Biondo coming of age
SDA cross-country standout finally seeing the fruits of hard work
Danielle Biondo always had the talent to be a successful track and field performer. It was evident from the first minute veteran St. Dominic Academy coach John Nagel saw her run.
"Conceptually, yes, she was talented," Nagel said. "But she had to learn to do the little things. She wouldn’t work hard in the summer, then would go all out when September came and would eventually hit a wall. When she decided to run, she did too much too soon and her body couldn’t handle it."
And the wall came in the form of nagging injuries, especially a series of hip ailments that set Biondo back.
"When she couldn’t run for two weeks at a time, that would force her to try to come back big time," Nagel said. "Sometimes, you’re so far behind that you simply can’t catch up."
The injuries weren’t enough to make Biondo consider giving up running, but it was just enough to hinder her.
"I couldn’t run and couldn’t perform the way I knew I could and that was frustrating," Biondo said. "It definitely did bother me. I don’t know what happened. But I was in a lot of pain."
Maybe it was a combination of pain, maturity and evaporating time that forced Biondo to realize that her high school days were slipping away.
"I really wanted to run in college," Biondo said. "I knew I had to do something. So I became more focused and concentrated more on working out. I just started working hard and doing the things that you’re supposed to do."
So instead of relaxing and hanging out in her spare time, Biondo went to work. She ran as much as possible and went to physical therapy to help the injuries. In between, she went to the gym and worked out with weights to get physically stronger.
Soon after, the results started pouring in.
"Last spring, her times started to drop markedly," Nagel said. "I mean, she started out running six-minute miles, then it went to 5:45, then 5:23, which is a very nice time. When you’re running seven or eight-minute miles, then that kind of drop in time isn’t significant. But when you’re in the six-minute range and still dropping 10-to-12 seconds? That’s pretty good."
"I think from mid-April to June, she started getting better," Nagel added. "Then, she carried over her work ethic through the summer and started off this year with some eye-popping numbers out of the gate."
Just how startling?
Well, Biondo started off the year winning the St. Dominic Invitational meet in Lincoln Park, which featured 38 teams from all over the state, including perennial powers like Westfield and Morristown.
The next weekend, Biondo competed in the Bernie McGee Invitational, with another strong field. Biondo finished second overall among seniors and sixth overall out of a field of 400 runners with a time of 20:35.
And last weekend, Biondo finished 13th overall at the Stewart Memorial Invitational, competing against a similar field at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. Biondo did so, even though she missed three days of practice last week with a case of the flu.
With those performances, Biondo is ranked No. 3 in the state among Parochial runners.
For her efforts, Biondo has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Biondo doesn’t know if it was an alarm that just went off in her head that forced her to work harder. She’s just glad that she recognized what she had to do in time.
"I realized that I can’t just expect to come back and run," Biondo said. "When you come back, you’re not able to perform at your best. I just made sure that I always worked, either running or working out. Nothing special, just keep getting my leg muscles strong."
Nagel realizes that Biondo is a special athlete.
"She can be a ball of fire," Nagel said. "She’s relentless. She’s very strong willed. I think that’s always been a personality trait. She could have moaned and wondered why did all the injuries always happen to her. But she didn’t quit and realized what she had to do. And at this point, she’s a warrior."
Nagel also believes that Biondo can perform on the collegiate level.
"She is talented and you can’t sidestep talent," Nagel said. "She’s worked hard to get where she is now and the work is paying off. It’s only October and nobody cares about early October. It’s all about what she does later on. But she’s pretty good and she’s come a long way."
Nagel added, "Plus, she doesn’t have a lot of wear on the tires. When you consider her improvement, I think she’s going to make somebody [on the collegiate level] very happy."
Biondo is excited about the way her career has dramatically turned around. Two years ago, she wasn’t even a member of the varsity at SDA. Now, she’s one of the finest cross-country runners in the state.
"I’m pretty happy with the way things are going," Biondo said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future and I’m not going to make predictions. I just have to keep listening to John and keep working hard."
Paying attention to the coach and keeping the nose to the grindstone. Now, there’s every coach’s dream.