Michael Lawson was the lynchpin of the most-successful cross country teams in the storied 60+ year history of Ponaganset. In Michael’s four-year high school tenure the Ponaganset Cross Country Team was the most successful team in the State: winning the State Championship once, earning Runner-Up (2nd) twice, placing 5th during his sophomore year and capturing a Runner-Up at the New England Championships in 2000. Michael was the fastest runner on the team that finished second in New England, which was the first Ponaganste team to earn a team plaque at a New England Championship. Only two male XC teams in the state have a better consecutive four year run in the 30-year period from 1980-2010. The XC Team also dominated the Division and Class, earning four Championships and four Runner-Up during that time.
Michael was a focused student-athlete while at Ponaganset excelling in the classroom and on the athletic fields. He was ranked top-10 in his class while taking the toughest Advanced Placement and Honors courses offered and was a Member of the Rhode Island and National Honor Societies. He was a team captain for Head Coach Jim Caron during his junior and senior years and earned the Team MVP or Sportsmanship award in five seasons. Michael ran in 12 State Championship races during his 11 seasons in cross country and track & field, placing first or second in 9 of them earning 3 Providence Journal First Team All-State accolades and a First Team All New England in cross country in his senior year. In all, Michael competed at the New England level in ten of his eleven seasons and held the school record in the 1500m and 3000m runs by the time he graduated in the spring of 2001. Michael remains the most accomplished and dominant track athlete in the history of Ponaganset High School to this day.
Upon graduation from Ponaganset, Michael earned a full athletic scholarship to Virginia Tech where he was a four year varsity member of their Cross Country, Indoor, and Outdoor Track & Field teams. He graduated in five years earning a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and subsequently earned his Doctorate at Penn State University. Michael currently resides in Boulder, Colorado with his family.