Woodbury runner Wareham doesn't let broken wrist slow his rise in the rankings

A broken wrist threatened senior Nick Wareham's cross-country season. But instead, he's running better than ever.

Just after winning the Lakeville Applejack Invitational in September, Wareham broke his left wrist playing football in gym class.

"When I broke it, I knew it," said Wareham, who has run for Woodbury's varsity team since his sophomore year. "It was really bent. I was very concerned with how my cross-country season was going to go."

Wareham underwent surgery and his left wrist was placed in a cast. He missed the team's next three meets, but he returned to run in the Suburban East Conference championship on Oct. 14 at Falcon Ridge Golf Course in Stacy.

And he won the meet, setting a school record. His time of 15 minutes, 10 seconds was 18 seconds better than the runner-up, Stillwater senior Bailey Hesse-Withbroe. It also was 13 seconds faster than the Royals' record of 15:23, set by Jason Lindelof 13 years ago.

Mark Andrews, in his 21st year coaching at Woodbury, calls Wareham "driven" and "an anomaly."

"He's an awfully strong kid," Andrews said. "One would think running with a cast would slow a person down. But, for him, it didn't really do that. His time was remarkable."

Wareham said he believed he had a chance to win the conference championship at the beginning of the season: "I wasn't overly surprised, but I think a lot of people were."

Wareham started running competitively in sixth grade and began cross-country in eighth grade. He said he took to running because he admired his dad, Pete, who was a Minnesota state champion in 1980 and a six-time NCAA champion in college. Pete Wareham is the men's cross-country coach at the University of St. Thomas.

"He didn't push me into it," Nick Wareham said. "I knew he ran and was good at it and I just wanted to be like my dad."

Andrews said Wareham is focused, passionate about running and smart — on and off the course.

"That's his strong point," Andrews said. "Academically, he's a very bright young man. I think that helps him, certainly. He's a leader. The kids really look up to him. He has definitely been an influence on the team."

"I came back this year because he said I have to follow through with him his senior year," he said. "I'm getting old enough, so you start to wonder. You never know. But I definitely wanted to stick it out with him."

Wareham might be running with a bit of a chip on his shoulder this season, something that motivated him to run 35 to 40 miles a week last summer, according to Andrews. Wareham qualified on Wednesday to compete in his third consecutive state meet this Saturday, but he has yet to earn all-state honors. He finished 151st in last year's state meet with a time of 17:40.6 after taking 70th as a sophomore in 16:38.

Wareham believes the disappointing end to his junior season was due to an iron deficiency, discovered last winter, that he's addressing with supplements.

"Being fully healthy with the iron deficiency has played a part in how I've been doing," Wareham said. "I'm feeling pretty good right now. I just want to keep it going and get the team to state."

Wareham said a personal goal is to place in the top 10 at the state meet. Count his coach among the believers.