Swimming standout Molly Cullen also a soccer star for St. Rose
October 4, 2024 at 7:00 a.m.
For someone who considers soccer her secondary sport, Molly Cullen is a primary player on the pitch for St. Rose of Belmar.
Cullen has committed to the Texas Christian University swim program and is among one of the top pool performers in the state. But she admitted the scholarship may not have happened without her interest in the Beautiful Game (an affectionate term for soccer).
“I’ve been doing such high-level swimming since I was little, and (burning out) has always been one of my biggest fears,” she said. “At a certain point in my sophomore year I was not getting good times and I wasn’t getting faster.
“I was definitely getting a little nervous about being a burnout. It was very nerve wracking,” she continued. “So last soccer season I started focusing more on running and I dropped [swim] times for the first time in two years. I think soccer helped me get back into appreciating swimming more.”
And the Purple Rose soccer team certainly appreciates Cullen – one of the Shore Conference’s most dangerous forwards.
“She wants to make this her best year yet,” St. Rose soccer coach Alex Iatesta said. “Molly is extremely fast in the water but she's also extremely fast on land. Molly's speed allows her to beat defenders and ultimately end up in a one-v-one situation versus the goalie. In addition, she has a great shot.”
The senior leads St. Rose in goals (14) and assists (4) after producing 10 goals and six assists last year when she was actually hesitant to shoot.
“Being an underclassman, I’d always try to look for one of the older girls to play the ball to because I didn’t have enough confidence to get a shot off, or I thought if I messed up they’d be mad at me,” Cullen said. “But since this is my last season playing soccer, I have no reason not to just try new things. I feel like I have better opportunities.”
Cullen spoke after munching on some leftover meatballs her mom made for her birthday dinner Sep. 29. Molly credits Maureen Cullen for always being “very supportive of what I do.”
A Bradley Beach resident who prays before games and attends Mass in St. Rose Parish, Cullen stopped playing club soccer her freshman year, knowing it would be too much in addition to her school sports, club swimming and the classroom (where she has a 96 out of 100 grade point average).
“My falls are already extremely busy,” Cullen said. “I knew I wouldn’t play soccer in college because I was very injury prone, and my mom was nervous because soccer’s a contact sport with a lot of ACL injuries. She didn’t want me to not be able to swim in college because of an injury.”
Cullen tallied just three goals and one assist in her first two seasons before breaking out last year. Her focus on conditioning in soccer transferred to the pool, and vice versa.
“Molly's swim training helps her with soccer,” Iatesta said. “She is extremely fit, strong, and works hard.”
After grinding away last fall, Cullen got the desired results in the pool as her times began dropping. She set the school record in the 50 and 100 meters, set the Shore Conference record in the 50 and just missed breaking the 100 meter mark. This year she will focus on breaking Monmouth County records as well, stating that, “When the county meet happened last year I wasn’t thinking about records. Then the Shore Conference happened, and I was like ‘Wait, I can actually break records.”
She went on to take second in the 50 meters at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions and fifth in the 100. Her success prompted Molly to start reaching out to coaches and she ended up visiting the University of San Diego State, Hawaii, Florida State, UNC-Wilmington and TCU, which she “knew was the best place for me.”
And while her swim future is bright, Cullen is currently loving soccer this fall. She is constantly man-marked and often double teamed, but is smart enough to play the ball off to teammates when necessary.
“Molly's ability to make fast runs lends to her ability to reach the corner and cross the ball, allowing for others to attack the ball and score,” Iatesta said.
With time winding down on her career, Cullen is savoring these games that actually help keep her sharp for swimming.
“I love soccer so much,” she said. “One of the reasons I keep playing is because swimming is extremely mental, it’s a very repetitive sport. You’re just swimming back and forth in the pool staring at the bottom with those black lines.
“Soccer is very much a stress reliever for me and helps me clear my head and it also helps me get a different type of training,” she explained. “I’m getting in a lot of cardio workouts that I wouldn’t be doing on my own because I wouldn’t just be running like this on my own. It helps a lot. It gives me something to think about besides just swimming.”
