By Jim Hague
Paul Bahamondes thought he was well on his way to a storied athletic career at Mississippi State. A native of Jackson, N.J., Bahamondes earned an athletic scholarship to run track at the Division I Southeast Conference powerhouse.
However, things didn’t exactly work out as planned for Bahamondes.
“I had too many injuries,” said Bahamondes, citing two stress fractures and a broken bone in his foot. “I had personal problems there as well. It was not a fun time for me.”
Bahamondes remained at Mississippi State for a year and a half, then came home to New Jersey, with the intent of transferring to Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
While he attended Ocean County College in Toms River, just a stone’s throw from his home in Jackson, Bahamondes learned that perhaps he was aspiring to attend the wrong campus inside the State University chain.
“My major is criminal justice, so I learned it would be better if I transferred to Rutgers-Newark,” Bahamondes said. “I’m Brazilian and I found out that there is a strong Brazilian population in Newark. I thought that was pretty cool.”
However, when Bahamondes arrived in Newark, his first athletic intention was to join the Rutgers-Newark soccer team.
“I really wanted to play soccer, but I got here and realized that they had already started their season,” Bahamondes said.
At the same time, new Rutgers-Newark track and field coach Juan Edney was sending out a campus-wide e-mail, asking prospective runners if they wanted to join the fledgling R-N cross country team. The e-mail reached Bahamondes.
“I contacted Coach Edney and I went to talk to him about possibly running again,” Bahamondes said. “I didn’t know anything about the program.”
Bahamondes soon found out that the cross country program was brand new under the leadership of Edney.
“I thought I would want to go somewhere with an established program,” Bahamondes said. “I thought that I might get frustrated, working with people with experience and with newcomers. But I went to talk with Coach Edney and decided to give it a try.”
There was only one obstacle: Bahamondes had not run competitively in almost three years.
“I was just running to play soccer,” Bahamondes said. “I wasn’t in shape to run. I hadn’t run in two-and-a-half years. I knew I wasn’t in shape to run and wouldn’t be in running shape for a while.”
Edney didn’t care. He had a former Division I runner who gave his new program an instant shot of credibility.
“There are some kids who don’t know what it takes to be successful,” Edney said. “We’re starting a new program from scratch and without getting a chance to recruit, here’s a kid who knows what it takes, because he’s been there at the highest level. So this was a blessing in disguise. He’s the best and most important runner we have right now and he’s also like a student/coach. It really makes my life easier. He really was a diamond in the rough.
Added Edney, “When it comes to coaching, I can’t be everywhere, so Paul is taking the lead in terms of leadership. I needed people to step up and chip in.”
Bahamondes has been working his way back into a regular running routine. Two weeks ago, his first true week of athletic competition in almost 30 months, Bahamondes trained by running 40 miles. Last week, it was 45.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Bahamondes said. “It’s how I know I’m out of shape. Once I get that out of my head, that I’m out of shape, then I’ll be better. I know what I’m capable of. I can do better.”
Last week, the Scarlet Raiders’ men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in their first-ever event, the Stevens Tech Invitational at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Bahamondes basically carried the flag for the entire program, as Bahamondes finished 18th out of a field of 62 runners with a time of 30:43.
“It wasn’t bad for his first run in a long time,” Edney said. “It was better than I expected. I just told him to go out there and run evenly and come close to cracking 30 (minutes for the five miles). That’s what he did. After a two-and-a-half year layoff, he was right on pace and I was encouraged by that.”
Bahamondes said that he doesn’t mind being the anointed leader of the new program.
“I know that Coach Edney needs help,” Bahamondes said. “I know I’m one of the older ones. I like helping and if what I do helps the team get better, then that’s fine. It’s what I’ve done all my life.”
Bahamondes hopes to take his criminal justice degree to law school next year, where he aspires to become a prosecutor. If the law school dream falls short, he will pursue a career in law enforcement somewhere, more than likely his hometown of Jackson.
Edney’s just happy to have him in Newark now.
“I never thought we could find someone like Paul,” Edney said. “He’s good. He’s given me new life. I thought we’d have a whole bunch of out-of-shape kids who never ran before. This is a top-flight runner we have here. We have to start someplace and he’s a good start.”
Bahamondes has only been residing in Newark a short time, but he’s already taken to it.
“It’s a lot better than what we had in Mississippi,” Bahamondes said. “It’s a giant step forward.”
Plus, Bahamondes found out that there were some good Brazilian restaurants on Ferry Street in the Downneck section of Newark.
“I’ve been to the same place twice,” Bahamondes said. “It’s the first thing I had to do when I came to Newark, find a good Brazilian restaurant.”
Bahamondes was happy to know that there are plenty more in the area.
“I’ll have to find them,” he said.
