1999 Foot Locker Northeast
Melissa Donais
new face in the Northeast Elite
read her coach's view
Bronx,
NY, 11/27/99 - She wasn't on any of the "experts" list of
contenders for the Foot Locker Northeast regional, and she didn't even
think herself that she had a chance of winning.
Melissa Donais attends a private school (Phillips Academy, Andover MA), so
she is left out of the big public school championships. Although she
was 4th a year ago in the freshman race here, she missed the spring track season
with anemia. She took a steady diet of iron supplements and worked her way
back into shape with 25-30 mile weeks.
"I thought I was borderline to qualify for nationals, I never dreamed I
would win," said Melissa Donais to the gathering reporters trying to find
out about the surprise winner of the seeded race.
But the experts should have noticed a string of performances that
foreshadowed her emergence today. Melissa won the big Manchester
Invitational September 25 over better known runners such as Codi Vachon and Amy
Ruston of New Hampshire. Then she set a record on the notorious Northfield
MA mountain course in winning the Massachusetts private school
championship. And a week ago, she came to Van Cortlandt Park and ran a
very fast 18:18 in the Junior Olympic age group regional championship.
So it
seemed less shocking in retrospect that she stole the race from more publicized
rivals.
Afterward, Melissa spoke touchingly of her grandfather, elite marathoner Tony
Sapienza, who died 5 minutes after winning a US Masters race at the age of
57. She knew the exact date: March 17, 1987.
"You can say I run for my grandfather. I always think of him
whenever I race. I am sure he was here today."
Who is Melissa
Donais?
Bronx, New York, 1999
By Mick Grant
(coach of Greater Lowell Road Runners)
reprinted from waycoolrunning,
Carol Goodrow's web site for young runners
To read the post-Foot Locker reports, one might think that the Foot Locker
Northeast Regional was Melissa Donais' first race ever. Like all "overnight
sensations," though, this is most definitely not true.
Melissa has been running for many years and has had good times and bad. Like
a true champion, Melissa has had the strength of character to work through and
learn from the bad times. She has put to use all of her experiences to make
herself a better competitor.
Melissa has been working on a progressive development program with the
Greater Lowell Road Runners since she was quite young, a program based on
gradual, consistent improvement. Her development has been continued at Phillips
Academy Andover, where she is the current New England Prep-School cross country
champion. Melissa has won New England and Regional Junior Olympics titles and
has run in Hershey's North American Finals in Hershey, PA.