Gwyneth Goldowski, captain of the Frontier High School track and field team and three-time section VI title champion, has had many accomplishments during her high school running career, and she is looking forward to continuing her success on the University of North Carolina team.
Her passion for this sport was inspired by her father, who was an NCAA Division II track athlete at East Stroudsburg University. “He’s always been running, and he actually got me involved in running. There was a summer track club that I started when I was in third grade, and I’ve been running ever since.”
Goldowski still trains with the Lake Effect Track Club during the summer, and for the last two years, she has helped coach the younger athletes on the team. “I became a junior coach, so I will help the younger kids with their new events.”
Currently, She is competing in her final season with the Frontier Falcons track and field team. She said the last four years on the team have helped her grow into the person she is today, and she will be forever thankful for the memories and friendships she has created with her teammates. “My teammates are so amazing and so supportive of me and everything that we, as a team, have accomplished. I love the bus rides, going out to dinner with them, and just being at the meets where we are all cheering each other on and pushing one another,” said Goldowski.
“The amount of friendships I’ve made with my competitors has been amazing. I feel like track is so different and so individual that you’re able to build these friendships with your competitors because you’re all pushing each other towards the same goal.” Over the course of her high school career, she was also able to bond with athletes from other schools, which is something she feels is unique to the sport.
Due to Covid-19 concerns, the team’s season was postponed and some meets were canceled. During this time, the athletes had to train on their own, which was a difficult obstacle to overcome.
Not being able to run in a meet was definitely pretty devastating, and not being able to practice with my teammates has definitely been hard on, not only me, but all of us as a team. We all are there to push each other, so having to run by yourself all the time sometimes isn’t very beneficial, and to get out there by yourself is very challenging and mentally tough.
Fortunately, team practices resumed in mid-April and a meet schedule has been created. Goldowski is excited for her last sectional meet with the Frontier team, during which she hopes to break the section VI meet record and win another title. She currently holds three section VI championship titles in the 400 meter, 200 meter, and 300 meter events.
“The feeling was definitely unbelievable. I had been working towards these titles for many years. During my sophomore year, I had lost every race leading up to the top two meets, so just being able to finally win was a weight off my shoulders.”
Even though her time as a Frontier Falcon is coming to a close, Goldowski’s success is far from over. She will be joining the NCAA Division I track and field team at the University of North Carolina and she says she is looking forward to her freshman season. UNC has always been on her radar because of their athletic accomplishments, but she didn’t realize she would fall in love with the school so quickly.
I picked UNC because I loved the atmosphere that it provided. I absolutely love my coach, and I am so excited to be working with him and my new teammates when I’m down there. I have always known UNC because of their unbelievable sports teams and their sports environment. Once I started to get to know more about the team, I knew this was the place that I wanted to be.
In regards to her goals over the next few years, she is excited to keep improving and excelling as an athlete at UNC, and she hopes to achieve more PR’s during her collegiate career. “I really would like to get to that next level of running. That’s something I’m really looking forward to, and I think UNC will be able to take me there.”