Athlete of the Week: Pat Casey

senior Pat Casey hit his own personal “triple-crown” when he made the Northeastern Conference Cross-Country All-Star team this past fall.

The 17-year-old had already made the NEC All-Star teams for the winter and spring season, and wanted to grab that third one to make the start of his last year at MHS something special.

“It’s something I wanted to do, absolutely,” Casey said last week from the MHS field house. “I made one all-star team, and then another, so I really wanted to run my best this fall, help the team win, and make the all-star team too.”

Casey was co-captain of this year's cross country team, sharing the captaincy with fellow senior Mike Harper. The two couldn’t have more different styles when it came to getting their teammates ready to race.

“Mike’s a real rah-rah guy, he fires everybody up, I think he gets that from hockey,” Casey said. (Harper is the goalie for the defending state champs.) “I’m a little more laid back than Mike, I try to lead by example, how I run in races, how I run in practice and how I prepare for races.”

Casey knocked out a personal best 17:20 last fall, and has personal bests of 2:50 in the 1,000 during the winter season, and a 2:04 in the 800 from the spring running campaign.

“Coach (Brian Heenan) gave me some great advice, and it’s really helped me become a better runner,” Casey said. “He always says to visualize the run before you do it, picture a good race in your mind and try to run as close to that as you can, it sounds simple, but it’s really a great way to get ready to race.”

Casey lives on Lafayette Street with has parents and younger sister, and is a big fan of his AP Calculus class at MHS, and as far as the future goes, Pat might head into politics one day.

“I’d love to be the senior senator from Massachusetts someday,” Casey said.

The cross country team finished 5-2 this past fall, not bad, but a shade below where Casey would have liked the record to be.

“We did not accomplish all of our goals as a team, individually we had some great races, but I wish we had won all of our meets,” Casey said. “It’s great to be part of the athletic community in Marblehead, people support us, the school supports us, I’ll certainly miss it when I go off to school.”

Casey hopes to attend the University of Michigan or Georgetown University.

“I’m waiting to hear from both of those schools, if I had to pick one place I’d love to be, it would be Georgetown,” Pat said. “I don’t know if I’ll race in college, but I’m never going to stop running, that’s for sure.”  

The Pat Casey File:

Age – 17

Year – Senior

Favorite food – Cheeseburgers

Favorite TV show  - Curb Your Enthusiasm

Favorite movie – Airplane

Favorite artist – The Beatles

Favorite athletes – Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia

Dream – “To become a U. S. Senator.”

Up next – Finish up strong in winter and spring track.