Junior Evan Moore trails teammate and fellow junior Michael Imbierowicz during a cross country warm up jog. Imbierowicz suddenly makes a sharp cut, and BOOM! Moore crashes into a pole, injuring his right thigh, and falls to the ground in agonizing pain. Head football coach Keith Rawlings rushes over to assist him.

Rawlings shouted to get a trainer on the scene and let the trainer take over from that point on. Moore was checked by the trainers and told nothing was broken and [healing] would be a day-to-day process.

“I was afraid that I couldn’t compete for the Florida race [on Oct. 10]. I couldn’t walk on the first day, literally, but I was determined to come back,” Moore said.

Moore ended up competing just as he intended. “When we found out nothing was broken, I figured he’d be back [for Florida],” men’s cross country head coach Michael Monaghan said.

According to Moore, Monaghan has been his greatest help in progressing as a runner.

For the 5K race in Florida, Moore led the pack for the first two miles, but he fell back two spots in the third because his injury started to bother him.

“[His] entire family, dad, and myself are very proud of [him],” Moore’s mother Angel said. “I love that he has found a sport he is passionate about and completely dedicated to.”

“It was awesome. It was legit. I heard them call my name as the leading runner after the first mile, and it was the greatest feeling ever,” Moore said.

“[Moore] is inspiring and shows a lot of hard work,” senior captain Adam Bognanni said.

Moore’s finishing time of 16:53 in Florida, while fighting through the injury, was a prime example of his dedication to the sport because he completed the course only 45 seconds away from his personal record.

Moore started running for competitions and training at the beginning of his freshman year and ran a 20:22 in his first race, a 5K.

“Since freshman year he’s been on pace on becoming one of the best runners we’ve ever had,” Monaghan said.

“He has progressed from the number one JV runner to the number one varsity runner and his times have dropped dramatically,” Monaghan said. “It’s great. He does everything you ask and more. You want all kids to be that coachable.”

Moore views being the number one runner as an amazing opportunity that involves a lot of hard work and his way of going to college. “I fully expect to go on and run in college,” Moore said.

“[Moore] is certainly quite talented, but what sets him apart is his competitive spirit along with willingness to work hard in training to achieve his goals on race day,” senior opponent from Spalding Ronan O’Shea said.

“A win for me is going hard at practice, making the right moves, and going on until the other person can’t hang on with me. Losing is either not working as hard as I should’ve in practice or making a mistake in the race, but I take each loss as an opportunity to learn and get better,” Moore said.

“[Moore] is one of the most fearless runners I have ever raced. He runs hard from the start, beckoning his competitors to give chase,” O’Shea said.

Before races, Moore remembers his late grandfather, who unfortunately never had the opportunity to see his grandson compete.

“I wish he got to see me run. It disappoints me [that] he didn’t,” Moore said. He also runs for his teammates, viewing races as a war with them.

“Evan’s grandfather was a runner and even though he never had the opportunity to watch Evan run it makes us happy that he takes after him and we know his grandfather is always watching over him,” Angel Moore said.

“He’s very polite, courteous, and has a great deal of respect for his teammates and other guys. [He’s] just a nice guy in general,” Monaghan said. “He helps me deal with poorer showings, he gives me hope that there will be [more runners] like him.”

Running has changed everything in Moore’s life, it has helped him improve his eating and studying habits. He is a strong follower of the quote, “You gotta work until your idols become your rivals. I never thought a sport or anything could change my entire life until I started running,” Moore said.

Kishan Patel is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.