Before this past weekend, Tam Gavenas was not 100 percent healthy.
Despite various issues to his right foot, the Phillips Academy senior still managed to finish second at the Footlocker New England Cross Country championships meet two weeks earlier, on Nov. 30.
He then had two weeks to get healthy and prepare for his biggest and last high school meet of his illustrious career: The Footlocker Nationals out in San Diego.
The Andover resident pushed through the aches and pains, out-kicked the rest of the field – including Jack Graffeo from Westford Academy (3rd, 15:34.5) and Matthew Giardina from Bishop Guertin (7th, 15:44.1) – to capture the national title on Saturday with a time of 15:23.9.
His performance earned him All-American status for the second straight year, after finishing third at the same meet a year ago.
Gavenas finished three seconds ahead of runner-up Juan Gonzalez of Nebraska, and 11 seconds ahead of Graffeo, who beat him at the New Englands.
“For some reason, I felt very confident going into the race. I was prepared, had worked out a plan—and I had even worked out contingency plans,” Gavenas said. “It was a very strong field, but I was able to make my move when I wanted.”
During the regular season, Gavenas was undefeated, which included setting three course records and winning the NEPSTA Div. 1 championship meet. Throughout all of that winning, the injuries started to pile up.
“First, I had developed a bad case of plantar fasciitis on my right foot. Then, on the same foot, I had a bone bruise totally unrelated to running. Then, after all that, something dropped on the instep of the same foot. Things started to get better when I went into Cambridge for an MRI and assessment and they taped me,” Gavenas explained.
“Every day for the past six weeks, I’ve been doing physical therapy and contrast baths at home and cross training—which is hard for me because I love to run. I was still taped for (the national) race,” he added.
Gavenas tried to keep the injury in the back of his mind and wanted to concentrate solely on the race, beating Graffeo and the rest of the talented field.
“Everything paid off. It feels especially good to win against such elite competition. I really respect all the guys I was running against,” said Gavenas.