The Comeback Kid

Story and Photo by Danielle Kennedy

The stage at the McQuaid Invitational was too small to fit 24 sweaty high school boys.  Set up in the middle of the grass field at Genesee Valley Park, the eight boys from Liverpool stood together on the front of the small black platform to receive their award for second-place.  Once again, the boys had fallen behind rival Fayetteville-Manlius, this time by 22 points.  But as parents snapped photos from below the stage, the teams bright orange t-shirts weren’t the only things drawing attention.  It was Nick LeClair’s bright smile that managed to outshine even the square, shiny award plaque.

LeClair’s finishing time wasn’t as fast as he had hoped it would be, but being back in a race with his teammates was reason enough to celebrate.  LeClair had been battling a shin injury since the beginning of the season and was unable to run.  He didn’t have a stress fracture, but the pain forced him to cross train on the elliptical and aqua jog in the pool nonetheless.  As a senior, this wasn’t the way LeClair expected his final cross-country season to begin.  

From Left to Right: Connor Buck (Sr..) Ben Petrella (Jr.)
and Nick LeClair (Sr.)

“It probably wouldn’t have affected me as much if this happened to me a few years ago,” he said.  “It mostly affected me this much [now] because I’m a senior, and this is my last chance, and I know I can be better right now.”    

Since the beginning of September, LeClair watched his teammates run fast workouts and break course records.  He hated being unable to practice with them and had grown frustrated with sitting on the sidelines.

The Decision

The reason Nick LeClair is a runner is because of his teammate, Connor Buck.  At a field camp in sixth grade, Buck suggested that LeClair leave the soccer team to join the cross country team. LeClair was a midfielder who loved to run, but he was reluctant to quit. Little did he know that joining cross country wasn’t only about running.

“I just gave it a shot,” he said.  “The first day was hard and I was really out of shape, but then I just became friends with everyone on the team, and I just stuck with it.”

Sticking with it helped LeClair progress from being the 15^th runner on the Liverpool Middle School team to the fourth.  In ninth grade, he joined the high school JV team.  At the end of the season though, he wasn’t promoted to varsity like some of his teammates.  Head coach Tracey Vannatta said this motivated him to earn a spot in the top-seven the following season. 

“Towards the end of his freshman year I saw a little glimpse,” Vannatta said. He said, ‘I want to be [this] runner,’ and the next year came around and he was that runner.  His work ethic is there and he’s got some natural ability, and on top of everything, more than anything, he wants the team to succeed.”

The Difference Maker

In 2012, LeClair helped the Warriors finish third at the Sectional meet.  One year later, the team finished second at sectionals and sixth at Nike Cross Country Regionals.  LeClair’s greatest contribution to the team came at the biggest meet of his career – Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon.  There, he was the team’s fifth scorer and helped them to a 20^th overall finish out of 24 teams. 

His teammates said that he continues to make a significant impact on the team each day, even if they are in smaller ways.

“When he talks, even though it may not be the loudest and the most pumped up, he still makes sure that everyone gets pumped up,” said senior teammate Connor Buck.  “He’s always there for all of the guys, even the JV guys.”

Stevie Schulz is one of those JV runners.  To Schulz, LeClair is a captain worth emulating. 

“If he’s finished with a workout and you’re still going, he’s pushing at you like you’re in a race,” Schulz said.  [He’s] getting you to finish, and getting you to stick to it and finish the workout and do what you’re supposed to do.”

His work ethic doesn’t annoy or discourage others. Instead, it motivates them to mutually finish hard out of desire rather than need.

“He doesn’t make you feel like you have to do it, he just makes you really want to do it,” Schulz said.  “It doesn’t feel like it’s homework where it’s like ‘ugh, I have to go do this,’ it’s actually like, ‘yeah, I want to do this and I got to go do that.’ ”

Just Like Old Times

It’s been more than six months since the team’s 1200-meter track time trial, but that hasn’t stopped Nick LeClair from reminding his teammates of his performance.

“I beat everybody,” he said.  “I kicked down Dylan and I take great pride in that.  Whenever someone says something to me [if they beat me] I just say, ‘time trial.’”

Now that he’s returned to running, his teammates can breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s good knowing we have our scorer back,” Buck said. 

At Genesee Valley Park, the look on LeClair’s face was enough of an indication that he’s happy to be back, too.  He was the team’s fifth scorer at McQuaid, helping Liverpool outscore third-place Conestoga by 24 points in the Varsity AAA race.   

“Everybody knows that he’s there for the team,” Vannatta said.  “He’s the glue that holds them all together with that team bond.”

LeClair hopes this team bond will help the Warriors defeat Fayetteville-Manlius at the sectional meet in a few weeks.  And if it’s anything like last year, this may not be the last stage he kneels on this season.  After all, the one at Nike Cross Country Nationals comes with an even better reason to smile.