It bugged him the entire summer.

But that nagging thought, one he just couldn't get out of his mind, actually helped drive him to new heights.Jim Thorpe's Johnathan Condly had an outstanding junior season a year ago, helping the Olympian cross country team qualify for the state tournament while also earning numerous individual achievements.Yet his 26th-place finish at the state meet continued to eat at him months after the annual event was completed.The reason for this was quite simple. Not only did Condly just miss earning a medal (the top 25 runners at states receive them), but he came up short by a mere second.So, while many teenagers were busy spending their break swimming, going to movies or just hanging out with friends, Condly used his free time to make sure things would end differently in his senior year."That's what I thought about all summer," Condly said. "If I didn't want to run one day, I'd think, 'just one second faster.' That's all I had to do. I'd just think about that when I didn't want to run and it would get me out the door to go run. That was a big motivation all summer."It was just one place and one second. If I could have run just a little faster I would have been able to get a state medal, so I was really thinking about that all summer. I just made sure I ran every day. Before my junior year I would take a couple days off. I was lazy a little bit. This year I just really made sure I got out there and would run."And run he did.Condly, who's headed to Temple in the fall, was up to 12 miles on his long days and between 6 and 8 on any other day just before the season started. In addition, he incorporated some CrossFit training.All the hard work eventually paid off. The Thorpe senior once again enjoyed a stellar regular season, finishing undefeated in Schuylkill League competition. At the league meet, he defended his title and at districts he took second (after leading for most of the race). But it was at states that he finally got his redemption, capturing a 14th place and securing that elusive state medal.For his efforts, Condly was named the Times News Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row."He knew what he wanted to do and he knew what he had to do," said Olympian cross country coach Drew Benyo. "He was prepared and ready for the season. A state medal was his goal. He just missed it his junior year, and he knew if he was going to win one he'd have to do a little extra."He pushed himself as an individual, but that didn't take anything away from the team. He was a role model for the other guys. He was a team leader based on his work ethic. He's not vocal. He doesn't preach or scream. He just sets an example for everyone to follow."While Condly's top mission was the state medal, he also longed for his team to continue the success it achieved the previous season when they won the Schuylkill League Division I title and qualified for states.With three quality seniors having graduated from that squad, many thought a return trip to the PIAA championships was out of reach for this year's Olympians. Condly and Co. proved otherwise."It was a goal for our team to go undefeated like we did last year," said Condly, who set a course record at Pottsville earlier in the season. "We weren't sure how good we'd be this year after losing all the seniors. We didn't know if we'd be able to win leagues or be able to qualify for states. As the season went on, we felt like we had a good chance to do it. We just trained hard to get there. It was good motivation for our team, trying to get back to states."The Olympians earned their trip to Hershey with a second-place team finish at Districts. Condly, along with Dylan Bucior, Jake Saxon, Jian Gentile and Ben Saxon produced an 11th-place finish one spot better than the previous season.And just having his teammates there gave Condly a positive feeling in reaching his own milestone."I was definitely nervous (going to states), but I was excited to be there, especially with my team," said Condly, who ran a 16:36 at the PIAA meet. "It makes it a lot more fun when you're out there with your team and not just by yourself. I think it gives you more confidence. You get to line up with your team. If you go there individually, you're lining up with a bunch of kids you don't know so it's totally different to go with your team instead of by yourself."To go and get 14th was pretty awesome. I was extremely satisfied when I crossed the finish line. I knew it was going to be a hard race. I just tried to run with the best kids. ... (All the work) was definitely worth it. Being able to go back to states as a team my senior year was probably the best part. I think I put in my time, and I worked as hard as I could, so I'm satisfied with the results for the season."