Heading into the Ocean County Cross-Country Championships, Jackson Braddock hadn’t run any 3.1-mile races this year. After COVID-19 squashed the spring track season, the best the Southern senior could do was run a competitive 3,200-meter race.

And he was great at doing so. He won a national event in Nashville, Tenn., in August. But apparently, that came at a price.

“I probably went a little too hard leading up to that race in Tennessee, and I was feeling pretty banged up afterward, so…