Nathaniel Assa competed in just a few meets last fall, finishing with runner-up honors at both the Division 2A Championships and the Meet of Champions.
A lot has changed for the Marblehead senior as he embarks on his final high school season. The Magicians’ mega-talented distance star had his breakthrough at the Meet of Champions last winter, where he captured the two-mile in a then 20-second PR of 9:05.30.
It only got better from there.
Assa went on to win the New England title with another PR of 9:04.60 and then earned All-American honors at New Balance Nationals by placing sixth in the 5K at 14:32.40. Outdoors, he repeated as two-mile winner at the MOC and, just two weeks later, nearly stole the show in the 5,000m at New Balance, running an all-time best of 14:25.19.
We’re expecting a very big year from Assa, who has a legit chance to claim his first individual XC crown this fall and shine in the postseason at meets like Nike Cross Nationals in late November. He ran 15:52.08 at last year’s MOC, just 10 seconds behind individual champ Silas Gartner of Falmouth. With his new-found confidence, don’t be surprised if he’s well under that mark in 2024 — perhaps in the low 15s, maybe even sub-15 at Fort Devens. Based on what we saw during track, it’s certainly possible.
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Nate graduated this spring. He’s a freshman at Purdue now
thanks. Will fix