“I hated the idea of running, and I thought it was stupid,” Myles Munro said.
That was the Seaford High School senior’s response to his brother trying to convince him to join the school’s varsity cross-country team when he was just in seventh grade.
Munro is now the 2024 recipient of the Bill Ott Memorial Award and a six-time All-County runner. Munro also placed second in Nassau County in the 5K followed by a 10th place finish at the state competition during his senior season.
Munro earned the honor in Dec. of 2024 from the Nassau Cross-Country Officials for his career in the sport, leadership, good citizenship and scholarship. He was nominated by Seaford cross-county coach Kim Cooke who praised Munro’s character.
“Myles has always shown unwavering respect for opponents and genuine support for teammates,” she said. “He sees each race as an opportunity to grow and learn and use those lessons moving forward. Myles is a true team player, often looking for ways to elevate the whole team.”
Cross-country wasn’t always Munro’s first choice when it came to sports. He grew up playing lacrosse, but his brother and other family members eventually persuaded him to try out for the varsity cross-country team.
“In the back of my mind I wanted to fail it, I didn’t try to fail it, but I wanted to fail it,” Munro said about the test required for seventh and eighth graders to play high school sports, according to the state’s Athletic Placement Process. “I quickly found success, and it just became more addicting by the day.”
Munro competed with his brother Allison Munro during his seventh-grade season. He became friends with the other high school seniors at that time, something that Munro made sure to tell his other middle-school friends. He also looked up to those same seniors in a way that he hopes underclassmen can now look up to him.
“I actually remember watching the best guy on our team run his race, and it was always just so amazing to me, and I hope that they think that about me,” Munro said about the difference between when he first joined the team and now. “It’s a really great opportunity for me to be almost mentoring almost mentoring the 9th graders and and 10th graders. I never thought I’d be in that position.”
Cooke said that when she first started coaching Munro when he was in seventh grade, he would be “mischievous” at practice. She then credited him, saying that as he got older, he realized the extra work that was needed to be put in order to compete at a high level.
“The younger kids are in awe of him,” Cooke said. “He’ll talk about the mileage he did over the weekend or the extra run he does after the race. It’s that extra work he puts in.”
Munro will compete in his final track season in the spring before graduating from Seaford High School. He will continue to run cross country and track at Temple University while also majoring in marketing.
