By Christopher Tremblay

Soccer had been something that Bridget Flynn grew up playing, but the sport eventually found its end life with the now Norwood High School sophomore. Soccer was replaced in her middle school years with cross country and now running has become a big part of her life and she is excelling at it at such a young age.

“I started running cross country because I was looking for something to do and I really didn’t like soccer anymore,” Flynn said. “I found that the aspect of the sport was more individual and your times actually showed your progress.”

During middle school, Flynn was running cross country not only to do something with her friends, but to have fun – it was nothing serious at that point. Upon entering her first year of high school, she ran cross country in the fall, played basketball during the winter season, and ran outdoor track in the spring. 

It was during the spring track season that running started to become more serious. Natalie Martin, the Norwood mile record holder, would become an inspiration for the first-year runner. The two would not only run together in practice, but Martin would take Flynn under her wing and mentor her with a positive outlook. The senior really believed in her young apprentice.

Norwood Track Coach Alanna Keady sees a lot of Martin in Flynn and believes that by the time she graduates she could very well break Martin’s school record in the mile, which currently sits at 5:02. According to the Mustang coach, the two runners are very similar – focused and driven with a passion for running.

“It’s pretty cool to be compared to her, she was such a great athlete,” Flynn said of Martin. “It only shows me that with the hard work I can possibly do the things that she was able to do.”

Much like in middle school, Flynn was not expecting a lot out of running for Norwood High, it was something that she just enjoyed participating in. She was also hoping that taking part in fall cross country would help her stay in shape and get ready for the basketball season. Little did she know what was about to happen during her first track season with Norwood in the spring of her freshman year.

During that season, Flynn would run the mile and 2-mile for Norwood, and while she didn’t get a lot of time with the longer distance race as she was prioritizing her focus on the mile, she still enjoyed both races.

Late in the spring season competing at the Tri-Valley League Championships, she ran her best time (5:31) to date in the mile. A few weeks later at the Divisional Tournament, she would break her best time with a three second decrease. Going into the Divisional Tournament, the first-year runner felt that she was much more prepared than she was at the TVL Championship and was excited about the possibility of taking her time to under 5:30, which she did. In addition to her personal best in the mile at 5:28, she also posted a best time of 12:03 in the 2-mile as well as an 18:59 time in the fall running the 5K during the cross-country season. Flynn was also a member of the 4x800 relay team that broke the school record (10:03.36) while capturing first place in the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association (MSTCA) Invitational. The foursome would later break their own record at the MIAA State Championship with a time of 9:50.14. 

“As a sophomore this past cross-country season, she broke 19 minutes and soon after that won the sophomore race, which included some 80 runners, at the Frank Mooney Invitational in Wrentham,”  Coach Keady said. “Coming into her first season running indoor track, Keady is looking for her to continue to drop her times in the mile while placing in the top three distance runners in the TVL.”

Flynn has become so enamored with running that she gave up playing basketball this winter so that she could become a three-season runner for Norwood. Taking part in her first winter campaign, she is looking to get more opportunities to run in the 2-mile race while recording a time under 12 minutes, while bringing her mile time under 5:20. She would also like to qualify for the Divisionals once again while medaling this time.

“I feel that I am ready and have upped my workouts this past off-season while training harder to become better and faster,” Flynn said. “If I can medal at the Divisionals, then I will be able to run in the State Championship for the first time. It would be great to get that far and doing it as a sophomore would be awesome, but whatever happens happens, I’m still young and will have the opportunities.”

One of Flynn’s biggest goals is to surpass her teammate and Martins’ school record in the mile.

“It’s definitely a possibility, but most likely not this year as a sophomore,” Flynn said. “By my junior or senior year, I feel that I’ll be able to go after the record. I feel like that if I am able to do it, I’ll be continuing the legacy. She helped me my freshman year and I’d like to continue what she did for the school.”

Not only would Flynn like to break the school’s record in the mile in the next few years, but she is also hoping to run cross-country and track in college.

“I would love to run for a Division 1 college, it is definitely a long-term goal,” Flynn said. “Where I would go is unknown at this point. I want to be able to run at a high level and show my capabilities while working toward something. It shows that anyone can do something if they put their mind to it, even if you just started doing it recently.”

Flynn took part in the Division 2A Cross Country Tournament at Northfield Mountain in November, a very hilly and challenging course and was able to place fifth with a time of 20:01.2. Her finish allowed her to continue to take part in the Division 2 State Tournament.

Bridget concluded her season running at Fort Devens, another challenging course, in the MIAA Division 2  XC State Meet of Champions where she finished with a time of 19:30.39 to grab a 16th place finish out of 183 runner.

Photos courtesy of Bridget Flynn