Interview from Colehower's 2017 Indoor MOCs Victory
Luke Colehower of Haddonfield Memorial HS has committed to Rutgers University. If your memory is foggy this New Jersey sprint star won the indoor Meet of Champions 400m title as a sophomore in 2017 and was second in the 200m dash that same year. Unfortunately due to some tough injuries he missed most of his sophomore spring season and the entire 2018 junior year campaign.
Back in the game and healthy now, Colehower has his sights set for a big 2019 run. His connection with the Rutgers coaching staff despite the injury, was a big part of his excitement for that school.
"I chose Rutgers because I had a great connection with Coach Farrell," Colehower stated, "He and the whole program believed in me despite the serious injury. I also went to visit and instantly grew a bond with the team. It's funny because I raced some of those guys, now they're my teammates, and we're all Jersey born too. I knew that it was my place, and everything about RU's program is something I want to be apart of and potentially bring a Big Ten title home to our home state."
Colehower's other potential choices were Mount St. Mary's and Columbia but knew early on that Rutgers was for him.
The Haddonfield senior made a mark on the New Jersey running scene early on in his high school career. His freshmen year during indoor track he won a Group 1 state title and finished second at the Meet of Champions running 49.44. As a sophomore he returned to finish the job and won the Meet of Champions that year in the 400m dash along with a silver medal performance in the 200m that same day.
Before the injury, which cut his 2017 season short and forced him to miss all of 2018, Colehower set indoor PRs of 48.75 over 400m and 22.00 in the 200m dash. Outdoors he's run 48.31 for the 400m. The diagnosis was a torn semitendinosus tendon, hamstring muscle, in his right leg and a partial tear of his semitendinosus and bicep femoris muscles in his left leg.
Understandably Colehower is excited to be back in action, "I am just thrilled to be healthy again. Football season was my real test to see my health, and it has shown great." He also gave thanks to his therapist Ryan McDevitt, in Berlin, NJ, and Dr. Gollotto, in Voorhees, NJ for their help and support to get to this point.
"Take my story as a lesson; to never give up, work hard, be patient, and always believe." Colehower concluded, "God works in mysterious ways, and he will work in your favor. You just can't let the tough times get to you because one day light will shine upon you, meaning it's finally your time to shine."
