On October 4th, 2025, nearly 200 teams raced through rolling hills, dirt, sand, and the infamous “Bowl” on the hardest course in New Jersey (and one of the hardest in the country) — Holmdel. The course begins with a steadily steepening open field, before a period of rolling hills There is time to rest until the “Bowl”, a long and very steep uphill. After, runners must speed up through the straightaway in an attempt to PR-something near impossible at Holmdel. On October 4th, the 80 degree weather and 0 cloud coverage bred a very dry, and therefore, slippery course. Nevertheless, the Hunterdon Central Girls Varsity Cross Country team stepped on to the line. After a demanding 5 kilometers, the team pulled through to 7th overall in the Shore Coaches Invitational. Out of 169 runners, Sonya Hutzelmann placed 87th (23:30), Gabriella Szwandrak and Katie Schwartz placed 40th and 41st, respectively (both 21:24), Brynn Hamer earning 39th (21:19), and, pulling all the way to second, breaking the school’s 1996 record, was Molly Domurat with a time of just 18:38.
Molly Domurat broke the school’s 1996 record with her time at Holmdel, and proceeded to break this record three more times throughout the season. She ended with her official record breaking time of 18:03, which is 35 seconds faster than the first time she broke the record. Molly was interviewed by Milesplit and remained humble throughout the entirety of the interview, putting her team above herself, demonstrating the type of athlete she is on and off the course.
Next, Molly was interviewed by me and her answers are as follows…
ME: Tell me about your career from freshman year to senior year and how it improved.
MOLLY: Going into cross country freshman year I didn’t think much of it. I certainly had humble beginnings in middle school cross country, running short and flat courses that made the jump to high school seem a mile long. Even with this shock, as I started to improve and move up I felt a growing determination to complete these miles and I looked up to girls above me. This mindset stayed similar during XC sophomore year. I wanted to compete well, but I still only treated it with a minimal amount of concern. So, with this my nerves stayed minimal, but I found my mentality during races to be faulty and unreliable. I would find myself feeling a sense of defeat as each girl in a race passed me, and I let it be saying, “I can’t catch her.” As I went into junior year, I came in more determined, more ready to do well for not only my team, but me too. With this extra care I got nervous. As each race went by I felt more and more tired physically. This weighed not only my body down, but also my mind. I found it harder and harder to push it. Until I hit a wall. My season left unfinished in my mind and left me unsatisfied. So coming into this year with all the years I had behind me, I came back reflecting on everything. I came back with a strengthened mind and body, with a new found determination and faith in my training. Instead of giving up when pushed by a runner next to me, I ran beside them. If someone passed me, I wouldn’t say it’s over, I would just think of when I could get an extra push to get back with them. I also really focused on my team, on being a part in our success and placement as a Central team.
ME: What’s your key to staying consistent and improving?
MOLLY: I would say not only really try and give your best effort during runs and workouts, but believe and enjoy yourself, even when it’s hard. With the first point of that sentence, each run serves a purpose, a part in the buildup your body requires for such a physically tiring sport. I try to tell myself this when I don’t want to do a hard workout or a run in bad weather. I found when I completed that hard workout or run I felt accomplished, and proud I still did it. Along with this I try to enjoy myself. Have fun with friends, and not allow running to be a chore. And with the wonderful people around me, it never did.
ME: What went through your mind breaking the Holmdel record?
MOLLY: It may be lame but I didn’t even think about it during or immediately after the race. I had not known it prior and was only notified after by Marton so I went about the race with the sole purpose of PR’ing. Once he told me it was kind of surreal. It was odd to think that I would now be someone that left Central with an impact. It was cool but it really just made me grateful for how far I’d come from junior year and my team and family. I will say this a million times, but I really would not have been in that position without the amazing support I’ve had from the girls and Marton over the years. I love you guys (:
ME: How did you break that record?
MOLLY: When I came to running races this year I went in with a new focus. I focused on not only working hard during runs and workouts, but supporting those runs after with protein and fueling my body properly. This allowed for my body to become more physically fit but also made me feel good on runs. On the mental side of things I would not let myself worry about the race until 2 nights before. If I had any worry before then I would push it out of my brain. When it was time to think about the race I would keep my nerves proportional. Every night before a race this season, before I went to bed I would plan out my race from start to finish. I would imagine myself at the start line, I would imagine my nerves. Then I worked through the race, who I wanted to run with, when I wanted to make a move. But I also looked at the bad scenarios. I imagined what I would do if I felt bad, or how I would adapt to a random change in race dynamic. This helped on race day when I didn’t have to worry about how strategically I would run the race. On race day I would only allow myself to think positively. I would repeat self-affirmations and gaslight myself into thinking Holmdel or Philipsburg was “fun.” I continued this until the gun went off to start and then I thought of my plan from the night before. I only thought of the plan, not how bad my legs hurt, or how heavy I was breathing. This made the races go by as fast as they had in my mind. All of this I hadn’t done the past 3 years and I truly believe this has been the main reason for my success this season and the reason why I was able to beat the record.
On November 29th, Molly will go on to race at Brooks Regional XC Qualifiers in Boston. At the end of season banquet, Molly’s coach stated that she will go down as “the Greatest of All Time in Hunterdon Central Cross Country history,” a testament to her dedication and incredible contribution to the program throughout her time on this team.
Update: As of November 29th, Molly Domurt placed 9th in the regionals with a time of 17:33, qualifying her to the Brooks XC National Championships in San Diego.
