If he was ever among the leaders in the closing stages of a race, Nic “Moose” Musumeci was one of those runners who could suddenly turn that race into his own. Like the flip of a switch, a snap of finger, he could break away from his competitors with a blistering kick.
While a member of the North Kingstown High track and cross-country teams, Musumeci was also one of those individuals that teammates, and even his rivals from other schools, often gravitated to. As one of his coaches, Brian McNeiece said, “He had a unique ability to look past people’s faults and find something positive and special about each person he interacted with.”
These two things are what’s remembered by McNeiece and the other coaches who were there firsthand during his high school days a little less than 10 years ago. These memories, and so much more, have also made this time right now a painful one for them, the North Kingstown community, and so many others that are mourning the unexpected loss of the 2016 grad, who passed away on March 17 while out on a training run.
Longtime NK cross-country coach Paul Tetreault was given the devastating news about his former runner not long after it happened on St. Patrick’s Day. He received a call from McNeiece, who had been coaching Musumeci in his post collegiate years.
“I was just shocked,” Tetreault said. “What a tragedy. When Brian called to tell me, he was pretty emotional, too. He was pretty close to Moose. He would talk to Moose almost daily.”
Musumeci, who was only 26 years old when he died, was a dedicated runner for the Skippers from 2013-16, specializing in the long-distance events. The Jamestown native earned all-division honors thrice in cross country, clocking an all-time best of 16 minutes, 27.39 seconds for the five-kilometer distance. His senior year on the track were highlighted by individual 3K titles during the indoor and outdoor seasons at the Southern Division championship meets.
Musumeci would continue his running career at the University of Rhode Island where he attained moderate success. At the time of his passing, he was still a highly-competitive runner on the track and road-racing circuit.
“Nic was gung-ho all the time to race,” recalled a heartbroken Charlie Breagy, who is North Kingstown’s head track coach this year and also held the post during Musumeci’s time as a high-schooler. “He was famous for his finish. We called him Nic the Kick. He had this powerful finish. When coaching, we always told him to wait until that last 200 (meters). The last 200, he was lethal.”
“Moose was one of those guys that had an unbelievable passion for running. He absolutely loved running,” Tetreault said. “(After high school and college), during the cross-country season, he would show up on the track a few times, just to say hi, but also to do a track workout.”
Musumeci lived a full life during his precious time on earth. He began his working career in cybersecurity at the Newport Naval Base before transitioning to Marketing for a well-known West Coast firm. He was also an accomplished fisherman and a avid world traveler, exploring countries like England, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France and Germany in addition to traveling cross country to the east and west coast.
“He was full of energy,” Breagy said. “I could see it. He lived a full life. It was just cut short.”
Tetreault recalled a funny story about Musumeci when he worked as a Community Service Officer for the Jamestown Police Department.
“He was working for the police department and was giving tickets to folks that parked illegally He told us that there was a car with a license plate of VO2 Max,” said Tetreault, making reference to a term that’s used when talking about the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. “He told us he didn’t have the heart to give the person a ticket, whoever it was. He told Brian and I. We always get a chuckle out of that.”
What is most remembered about Musumeci by his coaches was his genuine love and admiration for the many people whose lives that he touched.
As his obituary so eloquently states, “Nicolas was a friend to everyone he met, and everyone who met him was a friend – often drawn in by his quick wit and infectious sense of humor.”
“We do a few awards for our cross-country team. We have an Eagle Award, a Skipper Award and an Rock Award. During his high-school career, he won all three of them,” said Tetreault, about Musumeci, who was one of his team’s captains his senior year. “He was one of those guys that you kind of liked to hang around with. He was a positive guy. He was always into running. When he went to meets, kids from other teams would gravitate to him. He had friends on the Hendricken team, the Chariho team, East Greenwich team, everybody. That’s what makes (this time) all the more shocking. He left us way too early.”
The Skipper coach always knew he could count on Musumeci to offer his services on his team’s volunteer endeavors at local road races, the Ronald McDonald House, and more.
“He was always involved in everything,” he said. “That’s just the kind of kid he was. He is greatly missed.”
McNeiece’s relationship with Musumeci stretches 13 years, including the last few years where he had the pleasure of coaching the late runner.
“I was very fortunate to have known and coached NIc. As an athlete, he was extremely dedicated and honest, which made him easy to work with. Relationships with teammates, coaches and others in the running community, were extremely important to him,” he said. “The thing that sticks out the most is that no matter what, he always found a way to smile and joke around. I know that those in his life he was close to, he would drop everything to help them. If you have one person in your life like him, you should consider yourself extremely lucky.”