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For someone who considers soccer her secondary sport, Molly Cullen is a primary player on the pitch for St. Rose of Belmar.
Cullen has committed to the Texas Christian University swim program and is among one of the top pool performers in the state. But she admitted the scholarship may not have happened without her interest in the Beautiful Game (an affectionate term for soccer).
“I’ve been doing such high-level swimming since I was little, and (burning out) has always been one of my biggest fears,” she said. “At a certain point in my sophomore year I was not getting good times and I wasn’t getting faster.
“I was definitely getting a little nervous about being a burnout. It was very nerve wracking,” she continued. “So last soccer season I started focusing more on running and I dropped [swim] times for the first time in two years. I think soccer helped me get back into appreciating swimming more.”
And the Purple Rose soccer team certainly appreciates Cullen – one of the Shore Conference’s most dangerous forwards.
“She wants to make this her best year yet,” St. Rose soccer coach Alex Iatesta said. “Molly is extremely fast in the water but she's also extremely fast on land. Molly's speed allows her to beat defenders and ultimately end up in a one-v-one situation versus the goalie. In addition, she has a great shot.”
The senior leads St. Rose in goals (14) and assists (4) after producing 10 goals and six assists last year when she was actually hesitant to shoot.
“Being an underclassman, I’d always try to look for one of the older girls to play the ball to because I didn’t have enough confidence to get a shot off, or I thought if I messed up they’d be mad at me,” Cullen said. “But since this is my last season playing soccer, I have no reason not to just try new things. I feel like I have better opportunities.”
Cullen spoke after munching on some leftover meatballs her mom made for her birthday dinner Sep. 29. Molly credits Maureen Cullen for always being “very supportive of what I do.”
A Bradley Beach resident who prays before games and attends Mass in St. Rose Parish, Cullen stopped playing club soccer her freshman year, knowing it would be too much in addition to her school sports, club swimming and the classroom (where she has a 96 out of 100 grade point average).
“My falls are already extremely busy,” Cullen said. “I knew I wouldn’t play soccer in college because I was very injury prone, and my mom was nervous because soccer’s a contact sport with a lot of ACL injuries. She didn’t want me to not be able to swim in college because of an injury.”
Cullen tallied just three goals and one assist in her first two seasons before breaking out last year. Her focus on conditioning in soccer transferred to the pool, and vice versa.
“Molly's swim training helps her with soccer,” Iatesta said. “She is extremely fit, strong, and works hard.”
After grinding away last fall, Cullen got the desired results in the pool as her times began dropping. She set the school record in the 50 and 100 meters, set the Shore Conference record in the 50 and just missed breaking the 100 meter mark. This year she will focus on breaking Monmouth County records as well, stating that, “When the county meet happened last year I wasn’t thinking about records. Then the Shore Conference happened, and I was like ‘Wait, I can actually break records.”
She went on to take second in the 50 meters at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions and fifth in the 100. Her success prompted Molly to start reaching out to coaches and she ended up visiting the University of San Diego State, Hawaii, Florida State, UNC-Wilmington and TCU, which she “knew was the best place for me.”
And while her swim future is bright, Cullen is currently loving soccer this fall. She is constantly man-marked and often double teamed, but is smart enough to play the ball off to teammates when necessary.
“Molly's ability to make fast runs lends to her ability to reach the corner and cross the ball, allowing for others to attack the ball and score,” Iatesta said.
With time winding down on her career, Cullen is savoring these games that actually help keep her sharp for swimming.
“I love soccer so much,” she said. “One of the reasons I keep playing is because swimming is extremely mental, it’s a very repetitive sport. You’re just swimming back and forth in the pool staring at the bottom with those black lines.
“Soccer is very much a stress reliever for me and helps me clear my head and it also helps me get a different type of training,” she explained. “I’m getting in a lot of cardio workouts that I wouldn’t be doing on my own because I wouldn’t just be running like this on my own. It helps a lot. It gives me something to think about besides just swimming.”