Kyle Gonoude’s journey in 2016 wasn’t an easy one. The past couple of months didn’t come without some adversity.

Gonoude, a 2015 Salisbury graduate and one of the school’s top runners of all time, has been dealing with a hamstring injury since last winter. That injury resurfaced when DeSales’ cross country season opened this past fall.

Despite that setback, Gonoude was able to overcome that hurdle and put together a solid sophomore season for the Bulldogs. Gonoude placed 23rd at the MAC Championships to help DeSales finish as runner-up in the team standings. He then took 95th place at regionals.

“I’ve been battling the same hamstring injury since February, which has been frustrating to say the least,” Gonoude said. “But I was able to keep it under control during the last few weeks of the season, which was key in helping me and my team achieve some of our goals. I am proud of how my teammates and I overcame adversity and were able to compete to our fullest abilities when it mattered most.”

The most pleasant surprise came at those MAC Championships in late October. Gonoude finished as the Bulldogs’ fifth finisher, running in a time of 27:49.8. That may have not been his best time in the event, but he certainly exceeded his own expectations going in.

“The two races we had before MAC’s, I dropped out and did not run in the other,” Gonoude said. “I only had one good practice the whole year up until that point, so when I finished fifth on our team and five seconds behind our fourth runner, who I was more than a minute behind in prior races, I was pretty excited.”

DeSales took second to Widener University at Messiah College. It was the 10th straight year the Bulldogs finished in the top three as a unit.

“I really enjoy doing what is not expected of me, and stepping up in big moments and doing well in those big moments,” Gonoude said. “My freshman year I kind of blew it [at MAC Championships]. I went out and tried to run with the best runners in our conference, who were head and shoulders better than everyone else. I kind of ran out of gas pretty early in the race and I didn’t exactly run my best race. It just felt great to do my part on my team finishing second in the conference.”

While the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships were also a successful performance by Gonoude, which actually occurred at the DeSales’ home course, his 95th-place finish was lower than his freshman season where he placed 48th. He was still pleased with the outcome and ability to run at that level despite that nagging injury.

Gonoude ran a 26:53 at regionals, good enough for fourth place on the team. As a team, DeSales came in 10th place out of the 52 competing teams. Fellow Lehigh Valley runner Gabe Lamm, of Whitehall, was the top Bulldog runner in both MAC Championships (seventh) and regionals (44th).

“I also dropped out of our invitational meet at DeSales,” said Gonoude, “due to the fear of re-injuring my hamstring, and since regionals was at DeSales, it was nice to actually finish the course. I felt we could be in the top eight. Finishing 10th as a team is by no means bad, but I wished we could have placed a little higher. This will only serve as motivation for next year.”

DeSales’ goal going into the year was to win the MAC Championships. And for Gonoude, his focus was on doing everything he could to help the Bulldogs reach new heights. Unfortunately, four-time consecutive winner Widener had other plans in store.

That shortcoming, as well as Gonoude’s injury-riddled 2016 campaign, will only serve as inspiration. Time will tell whether the Bulldogs take the next step in what will be Gonoude’s junior season.