August 24, 2005
John Richardson - Back in Kentucky & ready to run
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
It is hard to imagine an Ocean City High School athlete ending his or her scholastic career in a more
impressive way than John Richardson did in 2003.
He won both the 800 and 1600 meters at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, the last event of the school
year, becoming the first runner in state history to win both of those events in the MOC. And the first OCHS
athlete to win twice in the highly-regarded track meet.
Richardson returned to the University of Kentucky this week after a good summer, a season that saw him
help the Ocean City Beach Patrol to victories, including an appearance on ESPN. “And I had my own
beach this year,” he said, “at Fifth Street. That was great. But the ESPN thing was crazy.”
He spent two weeks working at a running camp in the Poconos before heading back to Kentucky and had
a chance to watch OCHS senior Brittany Sedberry, who missed last spring’s track season due to stress
fractures but is hoping to win a third straight MOC title in cross country this fall.
“Nothing Brittany does would surprise me,” said Richardson. “She looked good in the Poconos, really fit. It
is tough to miss a season and get back into top physical shape quickly, but she seems ready. It’s even
tougher mentally. She’ll need to deal with the emotional and mental stress this season.”
Richardson has a touch of stress himself. Last year he transferred from Kentucky, his college of choice
coming out of high school, to Villanova. “I felt a little homesick,” he said, “being so far away. And I had a
rough couple of months in Kentucky. I was getting depressed and I thought a change closer to home might
be the answer. I was wrong. The coaches and the athletes were great at Villanova but the school wasn’t
what I wanted.”
Richardson transferred back to Kentucky but the switch might cost him a year of eligibility.
“We’ve appealed (the standard one-year suspension) and should hear very soon,” he said. Kentucky is
scheduled to start its cross country season on Sept. 2.
“I can run un-attached (if the suspension is upheld),” he explained, “and I can train with the team. I just
wouldn’t be able to compete as part of the team or travel with them. It’s not the end of the world, though it
certainly isn’t what I want.”
Richardson goes back to Kentucky in first-class shape. “I ran about 55 miles a week this summer,” he
said, “in addition to my lifeguard stuff. I’m 100 percent physically and, throughout all the rough patches, I
continued to progress as a runner.”
The Olympic Games is still a goal for Richardson, who was named the Flagship Award winner as the
CAL’s top athlete his senior year, which also included a win at the prestigious Penn Relays. “That (the
Olympics) is something I really want,” he said. “It’s always in the back of my mind.”
Regardless of the ruling on his appeal, he will continue to run with the best and compete with the best. To
paraphrase what he said about Brittany Sedberry, nobody who has watched John Richardson compete will
be surprised by anything he accomplishes.
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