-Athlete Name: Patrick Kunkel
-School: McDonald High School
-Year of Graduation: 2013
-Best time in a 5K race and in which meet:
16:04 at the 2010 State Meet at Scioto Downs
-Tell us how your summer training is going?
It's going good, just training with my team and myself
-What are your goals for the upcoming season?
My goals this season are to finish my senior year off with a bang and really push myself harder than ever!
-How long have you been running and how did you get started?
I've been watching my brothers run for years. I have four older brothers and they all ran for McDonald and between them they have 2 State Team Championship trophies and 3 State Runner-Up Team Championship trophies, so I've had plenty of inspiration growing up.
-Will you be competing anywhere out of state this season?
I'm not totally sure if I will be competing out of state yet or not.
-What is your favorite course to run in Ohio?
My favorite course to run on WAS Scioto Downs at the State Meet, now its between my home course in McDonald at Woodland Park. My coaches Chris Rupe, Louis Domitrovich, and Mike Richards, as well as our boosters put a lot of heart and time into our course to make it a great place to hold meets. The other course that's another favorite is Boardman's course.
-What is the toughest course to run in Ohio?
My home course is well groomed but has lots of turns and hills. In fact the home stretch has an infamous hill to climb to finish that last .1 of the 3.1 miles of the course. It's lots of fun and plenty to look at and keep yourself busy and tires out a lot of opponents that do not know how to run the course, but still, you most likely will not run your PR on it.
-What meet during the regular season do you put extra emphasize on to compete well at?
I'd probably have to say the Boardman Spartan Invitational because it's one of those meets where there is big competition. We haven't gone to the Tiffin in a while now, and Boardman is the biggest meet (besides Regionals and State, of course) that we go to. It's a good, true cross country course and there's great competition to race. You can even pull off a decent time on a course that's not too flat and not too hilly or filled with twists and turns.
-What is your favorite cross country race so far in your high school career?
My favorite race my high school career was probably my first race I broke under 17 minutes. I went out my freshman year for the first time because my oldest brother Tim told me to try and stick with Jerry Dugan, he was our number one guy at the time. From that point on Jerry and I ran side by side, there was no turning back going above 17.
-Favorite cross country memory?
My favorite cross country memory was from this past season 2011 my junior year when my team mates and good friends, Kyle Joynes and sophomore Bobby Johnson, and I led our team to a State Championship trophy, we were called a trio by some reporters in my area. That trophy made it the third my brothers and I have earned out of the six in McDonald CC history.
-When you are not running what is your favorite thing to do?
When I'm not running I'm with my friends and I start varsity basketball for my school.
-Favorite quote?
My favorite quote is probably from a Rage Against the Machine song it goes
"it has to start somewhere
It has to start sometime
What better place than here
What better time than now"
I think it's creative and makes me think of everything and anything not just running
-What's on your Ipod when you go out for runs?
On my iPod are a lot of 90s alternative Grunge and different hip hop artists. Honestly, due to being a DJ, I listen to a wide variety besides country music. Examples of the variety are Kanye West, Jay-Z, Tyga, Machine Gun Kelly, Dave Matthews Band, Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Sublime, Black Keys, Pearl Jam, Flogging Molly, Nirvana, Oasis, Sugar Ray,The Killers, Michael Jackson and more.
-What professional athlete would you most like to meet?
Professional athlete I would like to meet is Kyrie Irving. He's a young athlete replacing Lebron James fast and making Cleveland Believe again. I respect him so much and he has mad handles and got crazy game. Just as Uncle Drew says in the Pepsi Max commercial, "I get buckets," he really does "get buckets."
-Athlete Name: Patrick Kunkel
-School: McDonald High School
-Year of Graduation: 2013