By Christopher DeMuth
In his four years at New Canaan High School, Ryan Monohan has proven to be one of the strongest runners in our program’s history. As of today, he holds the 4th fastest 5k time for New Canaan Boys athletes. His spring track records hold equally impressive, including the following accolades: 15th fastest 200m, 7th fastest 400m, 3rd fastest 800m, 4th fastest 1600m, 3rd fastest mile, 3rd highest mile, and a member of the most dominant 4×400 relay and 4×800 relay teams our school has ever had. Although he still has 2 seasons of athletics left at NCHS, being the winter and spring seasons of track and field, Ryan’s future past high school is looking bright. Recently, he has announced his commitment to run for Amherst College’s running program, starting fall of 2026. Here is an exclusive, 1 one 1 interview with rising star, Ryan Monohan:
Q: Why did you start running in the first place?
A: Although it’s largely an individual sport, my friends are what pulled me into the running world. Quinn Quilkenny was the biggest driver of me joining, as he saw my potential in running and wanted to be co-captains for our senior year
Q: Not many people know what cross country prep looks like beyond just running. Could you tell us what a week of cross country looks like for an athlete on your level?
A: Great question. It actually is more complex than it looks, though its undeniable that it is “just” running. Mondays are a recovery day from races over the weekend, which means slow and long distance. This is useful because it helps keep ourselves moving while still giving our bodies the time we need to recover. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are varied, and will be up to coach. Because they are far enough from races, these will be our workout days. Examples of workouts can be longer distance running, about 8 miles, at speed, or fast paced running. Typically we will also do at least one interval workout during this time, which is extremely fast running over shorter distances with time for recovery in between sets. Friday is our pre-meet day, and looks very similar to a recovery day. Finally, we race on Saturdays, and have Sundays off.
Q: Most people will never go through the athletic recruitment process, do you think you can explain how it works a little bit?
A: Of course. To be upfront, this process is really, really stressful, although it’s still fun. The whole journey starts by sending out about a million emails to different college coaches, introducing yourself and giving basic information. Once you’ve built a relationship with these coaches, the formal process starts with something called an academic pre-read. Basically, the college takes your academic record and lets the coach know whether or not you come within acceptable standards for the school. Assuming you pass this part, the more fun aspect of recruitment starts. This includes formal college visits, where you meet with coaches and potential future teammates. These visits are useful in finding out if you’d be a good fit for the college. After this, colleges can choose whether or not to extend an offer to you, which they release on specific dates.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about Amherst?
A: Having grown up in New Canaan, I knew that I wanted to go to a smaller school for college. While Amherst has that, it’s also in a bigger town, so I have the advantages of both a small school and bigger town. That aside, I really appreciated the team culture in the running team. These guys want to improve and be better, which is an environment I want to be in.
Q: How do New Canaan runners set themselves apart from the crowd?
A: New Canaan runners are viewed as different compared to runners of others in the FCIAC. Specifically, we run 35-40 miles a week. This is useful because college runners will run up to 100 miles a week. Because other towns will run their runners much closer to this number, their race times in high school are a very good approximation of their college performance. However, New Canaan Runners have significantly more potential, as by increasing our mileage in college we will see dramatic improvement.
Q: Who has been the biggest support in your journey as an athlete?
A: Definitely my parents. They really have gone above and beyond helping me through this whole college process, and have given up a lot of their time taking me to different colleges and far away races. I really cannot be thankful enough for them
