The Day's All-Area Boys' Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Stonington's Ryan Gruczka

April 26, 2022 12:00 am • Last Updated: April 28, 2022 9:33 am

By Vickie Fulkerson
Day Sports Editor

Stonington High School junior Ryan Gruczka was the Class S state champion in the 1,000 meters (2:35.20) and as part of the 4x800 relay, helping lift the Bears to the overall team title. He was third at the State Open and seventh in New England in the 1,000. Gruczka was named The Day's 2022 All-Area Boys' Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
Buy Photo Reprints

It took Ryan Gruczka a moment to answer the question: Was there a certain highlight from this season that was memorable?

That's because there were a few for Gruczka, a junior on the Stonington High School boys' indoor track team and The Day's 2022 All-Area Boys' Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Gruczka won Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II individual titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter events, then took Class S state championships in the 1,000 along with running a leg of the first-place 4x800 relay. He capped the season at the Nike Indoor National Championship meet at Staten Island, N.Y., where the Bears' sprint medley relay team set the school record by finishing second in the emerging elite division in 3 minutes, 35.47 seconds.

A state championship. A school record. A new event.

"One of the most memorable parts was when we got that school record at Nike nationals," said Gruczka, who joined teammates Josh Mooney, Will Sawin and Ryan Orr in running the relay in a time that even coach Ben Bowne thought was unfathomable for the group.

"Also, winning the 1,000 at states. I ran it once every year (prior to this); I was OK at it, but I really didn't like it. But this year I decided to start running it a little more. Usually I'm doing the longer stuff. I looked at it as a short race because usually I run longer. It's not really a sprint but I don't have to pace myself as hard."

All of his accomplishments in indoor track came after a cross country season which came to a bit of an unfortunate close. Gruczka, dehydrated, collapsed near the finish line of the ECC cross country championship at Norwich Golf Course and was unable to recover enough to finish the state championship meet at Wickham Park (although he tried).

Bowne called Gruczka's indoor season a success "wire to wire" but said it required a few adjustments to the training schedule.

"He's a confident kid. He definitely loves running," Bowne said. "But he had to learn how to take care of himself a little bit. He goes full throttle every single day. I started monitoring his easy days; every single day can't be a hard training day ... you can get burnt (out) pretty fast."

Gruczka wound up making two trips to the hospital at the end of cross country season but was undeterred moving on to winter.

The Bears won the ECC Division II team title, their fifth straight, getting Gruczka's top finishes in the 1,600 (4:38.90) and 3,200 (9:55.15).

Then they turned their attention to the Class S state championship at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven, Feb. 12. Stonington won the state title, too, with 56 points, edging Bloomfield, which had 53, eking out the victory despite a disqualification in the 4x400 relay.

Grucza (2:35.20) and teammate Ryan Orr recorded a 1-2 finish in the 1,000 after having already teamed to help lift the 4x800 relay to a win. Gruczka was second in the 3,200 (10:00.22) to seal the championship, although Bowne didn't allow the celebration to begin until the final point total was official.

"At that point, we knew after all the points we got, we were pretty far ahead, but no one really knew," Gruczka said. "Online we were looking at the scoring. We kept refreshing it all the time. I was pretty sure we had it at that point. It was good. The whole ride back on the bus we were all super-excited, that whole whole week at school everyone was pretty excited about it."

It was a personal best for Gruczka in the 1,000. He admits that he was reluctant to leave the 1,600 but quickly adopted a strategy for the new event.

"I don't think I'd be the type of person to get out really hard or close really hard, so I like to run consistent," he said. "It's such a short race, I can pick it up in the middle. I like to work the middle part."

He went on to finish third in the 1,000 at the State Open (2:35.69) and seventh in New England with another personal best (2:33.42). At the national meet he ran the 800, finishing 25th, but was part of the sprint medley team which was second.

The sprint medley team qualified for nationals, just barely, with a 3:47 at a meet on Jan. 22. The Bears added Josh Mooney, the ECC 55 dash and 55 hurdles champ, to the mix for the national meet, for which the participants told Bowne they were going to break the school record. Gruczka ran the 800-meter leg of the event.

"The school record was 11 seconds faster. I said, 'Where are we finding 11 seconds?'" Bowne said. "They found it. They ran second in nationals. They really stepped up to the moment and proved me wrong. I was blown away. ... This is a good group. Ryan loves to compete. He loves to run. He has a quiet confidence."

"He is always ready to compete and do whatever he needs for the team," said Megan Chapman, Stonington's head cross country coach. "Ryan is just really fun to coach. He has a fire within him that cannot be extinguished."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Stonington junior Ryan Gruczka, front, led a 1-2 finish in the 1,000 meters at the Class S state championship meet along with teammate Ryan Orr, helping pad the Bears' point total enough for them to win the team title. Gruczka, traditionally a long-distance runner, took the 1,000 in 2:35.20, later third in the State Open (2:35.69) and seventh in New England (2:33.42). (Photo courtesy of Anna Sawin Photography)

Ryan Grucza capped a successful Class S state championship meet with a second-place finish in the 3,200 meters in 10:00.22. Grucza finished first in the 1,000 and as part of the 4x800 relay, lifting Stonington to the team title. (Photo courtesy of Anna Sawin Photography)