can come to when they are struggling with something so we can find a way to take care of it before it is too late.”
Gattuso has spent almost three seasons on the women’s cross country team and has enjoyed her time as a Bonnie on and off the course.
“Coming to Bonas is the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve been given amazing athletic and academic opportunities,” said Gattuso. “I came here for the journalism program and have zero regrets. The faculty truly doesn’t get enough credit for the time and effort they invest into students. My coaches have been incredible as well. Everyone who works at Bonas really seems to love what they do and I think that is what makes our school special.”
She said she has been running cross country competitively for over eight years.
“I first started running long distance in middle school, and have been running competitively ever since,” said Gattuso. “I knew I wanted to compete at a collegiate level as soon as I started running in high school.”
Very determined to run cross country during her college years, she set difficult goals in high school and always tried to stay on pace to get noticed in order to achieve becoming a collegiate athlete.
“I remember Googling the results from college meets as a freshman trying to figure out what times I needed to reach by my senior year in order to get noticed,” said Gattuso. “I set high goals and never came close to achieving them, but I still managed to end up here and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
She talked about how the sport is physical but also tests your mental limits, translating to tasks off of the course.
“It builds character,” said Gattuso. “When you’re constantly pushing your mental and physical limits it makes other tasks seem so much easier, and you inevitably build a bond with the people you’re doing it with day in and day out.”
Although the season may be coming to an end, Gattuso already has expectations for herself next year.
“I want to keep working for personal best times, hopefully dip into the 18s before I graduate,” said Gattuso. “More importantly, I want to work on getting our team healthy and consistent. We have a lot of potential. We just need to learn to listen to our bodies.”
odonneke16@bonaventure.edu
