Chenango County may not ever see another distance runner in the mold of Greene senior phenom Chad Noelle.
On top of an already sparkling outdoor track and field career, myriad accomplishments continue to pile up for the University of Oregon recruit. Noelle recently won the scholastic Millrose Games mile against the best competition in the country. Less than two months easlier, he competed in the Foot Locker Cross Country nationals – a 3.1-mile race – finishing among the elite there as well. With little turnaround and training between the cross country season and the indoor season, Noelle broke the Section IV record in the 3,200 meters in his first race, and has the fastest scholastic times in the nation this year in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races.
“I think Chad is building a case as one of the most decorated high school distance runners in Section IV history,” said B-G/Afton track and field coach, who coaches Noelle during the winter indoor track and field season. “I think Brian Clas (Union-Endicott graduate) is the only other guy who did some of the things Chad is doing.”
Of course, Noelle is running faster than Clas, and it’s likely that Clas – as strong a runner as he was around 20-plus years ago – did not record national leading times in two events.
The only runners who have comparable track careers to Noelle’s are Elmira graduate Molly Huddle and Sidney graduated, Jen Finnegan. Huddle, who was a state champion, went on to have a distinguished running career at Notre Dame. Huddle, now a professional, is presently regarded as perhaps the best 5,000-meter runner in the nation, and holds the American record.
Finnegan, a Sidney graduate like Munro, was a multiple high school state champion in the distance events, ran the Millrose mile, and ultimately won a national championship in college.
Those two girls padded their standout high school careers in college, but neither not only raced against the best in the nation in high school, but beat them as well. “I don’t like to make statements like, ‘the best ever’ or anything like that,” Munro said. “But there hasn’t been a guy in Section IV who is doing what Chad is doing.”

Noelle’s time more impressive than it looks
In winning the Millrose mile last weekend, Noelle hung back in the pack on a narrow, tight-cornered course at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Over the final quarter mile, his speed and strength took over, and he narrowly edged his closest competitor by a mere 17 hundreths of a second.
It took 11 1/2 laps to complete the mile, so any straightaways were fleeting. To give a frame of reference, the Norwich YMCA track is one-tenth of a mile from the middle lane, and requires 10 laps to reach to a mile
In essentially running on a turn almost half of the time, Noelle finished in 4:16.71. His time was a few seconds slower than his qualifying time the previous week, but more impressive since his best time before last spring’s track and field season in which he won two state titles was two seconds slower – on any track, indoors or outdoors.
Noelle made huge strides during last winter’s running season, and the results were plain to see for anyone who watched him in April, May, and June last year. The Trojans’ runner has continued to refine his training this year, and his conditioning is that much better over just a few months ago, Munro said. “Last year, at a national meet, Chad ran a 4:18 mile,” the B-G/A coach said. “He was in top form at the time, but that 4:18 was all he had. Two weeks ago, he ran a 4:11, and he just had a grin on his face as he trotted off the track.”

How low can Noelle go?
Munro told a story of Noelle’s dedication to training. Not too long ago, Noelle planned on logging some miles around an outdoor track. The track was completely snow-covered, so Noelle had a shovel in hand, and cleared a running path around the entire track. He then preceded to jog his four or five miles in frigid temperatures. When we say “jog,” though, it’s relative to Noelle’s pace, not the average person. “His workouts for practice were like five-minute miles,” Munro said. “His times would be nice PRs (personal records) for most people.”
Noelle’s relentless dedication to training and improvement should put the senior Trojans star in position to reach some hallowed times. Over 56 years ago, England’s Roger Bannister became the first athlete to ever eclipse the four-minute mile. Noelle, who ran just under 4:06 last year in the 1,600, may become the first scholastic runner in New York State history to run under four minutes in that event The current state record for 1,600 meters was set in 1973 by Matt Centrowitz, who clocked 4:02.7. That 38-year-old record will probably fall in Munro’s estimation. “Absolutely, he’ll run (the 1,600) in under four minutes,” Munro said confidently. The only question is whether he’ll do it his senior year or his freshman year in college.”