Cherry Hill East’s own, senior Brody Bogos, has been awarded the 2024 South Jersey Runner of the year. Bogos participates in Cross Country, Winter Track and Spring Track for the Cougars. If you know Brody, then you know this is no surprise. The star runner is freshly committed to continuing his strong career at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Bogos has worked endlessly since sixth grade when he first took up the opportunity of trying a new sport.
Originally, Bogos had grown up playing soccer and baseball, and he picked up wrestling along the path as well. Eventually, he made his mind up about his future.
Bogos said, “I always knew I wanted to be a D1 athlete, but I didn’t think it would be for running. After wrestling I made my mind up on grinding to run.”
Bogos quit wrestling during the winter of his freshman year, when his friends persuaded him to take on track.
It was nowhere near an easy route for Brody Bogos on becoming South Jersey Runner of the Year. He has put in extra hours and incredible effort, and he has had outstanding determination to become the best. Bogos reflected on times he made difficult choices along the way.
“[It was] a lot of sacrifice. I don’t party with friends, I don’t eat candy. I usually try to go to sleep at 8:30 p.m. and need to maintain at least 9 hours of sleep. It is tough to find free time and a job but it is definitely all worth it in my opinion,” Bogos said.
This is just a short list of factors that went into his daily life and led him to winning the prestigious award.
To add onto his record-breaking and award winning résumé, Bogos has collected 4x Olympic Conference First Team titles, 2x Cherry Hill East XC MVP’s, 1x Camden County 1600m Champion, 1x All New Jersey Second Team honors, All South Jersey Cross Country Team, Cherry Hill East records in the indoor Distance Medley Relay, indoor 4×800, outdoor 4×800 and outdoor 4xMile.
Bogos relays the credit to his coach, Mr. Christopher Corey.
“Without him, I would be nowhere near where I am right now. He is the one that I give my credit to for building my disciplined mindset. He is a very committed coach and does everything he can down to a science,” Bogos said.
This past summer, Bogos travelled to Colorado for a month, where he solely focused on running and training. He deleted all social media from his iPhone and followed a highly regimented schedule day in and day out. Bogos and his training partners would run everyday, sometimes twice a day. They also worked out two to three times a week. This all occurred at 7,000 feet of altitude, where oxygen is reduced because of the lower air pressure, making it harder to breathe. Bogos says this helped him obtain better stamina and not get as fatigued when running in New Jersey. This definitely assisted him on winning South Jersey Runner of the Year.
In choosing Rutgers, Bogos emphasized the school not only on athletics, but also academics. He plans on working toward a business degree to go along with cross country and track.
“I’ve always wanted to be a D1 athlete, especially at a Power Five school. I don’t see myself ending my career after high school, and Rutgers is not only close to home, but it also helps me with school and studying business in the future,” said Bogos.
As he prepares for his next chapter, Bogos hopes to continue excelling on the track and representing South Jersey with pride. Bogos’ journey is a testament to hard work, resilience and an unrelenting pursuit of greatness. From a sixth-grade novice to South Jersey Runner of the Year, his story has only just begun.