St. Mary's High School graduate Mark Donohue was a two-year team captain for the cross-country squad and also played football, lacrosse and swam for the Saints.
Mark Donohue, a St. Mary's High School graduate, learned how to surf in the 8th grade and wants to pursue the sport when he goes to UNC-Wilmington in the fall.
by Aaron Grayagray@digitalsports.comGetting cut from a high school sports team is a tough process for any teenager. For Mark Donohue, it happened twice in two years.
The
St. Mary's High School graduate played football and lacrosse during his freshman season. He didn't make the final roster for football the next year and was left off the lacrosse list his junior season. Some teenagers might have quit sports all together but Donohue saw the silver lining and continued to pursue athletics through other avenues.
He excelled as a standout cross-country runner for the Saints, was a member of an undefeated swim team and used his extra time off during the spring to become an avid surfer. The perseverence Donohue demonstrated in athletics is why he is the
Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association winner of the DigitalSports Applause Scholarship.
The DigitalSports Applause Scholarship is awarded in the amount of $500 toward the college education of an outstanding senior student-athlete who has exhibited great courage in overcoming adversity in order to make a positive contribution to his or her team.
In 2007-2008, DigitalSports has named 22 Applause Scholarship winners in the Baltimore area, representing more than $11,000 in scholarship awards. Winners have come from Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties, as well as Baltimore City, the MIAA and the IAAM.
"Surfing, swimming and cross country," said Donohue, who is headed to UNC-Wilmington in the fall. "If you had asked me when I was a freshman if those were the sports I would be doing, I wouldn't have believed you."
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Donohue never really had the size for football so he went out for the cross country team his junior year because he thought it would help get him in shape for lacrosse. Turns out, he was pretty good and was named team captain his junior and senior seasons.
"Instead of giving up on sports, like many his age would, Mark decided to keep trying until he found something that fit," St. Mary's cross-country coach Lexie Elliott said. "I don't know many adults, let alone high school-age kids, who would have the courage to keep pushing and keep trying like Mark did. So many obstacles stood in the way."
Getting recognized as a team captain for two years was a testament to Donohue's leadership skills and it helped him improve as a runner.
"Being a captain was new for me because I wasn't a leader on the other teams I played for," said Donohue, who placed fourth overall in a dual meet against Boys' Latin on Oct. 10 with a time of 20 minutes, 52 seconds. "It helped me motivate my teammates and it motivated me. I couldn't just show up for practice and slack off. We had a young team so the other guys saw me and understood they could do it, too."
During the season opener this past fall, Donohue clocked one of his best times of the season. He came in eighth with a time of 20:46 as the Saints topped St. John's (19-42), Cardinal Gibbons (26-33) but fell to Beth T'Filoh (24-32).
A nagging right hip injury during his senior year couldn't slow the Kent Island resident, either.
"My hip was clicking so I went to the doctor for an X-ray," Donohue said. "I just ran through the pain. It's wasn't a big deal. For about three races, it hurt but I got used to it. It didn't really affect my stride so I was never too worried about it."
Said Elliott: "Mark had that hip injury all season but he never complained. He continued to place as a top finisher in every race he ran."
During his junior year, Donohue also swam for the St. Mary's boys swim team, which won the MIAA B Conference after wrapping up a perfect 6-0 regular season. He swam the 400 free and 400 medley relays.
Once again, Donohue thought swimming would help with another sport he loved: surfing. His uncle taught him how to surf when he was in the 8th grade and he instantly "fell in love" with the sport. He improved with every trip to the Florida and North Carolina coasts and he wants to join the surfing team at UNC-Wilmington, which has one of the best surfing teams on the East Coast.
"Getting cut from sports just boosted my surfing," Donohue said. "When my friend, Billy Schilling, and I did not make the lacrosse team our junior year, it just gave us more time to surf and we're much better because of it."
Donohue also said he will consider walking onto the cross-country team and participate in club lacrosse, but that's only after his education is taken care of. Being around the ocean and the Eastern Shore wetlands growing up sparked an interest in marine biology for Donohue. He wants to double major in oceanography and business marketing.
"I'll probably end up picking one or the other," said Donohue, who posted a 3.8 grade-point average at St. Mary's and scored an 1,800 on the SATs. "I've always been interested in the ocean and marketing wise, I have a general interest in the surf industry."