CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- Lafayette boasts one of the top boys cross country teams in the state when it comes to Class 3. A big part of the Rams' success has been senior leadership and that was evident this past Wednesday as the squad claimed the Region 3A title at Chesapeake's Bells Mill Park.
One of those senior captains is Henry Gemerek, who boasts a resume seemingly longer than the 3.1 mile course the team triumphed that day. In addition to cross country and track and field, Henry plays soccer, golf, basketball and also swims. It's an impressive list.
His biggest stride of all, however, might come in the form of his perseverance.
"One night, I was just up in bed and I couldn't move," he recalled. "It was hurting so badly. It was inflamed."
Last August, Henry suffered from an infection in his leg that required surgery just as his junior cross country season was getting underway. One month later, he would be back on the course. Now, he's saving his best for last, shattering his personal records throughout his senior year and fueled by a new perspective.
"Once that injury happened, I was like 'OK, maybe I should take this seriously. I have one more year so I'm going to give it my all,'" he said.
"He's a warrior," added Rams' head coach Cher Lobash. "He's very resilient, he's hard-working and just has an amazing amount of willpower."
In addition to the need for speed (Henry has run the 5K in 16:49), the senior also seems to have the need to keep himself occupied. In addition to his five sports, he's an honor student and a member of the National Honor Society.
"He's never missed a practice," Lobash said. "He never asks to do less of a workout. He's just always there doing whatever is asked of him."
"If there's a day I don't have a sport, I get home, I'm kind of tired, I'm a little bit more lazy," noted Henry. "If I'm going from point A to point B, like back and forth, it keeps me up. It keeps me energetic."
Henry's high school career may be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean his running days are over. He hopes to continue logging the miles in-state at Virginia Tech.
"Hopefully I make it into Tech and I want to run there, at least on the club team," he said. "I want to pursue the sport, so I'm having a lot of fun with it."
He's having fun and also motivated. Henry's high school career has been full of lessons, teaching him the benefit of going the extra mile.
"You can work so much harder than you think you can," he pointed out. "I think that's a really big takeaway and that's what I've learned over the past couple years is that there's always more left in the tank and I can always do more and more stuff."
"No matter what you're situation is, if you just keep trying and you figure out how to adapt and overcome through any situation, you can persevere through just about anything," added Lobash.
Henry and Lafayette will wrap up their season next Saturday, November 11, at the Class 3 state championship meet in Salem.
